ELGAR: The Dream of Gerontius

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra;
Hill, David;
Best, Matthew;
Bournemouth Symphony Chorus;
Creed, Neville;
Fryer, Sarah;
Kendall, William;
Waynflete Singers

8.553885-86

Elgar finished Gerontius on 3 August 1900, but it was already late for submission to the printers and the choral copies were not ready for the first rehearsal. The death of the Festival Chorus-Master, Swinnerton Heap and the subsequent appointment of W. C. Stockley, a retired figure with little energy for the task, heaped further odds against its success. But perhaps the biggest reason was that The Dream of Gerontius shattered the comfortable view of the English Festival Cantata. The choral writing, divided into chorus and semi-chorus and requiring the most secure individual lines for the many fugato sections, went beyond the amateur standards of the day. The lengthy Prelude, in which Elgar was unable to suppress his orchestral impulses, is no mere introduction. Technically, the various leitmotifs are laid out and developed, but the dramatic musical structure takes the listener through an experience which leads to the inevitability of the first words of Newman's poem - "Jesu Maria, I am near to death".

CD x 2

Muzyka klasyczna

Naxos

12-05-1997

730099488525