Elgar Oratorios: The Dream of Gerontius, The Apostles & The Kingdom [6CD Set]

"Sir Edward Elgar, organist of the Catholic Church in Worcester, is one of the most iconic English composers. His unusual biography and enormous correspondence offer a glimpse of his time. In addition to being an excellent orchestrator (he always sought instrumental effects), Elgar composed an admirable choral work. In fact, one of his goals was to build a trilogy of oratorios on biblical texts, but he only wrote two: The Apostles, Op. 49, from 1903, and The Kingdom (Op. 51), from 1906.

The 1900 oratorio The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38, also with religious themes, is based on a poem by Cardinal Newman about the dramatic relationship of a Christian in the face of death. It is a Catholic text that caused unrest among the Anglican ruling class in his country, but, in the end, its version set to music has remained a work of central repertoire both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere... It is impossible to delve into music like Elgar's without taking into account his biography. One of the most unfortunate events in the composer's life was the death of his wife, Alice, in 1917. Sir Edward never fully recovered and spent much of the last fourteen years of his life in creative silence. This affliction brought him to the Amazon in 1923, which turned around the opinion of him – an "imperial musician" – and of his music, corseted by the Edwardian tradition… Birmingham kept faith with Elgar and commissioned a new oratorio from him in 1903. The Apostles was premiered by conductor Hans Richter in Manchester with the Hallé Orchestra in February 1904…

It should be noted that Sir Mark Elder has carried out extensive research, which means that the version of this recording is probably the first of The Apostles that Elgar conducted at Hereford in September 1921, at the Festival of Three Hearts…"- Carme Miro, Sonogram Magazine Full review here