Composed in 1900 for the Birmingham Music Festival that October, this large scale work sets a poem by John Henry Newman, an English theologian, academic and philosopher who was first an Anglican priest and then later a Roman Catholic priest and cardinal.
It depicts the souls’ journey through death in terms of Roman Catholicism. Gerontius (Greek for ‘old man’) is a devout Christian sung by a tenor. The first half he approaches death confidently, and the second part depicts him as ‘The Soul’ in a place ‘without time or space’, and is supported and guided by ‘The Angel’ (a mezzo soprano, although Newman thought of the Angel as a male role).
They head towards the Throne of Judgement through a group of demons, and choirs of angel. Gerontius sees God in a single moment (an enormous chord), and then is lowered into lake Purgatory with promises of future glory.
It’s scored for triple woodwind, large brass group, timpani and three percussion parts, harp, organ and strings. For the ‘God moment’ Elgar asks for a spare harp, three trumpets and more percussionists if available.
The full work is below, but as an introduction you may enjoy the more famous ‘Angel’s Farewell’:
The Listening Project Blog 