Page 220 - (DK) The Classical Music Book - Big Ideas Simply Explained
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THE ART OF MUSIC
ABOVE ALL THE OTHER
ARTS IS EXPRESSION
OF THE SOUL
THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS (1900), EDWARD ELGAR
n 1898, Edward Elgar was composers wrote oratorios—large-
IN CONTEXT commissioned to write a new scale choral works on sacred themes.
I large-scale choral piece for the Few of these pieces stood the test
FOCUS 1900 Birmingham Festival. Elgar, of time, and Elgar decided to
English choral tradition
a Catholic, chose to set the poem produce something different.
BEFORE The Dream of Gerontius by Cardinal Oratorios, like the operas of
1846 Mendelssohn’s oratorio John Henry Newman. In the poem, Mozart, were usually made up of
Elijah has its first performance Gerontius, a devout old man, separate musical “numbers,” such
in Birmingham, England. dreams of his death and the journey as arias and choruses. But with the
of his soul immediately after he work of late Romantic composers
1857 At the Handel Festival in dies. Elgar poured his own heart such as Richard Wagner, opera had
London, England, choirs of up and soul into the work, inscribing it evolved; Wagner’s operas consist
to 2,000 sing Handel’s Messiah with a quote from the social thinker of music that flows continuously,
and other oratorios. John Ruskin that began, “This is without a break, enabling the
the best of me.” composer to build huge climaxes
1882 Wagner’s Parsifal, based England had a strong tradition and express deep emotions. Elgar
on a 13th-century German epic of amateur choral singing in the used this technique for The Dream
poem, is his last and, for some, late 19th century, and many English of Gerontius, rejecting the term
his greatest opera. “oratorio” due to this lack of breaks
AFTER between pieces. Like Wagner, he
1903 Elgar continues to employed a large orchestra with
develop large-scale choral a substantial brass section and
works with The Apostles. percussionists to reinforce the
climaxes and underpin the most
1939–1941 Michael Tippett There is music in the air, dramatic moments.
composes his secular oratorio music all around us, the world
A Child of Our Time, which is full of it and you simply take The soul’s journey
extends the oratorio still as much as you require. The Dream of Gerontius is in two
further with the inclusion Edward Elgar parts. Part One portrays the death
of American spirituals in of Gerontius. It includes the gentle
the score. prayers of his friends by his
bedside, his passionate credo,
“Sanctus fortis”—which expresses
both his steadfast faith and his
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