A performance of The Dream of Gerontius, with words by the Venerable John Henry, Cardinal Newman, and music by Edward Elgar, will be given on 29th November 2008 at 7.30 pm in Middlesbrough Town Hall. It is coincidental that this performance of Gerontius should happen at a time when the Venerable John Henry, Cardinal Newman, is very much in the news, as it seems that his Beatification is imminent.
‘The Dream of Gerontius’ is Newman’s famous poem of spiritual discovery and was written in 1865 within a period of 22 days. Although a very long work, it was set to music by Edward Elgar in 1900, who, by cutting whole sections and shortening others, focussed upon its central narrative: the story of a man’s death and his soul’s journey into the next world. Elgar, who was born into a Catholic family in Worcester, was given a copy of the poem possibly as early as 1885, but it was not until 1900 that he decided to set it to music, as a result of receiving a commission for a choral work from the Birmingham Triennial Festival. Elgar realised that he had produced a masterpiece, for on the final page of the score he wrote ‘This is the best of me: this I saw and knew, this, if anything of mine, is worth your memory’: a quotation from John Ruskin’s poem Sesame and Lilies.
Parts of the poem will be very familiar, for from it comes the hymn ‘Firmly I believe and truly’ in which a dying man, Gerontius, expresses his faith and his hope as well as his dread of what is to come. Surrounded by his friends and exhausted by his pain, Gerontius dies, as the priest prays ‘Proficiscere anima Christiana’ – Go forth O Christian Soul: words that are still used by the priest today, when commending the dying. On his arrival at the Gate of Heaven, the Soul of Gerontius hears the praise of the Angelic Chorus in the words of ‘Praise to the Holiest in the Height’ that has since become one of the most well loved hymns of English Catholics, but set by Elgar to music that he described as ‘the great Blaze’, truly one of the most elaborate and stirring passages in choral music. Then, in the presence of the Angel of the Agony, that Being who strengthened Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, and now pleads for all dying and dead souls at the throne of God, and surrounded by the prayers of his friends on earth singing the ‘sub venite’, the Soul moves to ‘go before my God’. ‘Consumed and quickened by the glance of God’, the Soul begs ‘take me away and in the lowest deep, there let me be’. With compassion, the Guardian Angel lays him in the penal waters, promising to return after his night of trial ‘and wake thee on the morrow’.
The Dream of Gerontius was first performed in Middlesbrough Town Hall in 1903, conducted by Elgar himself. The performance on 29th November will be given by Cleveland Philharmonic Choir, in partnership with The Tees Valley Youth Choir, which was runner up in the 2006 BBC Choir of the Year competition. The Mezzo-Soprano, Anna Stéphany, who sings the Angel in this performance, was herself a founding member of the Youth choir until she left the Tees Valley area to pursue her singing studies at the Guildhall School of Music, where she became one of only three people (including Bryn Terfel) to win both its Gold medal and the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Award. She now has an international career, which included performing at this year’s Proms. The part of Gerontius will be sung by Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts, and the baritone Roderick Earle sings the Priest/Angel of the Agony. The Mowbray Orchestra, a group of professional musicians based in the North of England, partner the singers, and the whole will be conducted by John Forsyth, who is Musical Director of both choirs.
In addition to the concert, the choir are also hosting an exhibition of Elgar memorabilia at the Green Dragon Studios, Green Dragon Yard, Stockton-on-Tees from Wednesday 19th November until Friday 28th November. Including personal items, loaned by Elgar’s great-nephew, and Information panels from the Elgar Birthplace Museum, this is a rare opportunity for people in the North-east to learn more about the composer. Opening times will be: 10.00 am – 6.00 pm on weekdays and 10.00 am – 2.00 pm at weekends and entry will be free.
Tickets for the concert are available from John Carter (01642 656273), Middlesbrough Town Hall Box Office (01642 729729), Choir members or at the door. Prices: Balcony – £15.00 (adult), £12.00 (concessions), £3.00 (child/student). All other seats – £12.00 (adult), £10.00 (concessions), £2.00 (child/student).
Margaret Turnham