- Audio CD (1 Oct 1999)
- SPARS Code: DDD
- Number of Discs: 2
- Label: Chandos
- ASIN: B000000AHU
- Other Editions: MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 61,431 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product details |
Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part One: Prelude | |||
| 2. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part One: Jesu, Maria - I Am Near To Death (Gerontius) | |||
| 3. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part One: Kyrie eleison | |||
| 4. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part One: Rouse Thee, My Fainting Soul (Gerontius) | |||
| 5. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part One: Be Merciful, Be Gracious | |||
| 6. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part One: Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus (Gerontius) | |||
| 7. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part One: I Can No More; For Now It Comes Again (Gerontius) | |||
| 8. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part One: Rescue Him, O Lord | |||
| 9. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part One: Novissima hora est (Gerontius) | |||
| 10. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part One: Proficiscere, anima Christiana (The Priest) | |||
See all 25 tracks on this disc
| |||
| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part Two: Thy Judgment Now Is Near (The Angel) | |||
| 2. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part Two: Jesu! By That Shuddering Dread (The Angel) | |||
| 3. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part Two: Be Merciful, Be Gracious | |||
| 4. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part Two: Praise To His Name! (The Angel) | |||
| 5. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part Two: Take Me Away (Take Me Away) | |||
| 6. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part Two: Lord, Thou Hast Been Our Refuge | |||
| 7. The Dream Of Gerontius, Op. 38: Part Two: Softly And Gently | |||
| 8. Blest Pair Of Sirens | |||
| 9. I Was Glad | |||
Product Description
From Amazon.com
British music critics become positively lachrymose when reminiscing about their favorite recordings of this piece, but for many people its appeal really is a purely local phenomenon. The story is simple: Gerontius dies and goes before God to be judged, at which point he gets sent to work off his time in purgatory. This takes about an hour and a half, and the text is stiff and stilted beyond belief. Nonetheless, the piece contains some of the most magnificent music that Elgar ever wrote, and unlike so much religious music of his peers, his emotional expression is completely uninhibited. The same thing can be said of Richard Hickox's conducting. If you can get past the words, you'll find this blazing performance a deeply satisfying expression of Elgar's most personal musical thoughts. --David Hurwitz
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
A beautifully recorded version of this monumental work. All soloists are top rate, but it has to be said that Arthur Davies is on fantastic form here. Although some might object to his italianate style, in this reviewer's opinion it is one of the best interpretations of the role that I have heard.
Hickox is quite masterful here, and although I could perhaps make a case for the Britten recording of this work being more insightful, that has the divisive figure of Pears!
Recommended.
Hickox is quite masterful here, and although I could perhaps make a case for the Britten recording of this work being more insightful, that has the divisive figure of Pears!
Recommended.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The combination of Edward Elgar's music and John Henry Cardinal Newman's text creates a pieces of music that is unique in the classical repertoire. This is the living heart of English Catholicism speaking in a way it never did for hundreds of years and has not since. Newman's text is sublime in a way that speaks directly to the listening heart. His short epic poem of a soul's travel from death-bed to the judgement seat of the Almighty invites the listener to journey with Gerontius; a dangerous journey for the modern secularist thinker who possibly never thinks of life beyond death.
However, poetry in and of itself rarely speaks to many people. Beautiful and accessible though Newman's text is it would probably have been relegated to the rare textbook if it hadn't been grabbed by Elgar to create a piece of music that he rightly said was 'the best of me'. This is music beyond even the soul-wrenching opening notes of his cello concerto or the grandiosity of Nimrod. This is English music to compare honestly with the best of Germany or Russia.
And it is music beautifully performed by musicians and singers. 'Softly and gently' is sung with such beauty that you too feel, with the soul of Gerontius, laid to rest and quietened. 'Praise to the Holiest' is sung with such gusto the hair rises up the back of the neck. Throughout the orchestra is tight and tuneful. This is an A1 recording of The Dream of Gerontius.
The disc also includes a couple of pieces by the Welsh Anglican, Hubert Parry. The first - an inspired comparison with the Dream - is his setting of the similarly Anglican Milton's treacly prose 'Blest Pair of Sirens.' Here Parry's music comes to the rescue of the reader before the nigh-inaccesible imagery overwhelms. It is beautiful music, but it is cold when compared to the Elgar. The final piece is Parry's coronation setting of Psalm 122; only to be listened loudly enough to annoy the neighbours. But even here it is not as warm as the setting of 'Praise to the Holiest' in the Dream.
An excellent disc overall. The Elgar is wonderful in every way. The Parry is collectable but not amazing.
However, poetry in and of itself rarely speaks to many people. Beautiful and accessible though Newman's text is it would probably have been relegated to the rare textbook if it hadn't been grabbed by Elgar to create a piece of music that he rightly said was 'the best of me'. This is music beyond even the soul-wrenching opening notes of his cello concerto or the grandiosity of Nimrod. This is English music to compare honestly with the best of Germany or Russia.
And it is music beautifully performed by musicians and singers. 'Softly and gently' is sung with such beauty that you too feel, with the soul of Gerontius, laid to rest and quietened. 'Praise to the Holiest' is sung with such gusto the hair rises up the back of the neck. Throughout the orchestra is tight and tuneful. This is an A1 recording of The Dream of Gerontius.
The disc also includes a couple of pieces by the Welsh Anglican, Hubert Parry. The first - an inspired comparison with the Dream - is his setting of the similarly Anglican Milton's treacly prose 'Blest Pair of Sirens.' Here Parry's music comes to the rescue of the reader before the nigh-inaccesible imagery overwhelms. It is beautiful music, but it is cold when compared to the Elgar. The final piece is Parry's coronation setting of Psalm 122; only to be listened loudly enough to annoy the neighbours. But even here it is not as warm as the setting of 'Praise to the Holiest' in the Dream.
An excellent disc overall. The Elgar is wonderful in every way. The Parry is collectable but not amazing.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
A deeply involving performance of Elgar's masterpiece.
19 Jan 2000
Format:Audio CD
David Hurvitz is right about British music critics being enthusiastic about Gerontius, but they aren't the only ones: Gerontius is performed more frequently in the UK than any other choral work, except for The Messiah.
Newman's libretto may be stilted in places, but it rises to an eloquence greater than that of many operas, and a number of composers, including Dvorak, considered setting it to music. Often the words are stunningly right. When Gerontius dies and finds himself in another world, he describes his condition like this: "I hear no more the busy beat of time ... Nor does one moment differ from the next." This may not be the way someone today would say it, but it is graceful and memorable English, and Newman's words inspired Elgar to create his finest work.
Gerontius combines superb writing for solo voices and chorus with orchestration of great power and delicacy. In this recording, Richard Hickox conducts a glowing performance by the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, whose association with Elgar's music goes back to their earliest years. The soloists are excellent, with Davies and Palmer both convincing in the leading roles. Barbirolli's legendary performance on EMI--due for re-release in January 2000--is still the benchmark by which others are measured, but, with clear, vivid sound from Chandos, this recording is a leading choice, too.
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