Edward Elgar The Dream of Gerontius

Der Traum des Gerontius op. 38, 1900

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“This is the best of me”, wrote Edward Elgar after the final measure of his Dream of Gerontius. Premiered in 1900, in Great Britain the work has long been a standard work in the repertoire of large oratorio choirs. Elgar’s moving, poetic setting of the eponymous poem by Cardinal John Henry Newman is about a dying man and his journey beyond death to God.

Before the eyes of the listeners, a musical image of the soul is created which flies past mocking demons to God with its protecting angel at its side, is allowed to look at him briefly, then faces the purgatorial fire of salvation confident and comforted. The work is a real rarity in the history of oratorio, and for large choirs it is a thrilling alternative to the established repertoire of Requiem settings. Its popularity is thanks to the suggestive, often sensuous power of the music, the great choral scenes of the demons and the Angel, and the three impressive solo parts.

All previous editions were reprints based on the historic first printed materials, which are inconsistent. By contrast, Carus has produced a modern, newly-engraved edition, compatible in all sections, which takes all the sources into consideration and evaluates the autograph manuscript in detail. For this edition the complete orchestral material is available for hire, and the vocal score and full score contain both English and German singing texts. 

  • A milestone of late Romantic choral music, and a standard work in Great Britain
  • First modern score with a full Critical Report and complete performance material
  • English and German singing texts
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  • Unbenanntes Dokument Teil I

    Gerontius
    Jesus, Maria, meine Stunde kam,
    und du, Herr, du bist’s, der mich ruft; kein Zweifel frommt.
    Lässt mich erkennen meines Atems Not,
    des Herzens Krampf, des Blicks erlöschend Licht?
    (Jesus, erbarm dich! Heilge Maria, hilf!)
    Ein neu Gefühl sagt’s, nie zuvor gekannt,
    (Herr, steh mir bei in meiner Todesstund!)
    dass ich davon muss, dass mein Ziel ich fand.
    Welch fremd innerste Verlassenheit,
    (Hort aller Seelen, Herr, ich blick auf dich.)
    Erschöpfung aller eignen Wesenheit;

    ...

  • 2300400380000st.en Part I

    Gerontius
    Jesu, Maria – I am near to death,
    And Thou art calling me; I know it now.
    Not by the token of this falt’ring breath,
    This chill at heart, this dampness on my brow, –
    (Jesu, have mercy! Mary, pray for me!)
    ’Tis this new feeling, never felt before,
    (Be with me, Lord, in my extremity!)
    That I am going, that I am no more.
    ’Tis this strange innermost abandonment,
    (Lover of souls! great God! I look to Thee,)
    This emptying out of each constituent

    ...

  • Vorwort


    „This is the best of me; for the rest, I ate, and drank, and slept, loved and hated, like another; my life was as the vapour, and is not; but this I saw and knew: this, if anything of mine, is worth your memory“, schrieb Elgar hinter den Schlusstakt seiner Partitur,1 als er am 3. August 1900 die Arbeit am Dream of Gerontius, einem Auftragswerk für das Musikfest zu Birmingham, vollendet hatte.Das Zitat ist ein ganz persönliches Bekenntnis des Komponisten, für dieses religiöse Werk mehr als je zuvor sein Herz geöffnet und eine einzigartige emotionale Ebene erreicht zu haben. Umso enttäuschter reagierte er auf die missglückte Uraufführung zwei Monate später: „I have allowed my heart to open once – it is now shut against every religious feeling and every soft, gentle impulse for ever.“2


    Das Libretto


    The Dream of Gerontius war das erste große geistliche Werk Elgars überhaupt – komponiert vier Jahre nach dem 1896 für das Three Choirs Festival entstandenen „short oratorio“ The Light ofLife (Lux Christi) op. 29. Doch anders als bei diesem Werk über die Heilung des

    ...

  • Foreword

     

    “This is the best of me; for the rest, I ate, and drank, and slept, loved and hated, like another; my life was as the vapour, and is not; but this I saw and knew: this, if anything of mine, is worth your memory,” Elgar wrote after the final bar of his score1 when he completed work on The Dream of Gerontius, a commission for the Birmingham Musical Festival, on 3 August 1900. The quotation is a very personal confession by the composer that he had opened his heart more than ever before for this religious work and had reached a unique emotional level. Two months later, his disappointment in view of the failed premiere was all the greater: “I have allowed my heart to open once – it is now shut against every religious feeling and every soft, gentle impulse for ever.”2

      The libretto

     

    The Dream of Gerontius was Elgar’s first major sacred work; it was composed four years after the “short oratorio” The Light of Life (Lux Christi) op. 29, which was written in 1896 for the Three Choirs Festival. But – unlike the latter composition which dealt with the healing of the blind man from the

    ...

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Full score, foreword in German and English Carus 23.004/00, ISMN 979-0-007-24078-3 336 pages, paperback
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139,00 € / copy
Vocal score Carus 23.004/03, ISMN 979-0-007-24079-0 176 pages, paperback
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27,00 € / copy
Set of parts, complete orchestral parts, for hire Carus 23.004/19, ISMN 979-0-007-30129-3 23 x 32 cm
  • 1 x Set of parts, harmony parts, for hire, flute 1, flute 2 / piccolo, oboe 1, oboe 2, english horn, clarinet 1, clarinet 2, bass clarinet, bassoon 1, bassoon 2, contrabasson, french horn 1, french horn 2, french horn 3, french horn 4, trumpet 1 and 2, trumpet 3, trombone 1 and 2, trombone 3, tuba, timpani, gran cassa / cymbal / tamtam / campanelli, small drum / triangolo / bells, harp 1 and 2 (23.004/09)
     
    10 x Individual part, violin 1, for hire (23.004/11)
     
    9 x Individual part, violin 2, for hire (23.004/12)
     
    8 x Individual part, viola, for hire (23.004/13)
     
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    6 x Individual part, double bass, for hire (23.004/15)
     
    1 x Individual part, organ, for hire (23.004/49)
     
Full score digital (download), pdf file Carus 23.004/00-010-000, ISMN 979-0-007-29594-3 336 pages
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Digital text (without sheet music) incl. printing licence, html file, Introductory text, german Carus 23.004/00-310-000
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Digital text (without sheet music) incl. printing licence, html file, Introductory text, english Carus 23.004/00-320-000
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Digital text (without sheet music) incl. printing licence, html file, singing text, german translation Carus 23.004/00-350-000
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Digital text (without sheet music) incl. printing licence, html file, singing text, original Carus 23.004/00-380-000
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Vocal score digital (download), pdf file Carus 23.004/03-010-000, ISMN 979-0-007-34694-2 176 pages
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Set of parts digital (download), zip file, pdf file, complete orchestral parts, for hire Carus 23.004/19-010-000 23 x 32 cm
  • 1 x Set of parts digital (download), zip file, pdf file, harmony parts, for hire (23.004/09-010-000)
     
    10 x Individual part digital (download), pdf file, violin 1, for hire (23.004/11-010-000)
     
    9 x Individual part digital (download), pdf file, violin 2, for hire (23.004/12-010-000)
     
    8 x Individual part digital (download), pdf file, viola, for hire (23.004/13-010-000)
     
    7 x Individual part digital (download), pdf file, violoncello, for hire (23.004/14-010-000)
     
    6 x Individual part digital (download), pdf file, double bass, for hire (23.004/15-010-000)
     
    1 x Individual part digital (download), pdf file, organ, for hire (23.004/49-010-000)
     

Contents

  • Edward Elgar was born on 2 June 1857 in Broadheath near Worcester. As a child he learnt to play the piano and violin with his father William Henry and local music teachers. As a composer he was self-taught, but he only became really well-known and successful with his compositions in the 1890s. He achieved his first notable successes with his first cantatas The Black Knight (1893) and King Olaf (1896), and his oratorio The Light of Life (1896). But his ultimate breakthrough as a composer came in 1899 with the Enigma Variations op. 36, and a year later with his major work, the oratorio The Dream of Gerontius.
    Elgar is regarded as an important representative of late Romanticism in music, and was one of the few British composers after Purcell to achieve international recognition.

    Personal details

Reviews

Die komplett zweisprachige Partitur versteht sich als erste kritische Edition des Werks. Sie löst die Diskrepanzen, die im bisher vorliegenden gedruckten Aufführungsmaterial vor allem in der Dynamik und Artikulation vorhanden waren, nachvollziehbar auf. Erwähnenswert ist der sehr umfangreiche kritische Bericht, der alle fraglichen Details umfassend auflistet. Für Expert:innen sicher eine lohnende Anschaffung...

Chorzeit, No. 101, Feb 2023


Wer die Möglichkeit hat, dieses Opus Magnum aufzuführen, der hat hier endlich alle Materialien in bester Qualität dazu aus einer Hand.

Kirchenmusik im Erzbistum Köln, Heft 2/2022


All das lässt sich nun studieren in der neuen, wunderbar lesbaren Ausgabe bei Carus, ergänzt um das Libretto und einen sorgfältigst dokumentierenden kritischen Bericht. 

Das Ochester, 12/2022


I am in awe of this new offering from Carus and I reel at the energy and expertise that has been marshalled in order to create the new edition of Gerontius. 

Choir & Organ, Oktober 2022


Die neue Urtext-Ausgabe bringt uns schon im gut lesbaren Vorwort auf Tuchfühlung mit den verschiedenen Facetten des Werks...

FAZ, 24.07.2022

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Frequent questions about this work

How are the chorus and semi-chorus scored?

The chorus and semi-chorus both divide into eight parts (SSAATTBB) in the final choruses of Part I and II. Elgar recommended 18 singers (5544) for the semi-chorus, with a minimum of 8 to 12. The number of percussion players: minimum 1 timpanist and 3 percussionists Other scoring options: the source material also allows for performance with just single flute and a piccolo, just single oboe and a cor anglais, and one harp. The orchestral parts are laid out accordingly.
Yes, the measure numbers and rehearsal numbers match.
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