The Dream Of Gerontius

The Dream of Gerontius is a setting of Cardinal John Henry Newman’s poem, originally composed by Sir Edward Elgar in 1900. The work was initially premiered at the Birmingham Music Festival, where it faced a difficult reception due to the complexity of the score and the fatigue of the performers. Over the twentieth century, however, it established itself as one of the preeminent masterpieces of the English choral tradition, capturing the spiritual tension and profound mysticism of Newman’s verse through Elgar’s expansive, late-Romantic musical language.

This particular 1999 EMI Classics release features the landmark 1964 recording conducted by Sir John Barbirolli. Barbirolli was widely considered one of the definitive interpreters of Elgar’s work, and this performance—featuring the contralto Janet Baker in one of her most celebrated roles—is frequently cited by critics as a benchmark for its emotional depth and structural integrity. By the time of this 1999 reissue, the recording had long been regarded as an essential document of twentieth-century British musical performance.