Edward Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
No interval

Sir Mark Elder conducts Elgar's profound and heartfelt choral work, The Dream of Gerontius.

Elgar's magnum opus, The Dream of Gerontius, combines technique, brilliant virtuosity, heartfelt passion and inspiring humanity. Indeed, something very meaningful and profound took hold of Elgar as he began work on the piece, which sets Cardinal Newman's poem tracing a man's journey from faithful life to redemptive death.

'These trees are singing my music,' he wrote above the music for his thrilling hymn Praise to the Holiest, 'or have I sung theirs?' A charged Elgar went on to deliver a work of total conviction, for his wife Alice, 'a real message of consolation to the world.'

5.30pm at Royal Festival Hall - Pre-concert discussion.
The Edwardian Era - Empire, Society and Culture

What was the influence of the Belle Époque? How was culture affected by the rise in interest in socialism and rapid industrialisation? How did England lead the way in the creative arts? Academics and cultural commentators come together to discuss the Edwardian aesthetic. Panel to include composer Anthony Payne and academic Dr Heather Wiebe.

Celebrating the Royal Philharmonic Society's Bicentenary and linked to the LPO's performance of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, this series of events (see below) draws inspiration from the pioneering spirit and drive of Edwardian Culture in England and how it shaped artistic thought through the 20th Century and beyond. These events are a part of the Southbank Centre's The Rest Is Noise Festival.

Other Events In This Series
On 26 January
2.30pm English Visionaries A distinguished speaker offers their thoughts on the influence and reach of Edwardian artistic thought.

4pm My Music, Your Music Premiere of a new film installation that brings together a range of young musicians voicing their thoughts and visions of music in the future.

Performers

London Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Mark Elder conductor
Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano
Paul Groves tenor
Brindley Sherratt bass
London Philharmonic Choir
Clare College Choir, Cambridge

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