Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius & Parry: Blest Pair of Sirens & I was glad

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Much of [Davies's] singing, especially in Part I, is full-throated, almost Italianate and he has all the vocal heft you could wish for...Howell is an imposing vocal presence...The choral singing... — MusicWeb International, 25th September 2013 More…

Release Date: 1st Jul 2013
Catalogue No: CHAN241-46
Label: Chandos
Series: 241, The Hickox Legacy
Length: 1 hour 54 minutes

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Parry: Blest Pair of Sirens

Work length12:03

$2.15

$2.60

Roderick Elms (organ)
London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra
Richard Hickox
Recorded: 14-16 February 1988
Recording Venue: Watford Town Hall, UK

Parry: I was glad

Work length7:09

$1.60

$1.95

Roderick Elms (organ)
London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra
Richard Hickox
Recorded: 14-16 February 1988
Recording Venue: Watford Town Hall, UK

Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38

Work length1:34:59

$34.70

$42.90

Felicity Palmer (mezzo-soprano), Gwynne Howell (bass), Arthur Davies (tenor), Roderick Elms (organ)
London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra
Richard Hickox
Recorded: 14-16 February 1988
Recording Venue: Watford Town Hall, UK

Part I: Prelude

Track length10:17

$1.60

$1.95

Part I: Jesu, Maria - I am near to death (Gerontius)

Track length3:40

$1.05

$1.30

Part I: Kyrie eleison (Chorus)

Track length2:16

$1.05

$1.30

Part I: Rouse thee, my fainting soul (Gerontius)

Track length0:51

$1.05

$1.30

Part I: Be merciful, be gracious (Chorus)

Track length3:07

$1.05

$1.30

Part I: Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus (Gerontius)

Track length4:49

$1.05

$1.30

Part I: I can no more; for now it comes again (Gerontius)

Track length1:56

$1.05

$1.30

Part I: Rescue him, O Lord (Chorus)

Track length2:16

$1.05

$1.30

Part I: Novissima hora est (Gerontius)

Track length1:29

$1.05

$1.30

Part I: Profiscere, anima Christiana (The Priest)

Track length1:59

$1.05

$1.30

Part I: Go, in the name of Angels (Chorus)

Track length4:32

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: I went to sleep (The Soul of Gerontius)

Track length6:26

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: My work is done (The Angel, The Soul of Gerontius)

Track length3:10

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: All hail, my child! (The Angel, The Soul of Gerontius)

Track length5:44

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: Low-born clods of brute earth (Chorus)

Track length1:54

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: It is the restless panting of their being (The Angel)

Track length0:16

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: The mind bold and independent (Chorus)

Track length2:20

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: I see not those false spirits (The Soul of Gerontius, The Angel)

Track length3:25

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: Praise to the Holiest (Chorus, Angel)

Track length2:40

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: We now have passed the gate (Angel, The Soul of Gerontius)

Track length0:27

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: Glory to Him (Chorus)

Track length0:30

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: They sing of thy approaching agony (The Angel, The Soul of Gerontius)

Track length0:47

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$1.30

Part II: But hark! A grand mysterious harmony (The Soul of Gerontius)

Track length0:39

$1.05

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Part II: And now the threshold (The Angel)

Track length0:32

$1.05

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Part II: Praise to the Holiest (Chorus)

Track length6:56

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: The judgment now is near (The Angel, The Soul of Gerontius)

Track length3:23

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: Jesu! By that shuddering dread (The Angel of the Agony)

Track length3:50

$1.05

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Part II: I go before my Judge (The Soul of Gerontius, Chorus)

Track length1:43

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: Praise to His Name! (The Angel)

Track length1:34

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: Take me away (The Soul of Gerontius)

Track length2:56

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: Lord, Thou hast been our refuge (Chorus)

Track length1:14

$1.05

$1.30

Part II: Softly and gently (The Angel, Chorus)

Track length7:21

$1.60

$1.95

About
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About

In The Dream of Gerontius, Elgar succeeded in writing a religious choral work that fell firmly outside the established genres of either the oratorio or the cantata, and unusually the text itself was not biblical either. The score simply states ‘set to music’ and that is exactly what it is: Cardinal Newman’s poem about the journey of a man’s soul to judgement and Purgatory, set to the music of Elgar. The composer himself knew that in this work he had created something very special indeed. On the manuscript score, he quoted Ruskin: ‘This is the best of me… this, if anything of mine, is worth your memory.’ It was written ‘from my insidest inside’, he confided to a friend, and to another he wrote that ‘you will find Gerontius far beyond anything I’ve yet done… I have written my own heart’s blood into the score.’

When it was first released, Gramophone wrote of Richard Hickox’s version of Gerontius: ‘Captured in sound of striking range and focus, Hickox’s bright-eyed conception evinces an almost operatic fervour.’ The Observer called it ‘a masterpiece’, continuing: ‘Arthur Davies is an exceptionally clear, strong and forthright Gerontius, Gwynne Howell a noble angel, while Felicity Palmer is a most unusual icily direct angel.’

On this disc we also have two works by Sir Charles Hubert H. Parry. Firstly, Blest Pair of Sirens, for which both Elgar and Vaughan Williams had the highest regard. This setting of words from Milton’s ode At a Solemn Musick was composed for the Bach Choir in 1887, which Stanford conducted, and it has remained a firm favourite with choirs ever since. Parry composed the anthem I was glad for the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902, and it has since been performed at the three subsequent coronations also (1911, 1937, and 1953) as the sovereign enters Westminster Abbey.

Reviews

25th September 2013

Much of [Davies's] singing, especially in Part I, is full-throated, almost Italianate and he has all the vocal heft you could wish for...Howell is an imposing vocal presence...The choral singing is as good as any I’ve heard on disc...The playing of the LSO is superb throughout

6th October 2013

The Elgar emphasises what was lost with Hickox’s premature death. It is powerfully dramatic (the Demons have never sounded more ferociously demonic) but hypersensitive to the marvellous subtlety of orchestral and choral colour.

Offer,Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius & Parry: Blest Pair of Sirens & I was glad

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