Chester Music Society Choir: The Dream of Gerontius

The Dream of Gerontius is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Sir Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgement before God.

Gerontius (a name derived from the Greek word geron, "old man") is a devout Everyman. Elgar's setting uses most of the text of the first part of the poem, which takes place on Earth. This music is now cherished by believers of many denominations, as well as by countless agnostic music-lovers. It is no longer the doctrine that matters, but the heartfelt expression of loss and hope in the face of death: ‘Farewell, but not for ever!’