Edward Elgar and His World by Byron Adams Page A

the Roman Catholic view of death and the hereafter in its most orthodox form—the work must necessarily make but a limited appeal to those whose faith, like that of Tennyson, “has centre everywhere, nor cares to fix itself to form.” 46 But, regarded as a work of art, “The Dream of Gerontius” is entitled to all the eulogies that have been showered upon it. Despite the adverse conditions that obtained at Covent Garden, the fervour and dignity of the music, its often beautiful melody and the composer’s exceedingly fertile and judicious use of every modern orchestral device, combined to produce an effect of overpowering grandeur. Repeated hearings do but serve to convince us that “Gerontius” deserves to rank as one of the few masterpieces of modern oratorio.
    The same cannot be said of “The Apostles,” which is sadly lacking in the homogeneity of the earlier work. The libretto is poor in construction; it lacks a central idea and the feeling of unity that this should inspire. It is a succession of scenes, many of them vivid and interesting in themselves, but with little mutual coherence or connection. The music unquestionably suffers from this. Fine as much of it is, it does not show the mastery of material which is to be found in “Gerontius.” There is a constant straining after effect, with no proportionate result—indeed, at times the mere piling up of one effect upon another seems to defeat its own object. The elaborate intricacy of the musical structure obscures the main outline of the composer’s conception—one cannot see the wood for the trees. In certain scenes, too, Dr. Elgar’s desire to heighten the dramatic value of the music has carried him dangerously near the confines of bad taste, as when Mary Magdalene, in the hour of her deep contrition, is haunted by recollections of the rioting and wantonness of her past life, or when Judas’s reference to the thirty pieces of silver is illustrated by an accompaniment suggestive of the chinking of money—a device borrowed, by the way, from Verdi’s “Falstaff,” where it is appropriate enough, though it sounds oddly out of place in an oratorio. The performance of “The Apostles” was a constant struggle against unfavourable conditions. As in “Gerontius,” the choral work did not create half the effect it should have done, and the appearance and general atmosphere of the theatre seemed strangely out of harmony with the solemnity of a work dealing with the subject of “The Apostles.”
    [...] The net result of the festival is to place Dr. Elgar in a position such as has probably never been occupied by an English musician before. His popularity is beyond question, and his influence upon the future of English music must necessarily be very important. It is to be hoped that he will recognize this to the full, and will take a serious view of the responsibility which his brilliant talent has laid upon him.
    Musical Gossip
BY ‘C OMMON T IME ’
    Musical Opinion 27 (April 1904): 521–22
    D R . E DWARD E LGAR has come out of the festival organised in his honour with flying colours. As a rule, a program [sic] devoted entirely to the work of one man is apt to prove wearisome, and there was every reason to think that three concerts of Elgar’s music would be too much of a good thing. But the truth is that the composer, from the “Froissart” overture to “The Apostles,” has had many styles which are only bound together by a thread of individuality. The temperament of the composer, of course, has not changed. What may be called the “Elgarian” cast of melody is as noticeable in the early works as in the later, although the workmanship is very different.
    A SECOND hearing of “The Apostles” did not make me alter my first opinion of it in any essential degree. The score contains some glowingly imaginative pages which, in