Gerontius itself needs no introduction, among the best known and extensively scutinised of all of Elgar’s works, so why publish a second edition?

The first edition, published in 1982, was only the second volume to appear in the Complete Edition, before the series had developed a house style and attained an equilibrium. The preliminaries to the first edition are rudimentary: a single-page Foreword, a Commentary listing containing only eight entries, two illustrations and no listing or description of sources.

A new and significantly improved second edition is an appropriate way of marking the fortieth anniversary of the publication of the first edition, not just commemorating the date of publication but also demonstrating the lengthy range of improvements that have been gradually incorporated in Complete Edition volumes over the past 15 years. These include not only an ability to draw upon a much greater range of sources, including sketches and proofs initially collected by Jaeger and acquired by the British Library in 1997, but:

• a fully re-originated full score;
• the full text of Cardinal Newman’s poem from which Elgar created his libretto, highlighted to distinguish those sections retained and rejected by Elgar and also containing the annotations added by General Gordon to his published copy of the poem found in his possession at the time of his death in Khartoum;
• Jaeger’s thematic analysis of Elgar’s work including 76 musical examples and Jaeger’s labelling of the themes, commissioned by the Birmingham Festival Committee and published in the Festival programme;
• an extensive 18-page Foreword covering the historical development of the work from Newman’s writing of the poem, through the Birmingham Festival’s commissioning and Elgar’s composition of the work, and the difficult premère to March 1903, where a succession of ten performances confirms the work’s acceptance. Much of the engaging correspondence between Elgar and Jaeger is reproduced in detail, and a number of readily accepted premises are challenged.
• The volume also contains 8 pages of illustrations, including facsimiles of Elgar’s short-score setting of the four-line passage beginning ‘I had a dream’ which he omitted from the completed work;
• and comes complete with detailed descriptions of the numerous sources (including Elgar’s annotations to his manuscript full score for the performance of the Prelude and Angel’s Farewell as an orchestral suite) and a full Commentary listing.

Elgar Works’ long-held aim has been to develop electronic editions of selected Complete Edition volumes. With so many features that can be enhanced through computerised versatility we intend to develop the Gerontius volume as our first electronic edition when the availability of the necessary rersources allows.

The volume can be obtained through all good book stores and specialist music shops, or directly from the publisher. For details, visit the How to Purchase page.

Series I : Choral Works

Publication History

• First published : 1982
• Publisher : Novello (Music Sales)
• Novello catalogue number : NOV730006 (hardback); NOV730006-01 (softback)
• Current availability : currently out of print

• Second (revised and expanded) edition published : April 2023
• Publisher : Elgar Works
• ISBN : 978-1-904856-06-1 (hardback)

Detailed Description (First Edition)

• Editors :Jerrold Northrop Moore, Christopher Kent
• Number of pages : xii + 212
• Page size : 432 mm x 280 mm (portrait)
• Binding : cloth (hardback) and paper (softback)
• Number of illustrations : 2 (monochrome)
• Contents :
  • Foreword
  • Composer's note recording the forces required
  • Critical commentary
  • Illustrations
  • List of contents
  • The Dream of Gerontius full score

Detailed Description (Second Edition)

• Editor :Iain Farrington
• Number of pages : lix + 283
• Page size : 432 mm x 280 mm (portrait)
• Binding : cloth
• Number of illustrations : 27 (monochrome)
• Contents :
  • A much expended scholarly foreword with a comprehensive account of correspondence between Elgar and Jaeger during the compositional process
  • A detailed description of all known source material, including the full text of John Henry Newman's poem showing the exicision made by Elgar to create his libretto
  • A comprehensive commentary detailing editorial decisions and amendments
  • The Dream of Gerontius re-originated full score
  • Jaeger's Analytical Note, prepared for publication in advance of the performance and republished by Novello in 1974.

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