It’s a big year for Merton College, its 750th anniversary, so it was entirely fitting that Elgar’s non-oratorio The Dream of Gerontius was chosen as one of the major events in celebration. Apart from being a favourite of the Warden, this piece is a setting of a poem by John Henry Newman who was vice-principal of St Alban Hall, now incorporated into Merton. Newman’s poem tells the story of a soul’s journey through death.
The concert, last Saturday night in the Sheldonian, was undoubtedly a huge success. The Merton College Choir, Kodaly Choir, some members of the Oxford Bach Choir, the Oxford Philomusica and three excellent soloists combined under the baton of Benjamin Nicholas, Director of Music at Merton, to perform this masterful work most wonderfully well.
It began with the orchestral prelude, which introduced the important motifs, then Gerontius sang “Jesu, Maria – I am close to death", giving voice to his fears and asking his friends to pray alongside him. Tenor Richard Edgar-Wilson sang Gerontius lyrically and with a touchingly sensitive interpretation, but strong enough to give the following Sanctus Fortis aria a most convincing rendition.
The choirs played several roles: as the attendant friends in the first part, and then demons, angels and souls in Purgatory in the second. Sometimes as a single chorus, sometimes as an eight-part double chorus, and with a semi-chorus too, they were necessarily under tight control, watched the conductor and responded beautifully. They can be delighted with their contribution to this magical performance.
The baritone soloist, Benedict Nelson, is an outstanding performer who sang the short parts of the Priest and the Angel of the Agony with great skill and feeling. As they have different ranges, they are sometimes sung by two, a bass and a baritone, but Nelson was apparently equally comfortable, and certainly convincing, in both.
The distinguished mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly, who sang the Angel in the second part, was simply superb. It’s a dream of a part and she lived The Dream, giving it a magical interpretation that held the audience spellbound. It was a privilege to be there to hear her. Her performance added to the growing intensity which led to the magnificent full chorus, Praise to the Holiest in the Height, surpassed only by the later section when the Soul goes before God. Elgar instructed that then “must every instrument exert its fullest force.” And they did.
So, as Newman decreed, Gerontius joined the other souls in Purgatory, and the Angel and chorus sang a farewell, ending with the blissfully moving overlapping amens and a stilled and satisfied audience. Benjamin Nicholas had given Merton a fitting concert to commemorate those 750 years.