Festival Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Conducted by Adrian Lucas
Worcester Cathedral
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Elgar "The Apostles"

Soloists: Sarah Fox (Soprano)
Frances McAfferty (Contralto)
John Daszak (Tenor)
Alan Ewing (Bass, St Peter)
Peter Savidge (Bass, Jesus)
Michael Pearce (Bass, Judas)

With the growing success of The Dream of Gerontius, first in Germany and later in England, despite its disastrous premiere at the 1900 Birmingham Triennial Festival, Elgar accepted a further commission for the 1903 Festival. Now at last was the opportunity he had waited for, almost since boyhood, of setting virtually the whole New Testament in an oratorio like no other. There were to be major problems in realising his vision. The greatness of The Apostles represents a significant advance from The Dream of Gerontius and was a new type of work that imaginatively blended the English oratorio tradition with Wagnerism into an almost coherent, unified whole with its continuous weaving of soloists, chorus and orchestra. It also points inevitably to the symphonic form where Elgar's future skills were to lie.