Sherborne Festival Chorus

Following their acclaimed performance of Gerontius in 2017, a not to be missed opportunity to hear another of Elgar's finest works performed by the Festival's own Chorus, along with four top class soloists. Like Gerontius, The Kingdom was commissioned by the Birmingham Music Festival and first performed there in 1906.

Elgar's final oratorio, it gives a moving portrait of the lives of Jesus';s disciples following the Ascension and the life of the early Church, recounted by the chorus and four soloists: the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, St Peter and St John, all still reeling from the events of Easter. With rich and colourful orchestral writing and a dramatic vocal style which is almost operatic in places, this magnificent work is Elgar at his most inspired.

Unlike Gerontius, which had a disastrous start, it was popular from the outset and at the first rehearsal the players kept breaking into spontaneous applause. Though it is not as often performed as its predecessor, the conductor Sir Adrian Boult considered it to be Elgar’s greatest choral work – praise indeed!

Chameleon Arts Orchestra: Conductor - Paul Ellis
Soprano - Sophie Bevan
Mezzo-soprano - Frances Bourne
Tenor - David Webb
Bass - Craig Bissex