The Spirit of the Lord
Edward Elgar - (1857-1934)
This chorus is from his oratorio The Apostles and uses text from Isaiah chapter 61. Although the most recent of our composers tonight, his style was embedded in the Romantic harmonies and rich textures of the nineteenth century. English folksong was undergoing a revival of interest in the early part of the twentieth century from which, some say, the modal melodies and leisurely rhythms give an Englishness to the music of his contemporaries, however, Elgar looks stalwartly back to Brahms in style and aspiration.
Programme notes compiled by Sara Kemsley