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The Dream of Gerontius

Hear this towering work performed by the City of London Choir and the Choir of King’s College Cambridge with the RPO, under the baton of Daniel Hyde.

Part of Classical Season - Spring/Summer 2025

More details for Royal Festival Hall

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Famously considered by Elgar ‘the best of me’, The Dream of Gerontius is all-engrossing, from its hushed, emotionally charged opening to its shattering climax.

This performance, 125 years since the work’s premiere, is the first joint concert for conductor Daniel Hyde’s two choirs: City of London Choir and the world-famous Choir of King’s College, Cambridge.

Gerontius broke boundaries in 1900. It proved that a British composer could write a sacred choral work that stood comparison with the great oratorios.

Unlike traditional oratorios, though, Elgar’s music is ‘through-composed’ – continuously evolving with the drama – and owes much to Wagnerian opera.

‘Since Parsifal, nothing of this mystic, religious kind of music has appeared… that displays the same power and beauty as yours,’ said Elgar’s friend, the music publisher August Jaeger.

Elgar also charted new waters by setting a spiritual but not, crucially, a biblical text. Cardinal Newman’s poem describes a devout man’s final hours on earth and his soul’s journey to judgement.

Distinctively Catholic themes (including the choruses of wild Demons, thrilling, exultant Angels and Souls in Purgatory) were highly controversial at the time.

Yet Gerontius is Everyman; and Elgar’s mighty work, one of the most cherished for chorus and orchestra, transcends religious differences.

The exquisite final bars, in which the guardian Angel lays the Soul to rest with a loving farewell, are full of consolation and extraordinary emotional resonance that speak to all.

Performers

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Daniel Hyde conductor

Kathryn Rudge mezzo-soprano

Andrew Staples tenor

James Platt bass

City of London Choir

King's College Choir, Cambridge

Repertoire

Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius

Need to know

Age guidance

For ages 7+

For your visit

This event is held at the Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre

The Royal Festival Hall is open six days a week.

Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 11pm
Monday, closed.

A concrete building with flags on the roof, with the London Eye and Big Ben in the background

A lively crowd cheers with raised hands, while a performer in a white hat and suit plays guitar, against red lighting.

A guitarist performing on a dark stage at the Royal Festival Hall, lit up by multiple spotlights.

Pianis Víkingur Ólafsson is seated at a grand piano while playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations on the stage of Royal Festival Hall

Organist Carol Williams plays the Royal Festival Hall organ whiich is illumiated with bold colours

The Royal Festival Hall is home to our largest auditorium as well as The Clore Ballroom, National Poetry Library, Members’ Lounge, Festival Bar & Kitchen, Ballroom Cafe and Skylon restaurant.

Getting here

Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.

The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.

We’re cash-free

Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.

We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.

All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.

All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.

On Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall you can grab a slice of life by the Thames with drinks and freshly made pizza at our Festival Bar & Kitchen which opens out onto our Riverside Terrace. You can grab a coffee and a slice of freshly made cake from our Ballroom Cafe. Or alternatively enjoy destination dining in the restaurant at Skylon.

From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.

Other places to eat and drink whilst you’re here