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The Dream of Gerontius is a large musical work for choir: three solo singers and orchestra composed by Edward Elgar. It was composed and first performed in 1900. It is an oratorio, although Elgar did not like it being called an “oratorio”, but this is how it is usually described. It is usually thought of as the best choral work Elgar ever wrote.
The words are from a poem by John Henry Newman. They are supposed to be the words of a man called Gerontius who is dying. He imagines what is going to happen to him when he dies: how he will meet God who will judge whether he has been good enough to go to heaven. The angel speaks to him in the poem. There is also a priest, and a short solo for the Angel of Agony. The work is in two parts. Part I is about 40 minutes long and Part II lasts about an hour.