What is The Kingdom (Elgar)?
{{italictitle}} '''''The Kingdom''''', Op. 51, is an [[oratorio]] for soloists, [[choir|chorus]] and [[orchestra]] composed by [[Edward Elgar]]. It was first performed at the Birmingham Music Festival on 3 October 1906, with the orchestra conducted by the composer, and soloists Agnes Nicholls, Muriel Foster, John Coates and William Higley. ==History of its composition== Elgar thought for a long time about the idea of writing an oratorio about the [[Twelve Apostles|apostles]]. He decided in the end to write not just one, but three oratorios (a “trilogy”). The first one was to be about the apostles being called to follow Jesus. This one was called ''[[The Apostles (Elgar)|The Apostles]]'' and was composed and performed in 1903. The second one was to be about the apostles being [[persecution|persecuted]]. This one, first performed in 1906, was given the title '''The Kingdom'''. The third one was going to be about the [[Last Judgement]]. Elgar never got round to composing it, although he thought about it as late as the [[1920s]]. Elgar prepared the words of ''The Kingdom'' himself. He describes events from the [[Acts of the Apostles]], and he also put in lines from the [[Gospel]]s, the [[Old Testament]] and the [[Apocrypha]]. A lot of the music is calm and thoughtful rather than dramatic. If Elgar had completed all three oratorios, ''The Kingdom'' would have been the middle one: quiet and relective between two more dramatic ones. As in ''The Apostles'' , Elgar used the idea of the [[Leitmotif]]. This is something that [[Richard Wagner]] had developed in his [[opera]]s: the technique of having short tunes (motifs) which represent particular characters or events in the story. The oratorio is divided into a [[prelude]] which is played by the orchestra, and five parts. ==Performers== ''The Kingdom'' is written for a large [[orchestra]]. There is a double [[choir|chorus]] (the choir split into 8 parts) with [[semichorus]], and four [[solo (music)|soloists]] who represent The [[Virgin Mary|Blessed Virgin