Digitising Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius

Edward Elgar’s, The Dream of Gerontius, is a setting of Cardinal John Henry Newman’s poem of the same name for voices and orchestra. It is an important work of Elgar which helped identify him as a composer of international significance.

A project involving the University of Oxford, the National Institute of Newman Studies (USA) and the National Trust has digitised the manuscript to make it available to a wider audience. Part of the project has developed new commentary and insight into the process of using photography as part of the curation process. During the process of digitising the manuscript notes and amendments that Elgar made to the score whilst writing it reveal further insights into his working methods.