Be Merciful, Be Gracious is a chorus from
Edward Elgar's 'The Dream of Gerontius', scored for SATB Voices and Organ or Piano accompaniment in this Novello edition.
The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38, is a work for Voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man'ssoul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory. Elgar disapproved of the use of the term 'oratorio' for the work, though his wishes are not always followed. The piece is widelyregardedas Elgar's finest choral work, and some consider it his masterpiece. Sir Edward Elgar was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British andinternational classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for Violin and Cello, and two symphonies. He wasappointed Master of the King's Musick in 1924.
