Elgar thought for a long time about the idea of writing an oratorio about the 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" and was composed and performed in 1903. The second one was to be about the apostles being 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.