The Apostles (Elgar) The Apostles (Elgar) The Apostles, Op. 49, is an oratorio for soloists, chorus and orchestra composed by Edward Elgar. It was first performed on 14 October 1903. After his international success with the "Enigma Variations" (1899) and "The Dream of Gerontius "(1900), Elgar was commissioned by the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival, which had also produced "Gerontius", to write a new choral work. This encouraged Elgar to start composing a large-scale work on a subject he had been contemplating, according to the composer, since boyhood when he had even started selecting the words. "The Apostles", like its successor "The Kingdom", depicts
Communion of the Apostles (Signorelli) he is delivering them. Among the apostles, Judas Iscariot is portrayed while turning towards the seer: at the same time, he is hiding into his purse the coin of his betrayal. The altarpiece was most likely accompanied by a predella. Three of its panels have been identified with the "Meeting of the Pilgrims on the Road to Emmaus" and "Supper in Emmaus" in the Julius Weitznel collection, and with the "St. Catherine of Alexandria" now at the Museo Horne in Florence. Communion of the Apostles (Signorelli) The Communion of the Apostles is a painting by Italian Renaissance artist Luca Signorelli,