The Kingdom (Elgar) The Kingdom (Elgar) The Kingdom, Op. 51, is an English-language oratorio composed in 1906 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. The dedication is ""A. M. D. G."" Elgar wrote "The Kingdom" for choral and instrumental forces. Following "The Dream of Gerontius" and "The Apostles", the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival commissioned Elgar to produce another large oratorio for the 1906 festival. This was "The Kingdom", which continues the narrative of the lives of
Church of the Twelve Apostles Fyodor Zubov and Simon Ushakov. Church of the Twelve Apostles "The Church of the Twelve Apostles () is a minor cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, commissioned by Patriarch Nikon as part of his stately residence in 1653 and dedicated to Philip the Apostle three years later. It also serves as a part of Moscow Kremlin Museums. Although premises for the Muscovite metropolitan had existed in the Kremlin ever since the 14th century, Patriarch Nikon, who aspired to rival the tsar in authority and magnificence, had them replaced with a much more ambitious residence, centered on a spacious chamber in the