This has been a hard Work to key in and arrange. The problem is mainly technical, and is down to Elgar's requirement of 12 different Choir voices - Semi-chorus SATB, Chorus 1 SATB and Chorus 2 SATB - plus three soloists (STB), sometimes all apparently singing at the same time, coupled with the need to provide four staves for the expanded piano reduction. Notionally this necessitates 19 different midi Channels - which, since General Midi only allows for 15 (plus a dedicated percussion channel), means that in the absence of two Midi devices certain Midi channels - those for Choirs 1 and 2 - have to double up. As a result, and because of the way Midi works, it may not always seem that one or other of each pair of voices - Sops 1 and 2, for instance - are singing the correct duration of note when they are singing the same note.
A very minor part of the problem is that just occasionally one voice is itself further divided - the Semi-chorus Sopranos into Sop 1 and Sop 2 in at least one place, and the Chorus 2 Sopranos into Sop 1 and Sop 2 - well, really Sop 2 and Sop 3! - in at least one other. Thanks, Elgar!. I have included the notes, but not attempted to divide the voices for real.
Another side of the problem is the Semi-chorus; it doesn't sing much, so to stop its Members being bored it has in these Files been assumed that when they're not doing their own thing they will be singing the relevant Chorus 1 parts. In these Files, then, sometimes the Semi-chorus sings its own notes, while at other times it sings the Chorus 1 notes. And sometimes the two Choruses sing the same thing, sometimes they sing something different. I suspect that on a couple of occasions I may have got confused about who's singing what. Sorry about that!
Finally, there are times - in 26: Praise to the Holiest, for example - when the use of the Voices/Channels is so confused/complex that Voices fade in and out seemingly at random. If this seriously worries you then I suggest that, using a suitable Player, you simply mute the Voices or groups of Voices that you don't care about (so if you're Choir 1, mute all the Choir 2 and the Semi-chorus); this should, as it were, free up the Midi resources, enabling your Voice to be heard more clearly.
Here is a "clickable" Table of the available Midi Files for this Work:-
Note that the Work has been divided up in two different ways. First, each of Parts 1 and 2 has been provided as a whole continuous File. Second, each Part has (for the most part) been broken into the sections listed at the back of the Score - which have been numbered from No:1 (Jesu, Maria - I am near to death) all the way to No: 35 (Praise to the Holiest), and in the Tables below each has associated with it the portion-identifying Numbers used in the score. These sections can be downloaded individually, so the "Solo" bits can be missed out if required.
In some - but not all - cases each section overlaps slightly at each end with its neighboring sections.
Part 2 is on the next page,
| Dream of Gerontius | ||||||||||||
| Semi-Chorus> | Chorus 1 | Chorus 2 | ||||||||||
| UNemphasized | Soprano | Alto | Tenor | Bass | Soprano | Alto | Tenor | Bass | Soprano | Alto | Tenor | Bass |
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| Part 1 (01-78) complete | |
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| 1: Prelude (01-22) | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None |
| 2: Jesu, Maria - I am near to death (22-29 [part])) | |
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None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None |
| 3: Kyrie Eleison (29-32) | |
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| 4: Rouse thee, my fainting soul (33-34) | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None |
| 5: Be merciful, be gracious, spare him, Lord (35-40 [part]) | |
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| 6: Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus (40-56) | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None |
| 7: I can no more (57-62) | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None |
| 8: Rescue him, O Lord, in this his evil hour (63-66 [part]) | |
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| 9: Novissima hora es (66-67) | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None |
| 10: Proficiscere anima Christiana (68-71) | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None |
| 11: Go, in the name of Angels and Archangels (72-78) | |
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That's the end of Part 1. Part 2 is on the next page
And if something doesn't work properly, please let me know (see the "Comments" section of my Homepage).
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