MONMOUTH Choral Society are performing Edward Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius this month – one of the towering achievements of English classical music.

They will be joined at Monmouth's Blake Theatre on Saturday, November 22 (7.30pm), by Chepstow Choral Society, professional soloists including former Haberdashers' Monmouth pupil Andrew Henley, and The Regency Sinfonia.

A spokesperson said: "Monmouth Choral Society are delighted to present this unique opportunity to hear a live performance of this monumental work.

"We are pleased to welcome Chepstow Choral Society who we have invited to join with us to create the substantial chorus needed for this special performance.

“Joining us will be talented soloists, tenor Andrew Henley and mezzo-soprano Susan Marrs, both of whom leant their incredible talent to MCS’s performance of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle last Autumn, along with the wonderful bass voice of Alex Jones.

"And the Regency Sinfonia will complete the line up for this wonderful evening of inspiring music."

Monmouth Choral Society has been making music for more than 150 years, bringing local singers together with professional soloists, accompanists and orchestras, to learn and perform great choral music.

Their repertoire includes a wide range, from Early Music and Baroque, to Classical and modern compositions.

Elgar, who lived in Hereford for several years, set Cardinal John Henry Newman's poem The Dream of Gerontius to music in 1900.

It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory.

Today, the work is undoubtedly the most popular of all Elgar's choral works, and “no-one can remain unmoved” by the priest's invocation to Gerontius –as part one ends – to 'go forth' (Proficiscere, anima Christiana); nor, in part two, by the chorus of Praise to the Holiest.

Tickets £20/ U18s free are available via theblaketheatre.org