Henry Walford Davies's splendid oratorio was written and first heard in 1904, in the shadow of Elgar's Gerontius. Yet it was an immediate success and widely performed. But by the end of the First World War it had fallen into oblivion, apart from an isolated revival in 1929. Like Gerontius, it's based on a vision of a human soul crossing into the next world, where Everyman has to justify his life to God.
It, too, offers dialogues between Everyman and the subsidiary characters, here representing Good Deeds (a particularly lovely duo) and Knowledge (jointly, the equivalent of Elgar's Angel). There's no 'Go forth' at the end of Part 1: here the choral sequences are more lyrical. Instead, Everyman learns that the attributes he's taken for granted in life (friends, possessions, physical attributes) will be left behind when he dies; riches, too, are sneeringly dismissed. The choral Epilogue brings a thrillingly optimistic conclusion. The solo parts must be very grateful to sing, and the soloists here rise to the occasion. The frequently inspired choral writing is at times Elgarian, though there's no hint of plagiarism, and the music is communicative and appealing.
David Drummond's direction has a powerful yet lyrical thrust, with the feeling of a live performance.
The recording is first class, too.