One hundred years ago this month, an event took place in central London that was effectively the Live Aid of its day. It was April 1916, and Britain was in the throes of the First World War. Death, danger and destruction were all around; the nation’s young men were falling like flies in the battles that were raging in trenches in foreign fields.

The people at home needed rallying, and the war effort needed bolstering: and those were the dual aims of the event that became known as the Festival Gerontius, which was organised by the Proms founder Sir Henry Wood and Clara Butt, the leading contralto of her day; she was made a dame in the wake of the event, in honour of her contribution to it and to the war effort.

The festival, proceeds from which were given to the Red Cross, was based on Elgar’s masterpiece The Dream of Gerontius, a composition for choir, orchestra and soloists that was to become, across the course of the twentieth century, one of the nation’s favourite large-scale works of art. The orchestra was the London Symphony Orchestra, then only 12 years into its lifespan: and next week (24 April) they will be performing it again, at the Barbican, to mark the anniversary of the event.

Back in 1916 the conductor was the composer, Elgar, himself; next week it will be Sir Mark Elder, who says Gerontius is a piece many people have taken to their hearts. Over time, he says, “it’s been performed in many different ways, interpretations differing as the emotional content is experienced differently”. Of his own reaction to it, “it’s hard to say how my approach has changed, although it surely has, as my understanding of the spiritual world has deepened”.