The British Music Collection/ Decca


2001 Celebration of Gerald Finzi�s Centenary

Disc: 1
1. In terra pax, Op. 39
2. Dies natalis, Op. 8
3. For St Cecilia
4. Amen - lo, the full, final sacrifice, Op. 26

Disc: 2
1. Magnificat, Op. 36
2. Romance for string orchestra, Op. 11
3. Earth and air and rain, Op. 16
4. Let us garlands bring, Op. 18


Finzi�s music is shot through with visionary gleams:in Dies Natalis, the sultry gold of �the corn was orient and immortal wheat� or the bated breath of �everything at rest, free and immortal��. Not loud or commanding, Finzi�s voice is lyrical, candid, and fastidious. No one else has quite his shades of shy rapture or melancholy, his characteristic radiance.


https://mega.co.nz/#!JhkDQAqJ!lKF-04Rt83MTFBCjp7qS_SBE9nEOppzd83RBz5hwuRs

The total duration of this double CD is 121 min.
But Phideas1 is always full of surprises!
He has included in the file three more compilations
of Gerald Finzi’s riches: 73 min., 79 min. and 76 min.
We are on the threshold of a dream: Just listen!

Thank you very much, Phideas1!

I did WHAT? Oh jeepers... must have left some old files in the same folder. Ho hum. Now everyone will have things to compare... and Wilfred Brown singing Dies Natalis which is the best version.

Wilfred Brown?
I was under the impression that Philip Langridge was the tenor in this version.

Thank you very much!

Hmmm... it appears there are three additional files besides the Decca two disc release. Disc 1 contains my favorite Dies Natalis with Wilfred Brown as tenor and Christopher (Kiffer) Finzi conducting.

And for what it is worth... it was Bernard Herrmann who suggested that this work be sung by a tenor (he had conducted his own version thusly) since the piece is listed for 'high voice' and was always sung by a woman. Herrmann never met Finzi but admired him greatly.

This download has the best of the best... inadvertently.

The words of Dies Natalis are Traherne's, but the sequence of thought is Finzi's. In the Rhapsody he celebrates natural beauty. The Rapture is all praise of the divine man. In Wonder the child ponders on his own relationship to the glories around him. In The Salutation the child asks how he came to be made, speculates on his rich inheritance and is humbled. He measures himself against eternity, The unending melody in the strings tells of the 'thousand, thousand years' against which his short life is set. No one but Finzi could have composed this radiant and tender masterpiece.

Thank you for your illuminating definitions, my friend.