GERALD FINZI: Three compilations [mp3]

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Much can be said about the haunting music and short life of Gerald Finzi. He cultivated apples as well as young musicians & poets. He loved English literature and his library was vast. The music manifested from the words, he stated, not the other way around. He worked hard to resurrect forgotten composers and feared his little contribution, like himself, might be forgotten.

�His 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 was 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, characteristic radiance.�

[Gerald Finzi: His Life & Music by Diana McVeagh]

I was driving while listening to the classical radio station when the host announced she was about to play something incredibly beautiful, something she will always remember the very place and moment when she first heard it. Finzi�s �Eclogue for piano and strings� carried me down the highway with a poignant swell of emotion that would lead to a journey into further music of this composer. When I introduced his work to a friend, she responded, �Anyone would have to be crazy not to love this man�s music�.

Finzi #1

Gerald Finzi (1901-1956)

1) Eclogue for piano and strings
2) Love�s Labor�s Lost: Introduction
3) A Severn Rhapsody for strings
4) Introit for violin and small orchestra
5) Magnificat for chorus & organ

Dies Natalis for tenor & strings
Wilfred Brown and The English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Christopher Finzi
6) Intrada
7) Rhapsody
8) The Rapture
9) Wonder
10) The Salutation
11) Cello Concerto: 3rd movement

Download Finzi zip (http://filewinds.com/g8xepls3fm2p/Finzi_1.zip.html)

These are compilations from various sources. I have listened to version after version with various orchestras, soloists, choruses and conductors. Most special is Dies Natalils. Inspired by the short lived, practically unknown (Finzi was always the advocate of the underdog) metaphyicical poet Thomas Traherne. The orchestra is conducted by Christopher Finzi and the tenor is Wilfred Brown. Listen how it is sung- so succinct to a point of piercing clarity and true passion, a complete understanding of the words. This is a child looking at the world for the first time:

�From dust I rise
And out of nothing now awake;
These brighter regions which salute mine Eyes
A gift from God I take:
The earth, the seas, the seas, the lofty skies,
The sun and Stars are mine; if these I prise.�

Finzi #2

Gerald Finzi (1901-1906)

1) Romance for string orchestra

Farewell To Arms for tenor & orchestra
2) Introduction
3) Aria

Requiem da Camera for baritone, chorus & orchestra
4) Prelude
5) Quasi senza misua
6) Con dignita
7) = about 66

8) The Fall of the Leaf: Elegy for orchestra
9) Prelude for string orchestra
10) Nocturne: New Year Music
11) Concerto for Clarinet: 2nd Movement

Download Finzi zip (http://filewinds.com/noqauw3zqux0/Finzi_2.zip.html)

Rather than express regret for what this wonderful composer didn�t live to give us, or dig around to find pieces that he quite clearly thought were not fit to leave his workshop (in the case of the recently put-together Violin Concerto -his self-criticism was more than justified), let us celebrate him for what he did do.

Hope you enjoy this musical journey that is so close to my heart. As Finzi wrote: �To shake hands with a good friend over the centuries is a pleasant thing, and the affection which an individual may retain after his departure is perhaps the only thing which guarantees an ultimate life to his work.�

Finzi # 3

Gerald Finzi (1901-1906)

Grand Fantasia and Toccata for piano & orchestra
1) Molto grave
2) Alleggro vigoroso

In Terra Pax
3) A frosty Christmas Eve
4) And lo, the Angel of the Lord came upon them

Three Solioquies from �Loves Labours Lost�
5) I The King�s poem
6) II Longaville�s Sonnet
7) III Dumaine�s Poem

8) Elegy for violin & piano

Five Bagatelles for clarinet & strings
9) I Prelude
10) II Romance
11) III Carol
12) IV Forlana
13) V Fughetta

Ode For Saint Cecilia
14) Delightful Goddess
15) Changed is the age
16) How came you, lady
17) How smiling
18) Wherefore we bid you to the full concent

Download Finzi zip (http://filewinds.com/dfusmzmxr2f5/Finzi_3.zip.html)

thanks Phideas1

A perfect choice for my "Desert Island Discs"!
I am not crazy and I love Finzi’s music!
As a matter of fact for 7 months my neighbors have been accustomed to listening
to this beautiful music more than anything else (thanks to your previous posts).
Thank you very much for giving us this joy!

Gerald Finzi