List of compositions by Gerald Finzi
The early-twentieth-century British composer Gerald Finzi (1901–1956) is recognized largely for several song cycles, setting texts from a wide selection English poets, including Thomas Traherne, William Shakespeare, John Milton, Christina Rossetti, Thomas Hardy, Robert Bridges and Edmund Blunden. However, his oeuvre includes well-regarded concerti for clarinet and cello, choral works, works for string orchestra, and chamber music.
Born in London, Finzi was of German Jewish and Italian Jewish descent. However, the style of his compositions places him as among the most characteristically "English" composers of his generation. Additionally, despite being agnostic, he wrote a significant amount of inspired and imposing Christian choral music that remains consistently in the performance repertoire.
List of compositions by opus number
The most common method of numbering Finzi's works is by opus number as assigned by his publishers during his lifetime.[1]
Opus Number[1] | Title of composition | Year(s) composed | First performance | Comments | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ten Children’s Songs Songs to poems by Christina Rossetti |
1920-21 | - |
|
- |
2 | By Footpath and Stile | 1921-22 | - |
|
- |
3 | English Pastorals and Elegies No. 1 – A Severn Rhapsody No. 2 – Requiem da camera |
1923 (A Severn Rhapsody) | - |
|
- |
4 | Psalms for unaccompanied SATB | - | - |
|
- |
5 | Three Short Elegies | 1926 | - |
|
- |
6 | Introit | mid-1920s | May 1927 1928 |
|
- |
7 | Nocturne (New Year Music) for Orchestra in C-Sharp Minor | 1926, rev. 1940's | - | - | - |
8 | Dies natalis (cantata for strings and solo voice) | mid-1920's, 1938–1939 | Wigmore Hall, January 1940 |
|
[3] |
9 | Farewell to Arms (Introduction and Aria for tenor voice and small orchestra) | 1944 | - | - | - |
10 | Eclogue for piano and strings | - | - |
|
- |
11 | Romance for String Orchestra | 1928 | - | - | - |
12 | Two Sonnets by John Milton or Two Milton Sonnets No. 1 "When I consider how my life is spent" No. 2 "How soon hath Time" |
1928 | - | - | - |
13a | To a Poet | - | - |
|
- |
13b | Oh Fair to See | - | - |
|
- |
14 | A Young Man’s Exhortation | - | - |
|
- |
15 | Earth and Air and Rain |
|
- | ||
16 | Before and After Summer | - | - |
|
- |
17 | Seven Partsongs – Poems by Robert Bridges No. 1: "I praise the tender flower" No. 2: "I have loved flowers that fade" No. 3: "My spirit sang all day" No. 4: "Clear and gentle stream" No. 5: "Nightingales" No. 6: "Haste on, my joys!" No. 7: "Wherefore tonight so full of care |
- | - |
|
- |
18 | Let Us Garlands Bring 1. "Come away death" 2. "Who is Silvia?" 3. "Fear no more the heat o’ the Sun" 4. "Oh mistress mine" 5. "It was a lover and his lass" |
1942 | - |
|
- |
19a | Till Earth Outwears | 1927-1956 | - |
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- |
19b | I Said to Love | - | - |
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- |
20 | The Fall of the Leaf – Elegy for Orchestra | - | - |
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- |
21 | Interlude for Oboe and String Quartet | 1933–1936 | - |
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- |
22 | Elegy | - | - |
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- |
23 | Five Bagatelles for Clarinet and Piano | - | - |
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- |
24 | Prelude and Fugue | - | - |
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- |
25 | Prelude for strings | - | - | - | - |
26 | "Lo, the full, final sacrifice" | 1946 | 21 September 1946—St Matthew's Day |
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- |
27 | Three Anthems No. 1: "My lovely one" No. 2: "God is gone up" No. 3: "Welcome sweet and sacred feast" |
1946 1951 1953 |
- |
|
- |
28a | Love’s Labour’s Lost (songs) | 1946 | - |
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- |
28b | Love’s Labour’s Lost (suite) | 1946 | - |
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- |
29 | Intimations of Immortality | late 1930s, completed 1950 | 1950 Three Choirs Festival, conducted by Herbert Sumsion |
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- |
30 | For St Cecilia | 1947 | On 22 November 1947 at the Royal Albert Hall by René Soames with the Luton Choral Society and the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult |
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- |
31 | Clarinet Concerto | 1949 | - | - | - |
32 | Thou didst delight my eyes | - | - |
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|
33 | All this night | - | - |
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- |
34 | Muses and Graces | - | - |
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- |
35 | Let us now praise famous men | - | - |
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- |
36 | Magnificat | - | - | - | - |
37 | White-flowering days | 1953 | 1 June 1953 |
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- |
38 | Grand Fantasia and Toccata | - | - |
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- |
39 | In terra pax | - | - |
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- |
40 | Cello Concerto in A minor | 1955 | 19 July 1955 at the Cheltenham Music Festival, conducted by John Barbirolli, Hallé Orchestra, and cellist Christopher Bunting |
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- |
Posth. | Violin Concerto (Concerto for Small Orchestra and Violin) | - | 1928 |
|
- |
References
Notes
- ^ a b The Finzi Trust (geraldfinzi.org), "Works and Bibliography: Opus Numbers". Retrieved 30 March 2014.
- ^ "Three Short Elegies". lieder.net. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ^ Joanne Talbot, "Veiled brilliance", BBC Music Magazine, Volume XXII-02 (December 2013 CD Liner Notes)
Further reading
- Banfield, Stephen. Gerald Finzi: An English Composer (London: Faber, 1997) ISBN 0-571-16269-X
- Dressler, John C. Gerald Finzi: A Bio-Bibliography (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1997) ISBN 0-313-28693-0
- Jordan, Rolf. The Clock of the Years: A Gerald and Joy Finzi Anthology (Lichfield, Staffordshire: Chosen Press, 2007) ISBN 978-0-9556373-0-8
- McVeagh, Diana. Gerald Finzi: His Life and Music (Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Boydell & Brewer, 2006) ISBN 1-84383-170-8
External links
- The official Gerald Finzi website, created for the composer's family and including the latest news of concerts featuring Finzi's works.
- Gerald Finzi page on the website of his publisher Boosey & Hawkes, including a complete list of works published by Boosey & Hawkes and a discography.
- The Finzi Trust, the official Finzi Trust website: listen to Finzi's music and read about his life and works, the Trust's work and the Finzi Travel Scholarships.