Gerald Finzi(1901-56): a Catalogue of the Orchestral and Choral Music

[Dundonnell]

Finzi died tragically young and his output was therefore less than that of many other composers. It is distinguished however by the composer's refined sensibilities and by great beauty.
Dating the works is not easy because Finzi worked on most of them over a very long time. Most of the compositions have however been recorded, some many times.

GERALD FINZI: A CATALOGUE OF THE ORCHESTRAL AND CHORAL MUSIC

1922-29:   Prelude for string orchestra, op.25: 5 minutes   + (Lyrita, Naxos, Chandos and Nimbus cds)
1923:         A Severn Rhapsody for orchestra, op.3: 6 minutes   + (Lyrita and Naxos cds)
1924:         Requiem da camera for baritone, chorus and orchestra
1925-27:   Concerto for Small Orchestra and Solo Violin, op. post.: 20 minutes (1942 slow movement revised as Introit for small orchestra and solo
                                      violin, op.6: 9 minutes   + (Chandos cd; Introit only Lyrita and Naxos cds)
1925-28:   Two Sonnets by John Milton for tenor and small orchestra, op.12: 8 minutes    +  (Lyrita and Naxos cds)
1925-39:   "Dies Natalis" for tenor and chamber orchestra, op. 8: 23 minutes                    +  (several recordings)
1925-44:   "Farewell to Arms" for tenor and small orchestra, op.9: 9 minutes                     +  (Lyrita and Naxos cds)
1926/50:   Nocturne (New Year Music) for orchestra, op.7: 10 minutes                               +  (Lyrita, EMI and Naxos cds)
1928-53:   Grand Fantasia and Toccata for Piano and Orchestra, op.38: 15 minutes  *        +  (EMI, Lyrita and Naxos cds)
1928:         Romance for string orchestra, op. 11: 8 minutes   + (several recordings)
1929?-40s:Eclogue for Piano and string orchestra, op.10: 10 minutes                        +  (several recordings)
1929-42:   "Let us Garlands bring"- Five Shakespeare Songs for baritone and string orchestra: 15 minutes    + (several recordings)
1929:         Elegy "The Fall of the Leaf" for orchestra, op.20: 9 minutes                       +  (Lyrita, EMI, Naxos and Halle cds)
1930s-50: Ode "Intimations of Immortality" for tenor, chorus and orchestra, op.29: 45 minutes   +  (EMI, Lyrita, Hyperion and Naxos cds)
1946/53:   Suite from the Music for "Love's Labour's Lost" for small orchestra, op.28b: 28 minutes  *    +  (Lyrita and Nimbus cds)
1946/47:    Festival Anthem "Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice" for chorus and orchestra:14 minutes
1946-47:   Ceremonial Ode "For St. Cecilia" for tenor, chorus and orchestra, op.30:17 minutes    + (EMI and Naxos cds)
1948-49:   Concerto for Clarinet and string orchestra, op.31: 28 minutes                     + (several recordings)
1951:         Anthem "God is gone up" for choir and orchestra, op.27 (2): 4 minutes
1952/56:   Magnificat for soloists, orchestra, op.36: 10 minutes    + (EMI and Guild cds)
1954/56:"In terra pax" (Christmas Scene) for soprano, baritone, chorus, strings and percussion, op.39: 16 minutes   + (EMI, Lyrita and Naxos cds)
1955:        Cello Concerto, op.40: 39 minutes   +  (Lyrita, Chandos and Naxos cds)

[TerraEpon]

I've been wondering if the 'suite' from Love Labor's Lost (I have the Nimbus CD) is all Finzi wrote for it. Sometimes incidental music can be so confusing...

[alberto]

Maybe irrelevant:
"Nocturne (New Year Music)" and "The Fall on the Leaf" are also on an EMi Cd (R.Hickox, Northern Sinfonia, EMI 1994 release).

[albion]

I've been wondering if the 'suite' from Love Labor's Lost (I have the Nimbus CD) is all Finzi wrote for it. Sometimes incidental music can be so confusing...

The incidental music (Op.28) was written in 1946 for a BBC production of Shakespeare's play produced by Noel Iliff, and broadcast on 16th December 1946 - this complete score, as first written and performed, remains unpublished.

Four songs (When daisies pied, When icicles hang, If she be made of white and red and Is it not sure a deadly pain) were extracted from this, revised in 1947, published by Boosey and Hawkes (as Op.28a) and first performed in concert by Mollie Sands and Ruth Dyson at the Wigmore Hall on 7th July 1947.

Finzi then constructed an extended Suite from the incidental music in 1952 which included two of the songs (When daisies pied and When icicles hang) along with most of the orchestral numbers (excluding the Nocturne, The Hunt and the Quodlibet): this was performed at the 1952 Cheltenham Festival on 20th July (Gilbert Vintner and the BBC Midland Light Orchestra).

In 1955 he then revised the Suite for orchestra alone, producing the sequence of ten numbers (Op.28b) as recorded by Nimbus: this was first heard in a BBC broadcast (John Russell conducting the LSO) on 26th July 1955.

[britishcomposer]

The incidental music (Op.28) was written in 1946 for a BBC production of Shakespeare's play produced by Noel Iliff, and broadcast on 16th December 1946 - this complete score, as first written and performed, remains unpublished.

It seems as if the full score has been published indeed a few years ago:
http://www.schott-music.com/shop/Sheet_Music/Orchestra_Ensembles/Solo_Voices_Orchestra/show,215990,s.html

[TerraEpon]

Wow, thanks for the info.

[Dundonnell]

Maybe irrelevant:
"Nocturne (New Year Music)" and "The Fall on the Leaf" are also on an EMi Cd (R.Hickox, Northern Sinfonia, EMI 1994 release).

Thanks, Alberto

[albion]

The incidental music (Op.28) was written in 1946 for a BBC production of Shakespeare's play produced by Noel Iliff, and broadcast on 16th December 1946 - this complete score, as first written and performed, remains unpublished.

It seems as if the full score has been published indeed a few years ago:
http://www.schott-music.com/shop/Sheet_Music/Orchestra_Ensembles/Solo_Voices_Orchestra/show,215990,s.html

Yes, it appears I was unduly pessimistic - First publication in full score of the complete incidental music to Shakespeare's play, composed for a 1946 BBC radio production and later expanded into the Four Songs op. 28a and Suite for small orchestra op. 28b. Also includes fanfares and other music for stage use only, and a preface by Finzi expert Jeremy Dale Roberts. Performance notes by the composer state that 'for a stage production these short pieces are not intended as anything more than a patchwork to be unpicked, a quarry from which to dig ... it is for the producer to take or leave what he wants and to begin and end where he likes. Although the suite was written to be played as a whole, any of the movements can be played separately or the three soliloquies may be performed as a group.' A significant publishing event to mark the 50th anniversary in 2006 of the composer's death.

Very glad indeed to acknowledge the correction.