Gerald Finzi

Started by tjguitar, April 16, 2007, 02:08:51 PM

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SymphonicAddict

Quote from: Omicron9 on August 23, 2017, 07:13:10 AM
Great thread.  I love his Cello Concerto, but originally discovered him through "Eclogue."  What an amazing piece to me, and on multiple levels.  If you don't know it, allow me to introduce you.

https://www.youtube.com/v/EkQbzZgwfl0

Quote from: 71 dB on August 23, 2017, 09:30:35 AM
Eclogue blew me away when I heard the first time. A gem!  0:)

Quote from: vandermolen on August 23, 2017, 12:36:46 PM
Yes, a great work.

+1
Placidly pastoral, bucolic.

The cello concerto is almost unbeatable for me. Despite Finzi composed more choral works, I tend to prefer his clarinet and cello concertos.

vandermolen

Quote from: SymphonicAddict on August 23, 2017, 12:46:17 PM
+1
Placidly pastoral, bucolic.

The cello concerto is almost unbeatable for me. Despite Finzi composed more choral works, I tend to prefer his clarinet and cello concertos.
Dies Natalis remains my favourite - in the Wilfred Brown/Christopher Finzi version which is unrivalled IMHO. In Terra Pax and the last ditch Cello Concerto are both great and, of course, the shorter works. In fact I like all of his music.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

calyptorhynchus

Just realised that it's coming up to the 60th anniversary of GF's death next month.

I'd better start registering to all his works.
'Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth.' Robert Burton

vandermolen

#163
Quote from: calyptorhynchus on August 24, 2017, 08:09:32 PM
Just realised that it's coming up to the 60th anniversary of GF's death next month.

I'd better start registering to all his works.
This is one of the great Finzi discs. If you don't know it you have to hear the Wilfred Brown version of Dies Natalis.
[asin]B000N8UVR6[/asin]
Vaughan Williams told his second wife Ursula that he was 'burying his old comrades' in his Ninth Symphony. Finzi must have been one of them as he died at that time. Part of Vaughan Williams's Ninth Symphony was composed at Finzi's house.

The drawing of Boult on the CD above was by Joy Finzi, the wife of Gerald.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Christo

Quote from: vandermolen on August 24, 2017, 11:29:39 PMThis is one of the great Finzi discs. If you don't know it you have to hear the Wilfred Brown version of Dies Natalis.
[asin]B000N8UVR6[/asin]
The cover made me think for a long time that this is what Finzi looked like.  :D
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

vandermolen

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

calyptorhynchus

Ha, I originally wrote "I'd better start relistening to all his works." Bloody auto-correct. >:(

I think I have recordings of all his works, and most of the available versions. I agree that the Boult (+Handley) disk contains many of the best versions of the various works. Also agree about the Wilfred Brown Dies Natalis.
'Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth.' Robert Burton

Christo

Quote from: vandermolen on August 25, 2017, 01:13:44 AMYes, that's quite understandable. I like this photo of the young Finzi:
In reality, did not look at all like
Quote from: calyptorhynchus on August 25, 2017, 01:41:25 AMHa, I originally wrote "I'd better start relistening to all his works." Bloody auto-correct. >:(
Yes, you better start unregistering with it.  ;)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

vandermolen

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Monsieur Croche

#169
Quote from: Omicron9 on August 23, 2017, 07:13:10 AM
Great thread.  I love his Cello Concerto, but originally discovered him through "Eclogue."  What an amazing piece to me, and on multiple levels.  If you don't know it, allow me to introduce you.

https://www.youtube.com/v/EkQbzZgwfl0

This is simply superb writing.  In a near arch-conservative neoclassical style, it is a movement from a projected but not completed three-movement concerto for piano and strings -- I believe this one movement is all that Finzi composed towards that end; it feels entirely complete on its own. 

Of the recordings up on youtube, I most prefer the one you've posted, w Peter Donohoe, piano and the Northern Sinfonia conducted by Howard Griffiths.
~ I'm all for personal expression; it just has to express something to me. ~

Maestro267

Quote from: calyptorhynchus on August 24, 2017, 08:09:32 PM
Just realised that it's coming up to the 60th anniversary of GF's death next month.

I'd better start registering to all his works.

61st, actually. He died in September 1956.

Omicron9

Quote from: Monsieur Croche on August 25, 2017, 05:49:24 AM
This is simply superb writing.  In a near arch-conservative neoclassical style, it is a movement from projected but not completed three-movement concerto for piano and strings -- I believe this one movement is all that Finzi composed towards that end; it feels entirely complete on its own. 

snip......

I quite concur.  It's a remarkable piece.
"Signature-line free since 2017!"

Maestro267

That's interesting, because I pair the Eclogue with the Grand Fantasia and Toccata, to form the last two movements of a three-movement piano concerto. It's quite feasible to picture a Piano Concerto's slow movement omitting all orchestral forces but the strings.

calyptorhynchus

Quote from: Maestro267 on August 25, 2017, 07:08:49 AM
61st, actually. He died in September 1956.

Damn it, I was sure it was 1957. Still any reason is a good reason to listen to Finzi.

'Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth.' Robert Burton

snyprrr

what's up with his mouth, lips, ... ??...

snyprrr

Now we have the two most boring ThreadTitles ever back-to-back. Oy vey, 'The Gardens of Finzi', already! :P

71 dB

Been listening to Finzi again (and ordered Dies Natalis - Wilfred Brown/Christopher Finzi).



Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

vandermolen

Quote from: 71 dB on October 27, 2018, 10:33:40 AM
Been listening to Finzi again (and ordered Dies Natalis - Wilfred Brown/Christopher Finzi).

That is by far the best recorded performance of that wonderful work.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

71 dB

Quote from: vandermolen on October 27, 2018, 10:57:55 AM
That is by far the best recorded performance of that wonderful work.

I listened to it on Spotify and found it very good so I pulled the trigger as it was only £3.77 delivered (used)  ;D
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

vandermolen

Quote from: 71 dB on October 27, 2018, 11:10:28 AM
I listened to it on Spotify and found it very good so I pulled the trigger as it was only £3.77 delivered (used)  ;D

A great bargain. The original CD release was coupled with Howells's 'Hymnus Paradisi' - one of my all time favourite discs.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).