Finzi, Gerald (1901 - 1956)

[gradus]

As a gardener as well as a lover of Finzi's music it would be interesting to know which rare apple vars he saved. Does anyone here know?

[LMcD]

As a gardener as well as a lover of Finzi's music it would be interesting to know which rare apple vars he saved. Does anyone here know?

Baxter's Pearmain

[gradus]

Baxter's Pearmain

Many thanks.

[EdgeleyRob]

As a gardener as well as a lover of Finzi's music it would be interesting to know which rare apple vars he saved. Does anyone here know?

According to 'Finzi,His Life and Music' (McVeagh) he cultivated 386 varieties (I know nothing about apples or gardening but can that be right ?) including

Haggerstone Pippin
Lord Lennox
Morris's Russett
Baxter's Pearmain
Roxbury Russett
Welford Park Nonsuch
Mead's Broading
Norman's Pippin

[ardcarp]

HNY to all. Agree about chamber-scored version of In Terra Pax. IMO Finzi at his best with strings, e.g. clarinet concerto and especially Dies Natalis.

[oddoneout]

he cultivated 386 varieties (I know nothing about apples or gardening but can that be right ?) including

Well there are 2200 varieties in the national collection at Brogdale, so in terms of numbers there's no reason why not if he had the space.

[EdgeleyRob]

Well there are 2200 varieties in the national collection at Brogdale, so in terms of numbers there's no reason why not if he had the space.

Ah I had no idea,Finzi did have big garden

[BBMmk2]

Ah I had no idea,Finzi did have big garden

My goodness! That's an awful lot of different species and a few of them very rare now?

[Nick Armstrong]

HNY to all.... IMO Finzi at his best with strings, e.g. clarinet concerto and especially Dies Natalis.

HNY likewise! The day started with a listen to Finzi's "New Year Music" as on many a 1st January here

More evidence of his genius with string writing...

However, I don't think it outshines his genius with word-setting and piano writing. This is a huge feature of this winter, as a friend who is an excellent tenor has asked me to be his accompanist for a private performance of Finzi's Till Earth Outwears song cycle some time later this year. I'm at the stage of going through each song (I'm on No. 3 of 7...), bar by bar, working out and marking the best fingering, and bit by bit getting the music into my hands and brain. It's a slow task but endlessly enjoyable and revelatory. What gorgeous writing - I keep thinking 'this is my favourite bar' or 'this is my favourite section' until a new one comes along a few bars later.

[BBMmk2]

Best of luck with that Cali! I have been thinking of all the works of GF, and from my experience, it's most certainly his songs that seem to show his art most strongly, for examp[e, Lo! The Full Final Sacrifice, etc.

[Pabmusic]

Ah I had no idea,Finzi did have big garden

He also had cats, loads of them apparently.

[Roslynmuse]

The first music on R3 at midnight was Finzi - as well as New Year Music (Boult) there was also the Prelude for Strings (also Boult) and the Eclogue with Katin/Handley. I love the story of Finzi climbing Chosen Hill one New Year's Eve when he was a young man and spending time looking at the stars before joining his friends in the sexton's cottage next to the church at the top. In a strange quirk of fate, it was the same cottage he would visit shortly before his death and come into contact with the sexton's children who were suffering from chicken-pox; the complications of the shingles virus on top of his already highly compromised health killed him.

The Hardy settings in particular are wonderful - somehow he makes chords and progressions in the same way that Hardy coins words and phrases; familiar materials twisted into something new that sounds older than their elements. There's much more to Finzi than meets the ear of the casual listener (just as there is to Gurney).

[Pabmusic]

Apparently there is only one instance in the 50+ Hardy settings where Finzi sets a syllable to more than one note. That is remarkable, and accounts in part for why the vocal line always seems so natural. (I'll now not rest till I remember the song and the word in question.)

[Nick Armstrong]

The first music on R3 at midnight was Finzi - as well as New Year Music (Boult) there was also the Prelude for Strings (also Boult) and the Eclogue with Katin/Handley.

Didn't spot that - sensitive programming

The Hardy settings in particular are wonderful - somehow he makes chords and progressions in the same way that Hardy coins words and phrases; familiar materials twisted into something new that sounds older than their elements. There's much more to Finzi than meets the ear of the casual listener (just as there is to Gurney).

Beautifully put, Roslynmuse. Completely agreed.

Apparently there is only one instance in the 50+ Hardy settings where Finzi sets a syllable to more than one note. That is remarkable, and accounts in part for why the vocal line always seems so natural. (I'll now not rest till I remember the song and the word in question.)

I'll keep an eye out as I work through Till Earth....

[BBMmk2]

Cali, what beautiful music that comes out of the pen of Finzi's Nocturne. Has inspired me to listen to more. many thanks.