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Review
James Gilchrist's singing is at one with this approach. It is good to hear the voice gain resonance and make the comparatively rare forte carry more in the way of release than a more habitually robust manner would do. His clarity and precision are warmed by a rare sweetness of tone, and the lie of these songs appears to suit him to perfection. --Gramophone
These are fine performances....The Bournemouth chorus sing cleanly..... The orchestra sustain all comparisons and one feels David Hill's direction to be both firm and inspiring. --Gramophone
These are fine performances....The Bournemouth chorus sing cleanly..... The orchestra sustain all comparisons and one feels David Hill's direction to be both firm and inspiring. --Gramophone
CD Description
Quintessentially Finzi, the tender yet radiant Dies natalis, a setting of texts by the 17th-century poet Thomas Traherne, depicts both the first sensations of a child as it enters the world, and life s tarnishing experience of the innocence of childhood. In Farewell to Arms, a further example of Finzi s enthusiasm for 17th-century poets, the steady but inevitable tramp of time, symbolized by the measured bass and the tenor s sad, arching melody, becomes a poignant symbol for the brevity of life as expressed in lines such as O time too swift, O swiftness never ceasing . Finzi knew all too well that Beauty, strength, youth are flowers but fading seen .
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Naxos are doing an excellent job at working their way through the music of Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956). They are pairing his larger scale better known works with smaller less known ones. This is making for an enjoyable series of CDs.
No composer sounds more traditionally English than Finzi. He builds on the influences of Stanford, Elgar and Vaughan Williams; but he adds a nostalgia that is all his own. His music is the music of the end of things, of autumn, of the evening of the day, of the evening of life. These things are givens. The trick of a good performance of his work is to express the light between the shadows, bring out the contrasts and make the music really live and sing.
The CD begins with the main work: Dies Natalis. This is often regarded as Finzi's masterpiece. Its five movements last around 26 minutes here. It is setting of texts from Thomas Traherne's `Three Centuries of Meditation' which describes the world as perceived by a child. I saw it brought rapturously alive by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 2004. I have also heard it allowed to rest too comfortably in the shadows on a Decca CD conducted by Richard Hickox. I bought this new version in hope that Conductor David Hill, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Tenor James Gilchrist would do it justice, and I am mighty pleased with what I hear.
This performance sounds fresh, new born, and wide awake. What the conductor, orchestra and tenor have brought to it is tenderness. They have not brought it to life by upping the pace. In fact the first sung movement Rhapsody is a minute longer that in the Hickox recording. But everything is handled just right. Tenor David Glichrist is on excellent form, but then so is the orchestra. This is a triumph.
It is followed by two shorter orchestra works. The `Prelude for String Orchestra`, and `The Fall of the Leaf`. I can see why Finzi's lesser works disappeared from public hearing. Each is lovely in itself, but they are rather like each other. Finzi's musical voice is distinctive, but many of his individual works are not.
Finzi's setting of John Milton's poetry - `Two Sonnets for Orchestra' starts and my interest is wakened again. This composer's natural expression is song, he knows just how to express the sentiments of the texts he chooses. Without words to express, or as in his Clarinet Concerto, an particular instrument`s voice to play with, his works sound - well - they sound rather like the tracks of the songs of a great pop group with the vocals removed. There is a sense that something important is missing.
Nocturne (New Year Music), another orchestra piece begins - and yes it is very pleasant, if it were the only work of its kind on the disc I would rave about it - I mean - it brims full of lovely moments, but I listen for anything distinctive here- and I do not find it.
The disc ends with the two poetry settings of `Farewell to Arms`, here Finzi's autumnal voice is fully expressed: gently pulsing bass notes reminding us that time's march brings all things to an end. It is a satisfying end to the CD.
This CD shows both the strengths and limitations of Finzi as a composer. The performance of Dies Natalis alone is reason enough to buy it. The limitations of the purely orchestral works had me thinking of giving the disc four stars, but that would be a penny pinching kind of attitude. The brilliance of the performances of the voice and orchestra works here demand a five star verdict.
No composer sounds more traditionally English than Finzi. He builds on the influences of Stanford, Elgar and Vaughan Williams; but he adds a nostalgia that is all his own. His music is the music of the end of things, of autumn, of the evening of the day, of the evening of life. These things are givens. The trick of a good performance of his work is to express the light between the shadows, bring out the contrasts and make the music really live and sing.
The CD begins with the main work: Dies Natalis. This is often regarded as Finzi's masterpiece. Its five movements last around 26 minutes here. It is setting of texts from Thomas Traherne's `Three Centuries of Meditation' which describes the world as perceived by a child. I saw it brought rapturously alive by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 2004. I have also heard it allowed to rest too comfortably in the shadows on a Decca CD conducted by Richard Hickox. I bought this new version in hope that Conductor David Hill, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Tenor James Gilchrist would do it justice, and I am mighty pleased with what I hear.
This performance sounds fresh, new born, and wide awake. What the conductor, orchestra and tenor have brought to it is tenderness. They have not brought it to life by upping the pace. In fact the first sung movement Rhapsody is a minute longer that in the Hickox recording. But everything is handled just right. Tenor David Glichrist is on excellent form, but then so is the orchestra. This is a triumph.
It is followed by two shorter orchestra works. The `Prelude for String Orchestra`, and `The Fall of the Leaf`. I can see why Finzi's lesser works disappeared from public hearing. Each is lovely in itself, but they are rather like each other. Finzi's musical voice is distinctive, but many of his individual works are not.
Finzi's setting of John Milton's poetry - `Two Sonnets for Orchestra' starts and my interest is wakened again. This composer's natural expression is song, he knows just how to express the sentiments of the texts he chooses. Without words to express, or as in his Clarinet Concerto, an particular instrument`s voice to play with, his works sound - well - they sound rather like the tracks of the songs of a great pop group with the vocals removed. There is a sense that something important is missing.
Nocturne (New Year Music), another orchestra piece begins - and yes it is very pleasant, if it were the only work of its kind on the disc I would rave about it - I mean - it brims full of lovely moments, but I listen for anything distinctive here- and I do not find it.
The disc ends with the two poetry settings of `Farewell to Arms`, here Finzi's autumnal voice is fully expressed: gently pulsing bass notes reminding us that time's march brings all things to an end. It is a satisfying end to the CD.
This CD shows both the strengths and limitations of Finzi as a composer. The performance of Dies Natalis alone is reason enough to buy it. The limitations of the purely orchestral works had me thinking of giving the disc four stars, but that would be a penny pinching kind of attitude. The brilliance of the performances of the voice and orchestra works here demand a five star verdict.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Beautiful music, lovingly played & sung !
28 May 2008
Format:Audio CD
Finzi admirers probably have all of the selections on this wonderful Naxos disc, because once you hear any of his music, you have to pursue his other works (he only has 40 opus numbers). But for those who haven't had the pleasure yet, I urge you to give this disc a try. Although all the pieces were composed in an era when Berg, Webern, Stravinsky, Schoenberg & Hindemith were getting the lion's share of performances and critic's notice, they all have Finzi's gift for an elegaic, lyric sweetness.
(Two or three of his 40 published works have the title Elegy, but everything that he wrote, instrumental or vocal, could be described as an elegy in one way or another, such was the man's sensitivity to life's brevity. Loss of both parent's, and others, at a young age made its mark on all of his endeavors, not just his music).
Some say the cantata for high voice (soprano or tenor) & strings is, along with the Clarinet Concerto, Finzi's masterpiece. Titled "Dies Natalis" (Day of Birth) and set to selections of 17th century poet Thomas Traherne's "Centuries of Meditation", the work is from the viewpoint of a newborn child bewildered and enchanted at the beautiful but strange world. Ralph Vaughan Williams, Arthur Bliss, Edmund Rubbra, and Herbert Howells all thought that Finzi matched verse/text with music better than any other composer of their time. I have recordings with both soprano (Rebecca Evans) and tenor (Phillip Langridge), and either one works well.
Its a tenor, James Gilchrist, that sings it on this release.
The Prelude for strings is a short gem that could be an actual prelude for many of Finzi's compositions. Its quintessential Finzi, having that elegaic quality I mentioned.
Fall of the Leaf and Nocturne (New Year's Music) are like so much of what Finzi wrote, contemplative and mournful, expressing the passing of time. No "Happy New Year" here, this is closer to a requiem feeling.
Two Sonnets to Milton lyrics and a short 10-minute cantata "Farewell to Arms" also sung by James Gilchrist, round out this latest Naxos effort. Again, I've heard them sung by sopranos, but Gilchrist does them justice.
Altogether, this is a wonderful disc for anyone new to Gerald Finzi's romantic & tonal music. Several representative works, lovingly performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and Naxos' unbeatable budget price. Highly recommended.
P.S. - For Finzi fans, you may be interested to know (if you didn't already) that there is a very good biography of him by Stephen Banfield. I bought it in a Canadian bookstore in 2002/2003, don't know if any US distributor ever picked it up.
(Two or three of his 40 published works have the title Elegy, but everything that he wrote, instrumental or vocal, could be described as an elegy in one way or another, such was the man's sensitivity to life's brevity. Loss of both parent's, and others, at a young age made its mark on all of his endeavors, not just his music).
Some say the cantata for high voice (soprano or tenor) & strings is, along with the Clarinet Concerto, Finzi's masterpiece. Titled "Dies Natalis" (Day of Birth) and set to selections of 17th century poet Thomas Traherne's "Centuries of Meditation", the work is from the viewpoint of a newborn child bewildered and enchanted at the beautiful but strange world. Ralph Vaughan Williams, Arthur Bliss, Edmund Rubbra, and Herbert Howells all thought that Finzi matched verse/text with music better than any other composer of their time. I have recordings with both soprano (Rebecca Evans) and tenor (Phillip Langridge), and either one works well.
Its a tenor, James Gilchrist, that sings it on this release.
The Prelude for strings is a short gem that could be an actual prelude for many of Finzi's compositions. Its quintessential Finzi, having that elegaic quality I mentioned.
Fall of the Leaf and Nocturne (New Year's Music) are like so much of what Finzi wrote, contemplative and mournful, expressing the passing of time. No "Happy New Year" here, this is closer to a requiem feeling.
Two Sonnets to Milton lyrics and a short 10-minute cantata "Farewell to Arms" also sung by James Gilchrist, round out this latest Naxos effort. Again, I've heard them sung by sopranos, but Gilchrist does them justice.
Altogether, this is a wonderful disc for anyone new to Gerald Finzi's romantic & tonal music. Several representative works, lovingly performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and Naxos' unbeatable budget price. Highly recommended.
P.S. - For Finzi fans, you may be interested to know (if you didn't already) that there is a very good biography of him by Stephen Banfield. I bought it in a Canadian bookstore in 2002/2003, don't know if any US distributor ever picked it up.
1 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Finzi's works
4 Jun 2008
Format:Audio CD
While never being completely satisfied with Naxos recordings of Finzi, I am glad that they exist and offer an introduction to this very special composer. Dies Natalis is his masterpiece, but the version conducted by Christopher Finzi & sung with such passion by the incredible Wilfred Brown will be impossible to improve upon... this Naxos recording also has the beautiful Farewell to Arms and the rare sonnets. A worthy exploration that one critic said long ago about a composer who is "such good company". The Diana Mc Veagh biography: Gerald Finzi: His Life and Music is an excellent read... exploring not only the man's life but detailing his poignant and haunting music.
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