Finzi: Dies Natalis; Farewell To Arms; Two Sonnets (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...Read more