Cover: Stained glass from the Finzi Memorial Window in Gloucester Cathedral (2016) by Thomas Denny (b1956)
Hyperion CDA68222 · August 2019
Finzi - Choral Works
The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, Stephen Layton (conductor)
Selections and Editors’ Choices
- AllMusic Favorite Classical Vocal Albums of 2019
Reviews
- Catholic Herald2019Melancholy lingers about much of Gerald Finzi’s oeuvre. The sadness of his early life contributed, as did his later ill health. Finzi’s music is often that of sorrow though, and as this magnificent new disc reminds us, it also…Read the review
- Church Music Quarterly2019Lo, the full, final sacrifice is the big work that concludes this CD: a ‘Festival Anthem’ commissioned from Gerald Finzi (1901-56) by Walter Hussey for St Matthew, Northampton in 1946, three years after he commissioned Britten’s…Read the review
- Classical Music Sentinel2019When asked to name a well-known British composer, Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) is rarely one of the first ones that instantly comes to mind, possibly because most of his output revolved around choral music. Yet when I hear the anthem…Read the review
Classical Source.com2019It’s been a while since a recording devoted to Gerald Finzi’s shorter choral works has appeared, so this superb Hyperion is more than welcome. These Trinity versions come with two bonuses: an exhilarating brass and organ…Read the review - Gramophone2019What a beautifully crafted disc this is – not just in its quality (and it really is Trinity at their absolute best) but also in its shape and programming. An all-Finzi recital sounds straightforward enough; but in opening with…Read the review
- Music Web International2019It has long seemed to me that, with the possible exception of Ivor Gurney, no composer of songs has responded more acutely to the nuances of the English language than Gerald Finzi. However, in his thoughtful booklet essay the…Read the review
- Music Web International2019A superb collection of Finzi’s shorter choral works Having known little of Finzi beyond his Clarinet Concerto I was pleased to receive this disc of smaller choral works, as this is a genre in which twentieth-century English…Read the review
- Music Web International2019In this context you’ll probably look askance or completely discount the views of someone who, though lapping up Finzi’s songs with piano, wishes Finzi had orchestrated them all. The composer did this service for When I Set Out…Read the review
- Opera Today2019Finzi’s values were highly individual: his religious views were more spiritual than dogmatic. This Magnificat is not a liturgical setting, but a stand-alone, written for an American college choir. A dramatic organ introduction…Read the review
Recorded: Various dates
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by David Hinitt
Release date: August 2019
Total duration: 74 minutes 16 seconds
Track list
- Magnificat Op 36 My soul doth magnify the LordGerald Finzi (1901-1956)9'53
- Welcome sweet and sacred feast Op 27 No 3Gerald Finzi (1901-1956)7'36
- My lovely one Op 27 No 1Gerald Finzi (1901-1956)2'47
- God is gone up Op 27 No 2Gerald Finzi (1901-1956)4'42
- Nunc dimittis Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peaceDavid Bednall (b1979)8'22
- White-flowering days Op 37 Now the white-flowering daysDavid Bednall (b1979)3'57
- All this night Op 33David Bednall (b1979)2'35
- Seven poems of Robert Bridges Op 17: I praise the tender flowerDavid Bednall (b1979)2'13
- Seven poems of Robert Bridges Op 17: I have loved flowers that fadeDavid Bednall (b1979)2'52
- Seven poems of Robert Bridges Op 17: My spirit sang all dayDavid Bednall (b1979)1'42
- Seven poems of Robert Bridges Op 17: Clear and gentle streamDavid Bednall (b1979)4'01
- Seven poems of Robert Bridges Op 17: Nightingales Beautiful must be the mountains whence ye comeDavid Bednall (b1979)2'55
- Seven poems of Robert Bridges Op 17: Haste on, my joys!David Bednall (b1979)1'57
- Seven poems of Robert Bridges Op 17: Wherefore tonight so full of careDavid Bednall (b1979)3'26
- Lo, the full, final sacrifice Op 26David Bednall (b1979)15'18
Recording details from Hyperion Records.