Synopsis
On today’s date in 1956, the English composer Gerald Finzi died in Oxford at 55. Finzi suffered from Hodgkin’s disease, and shortly before his death had caught chickenpox from some children he had visited, an infection that proved fatal.
Finzi was born into a wealthy, assimilated Jewish family. His mother was musical, and an amateur composer. Even with talent, wealth, support from the likes of Ralph Vaughan Williams and several golden opportunities for career advancement, Finzi proved to be a rather diffident soul who seemed to prefer to work in seclusion and relative obscurity.
He collected rare books and scores by 18th century English composers but is most famous for his settings of poems by Thomas Hardy, a contemporary of his parent’s generation.
Himself an agnostic, Finzi produced a small body of sacred choral works, as well as two instrumental pieces that have endeared him to clarinetists: a set of clarinet Bagatelles from 1943 and this Clarinet Concerto from 1949.
British critic Norman Lebrecht offers this assessment of Finzi’s appeal: “a confluence of Elgar without bluffness and Vaughan Williams at his most delicate. His concerto for clarinet and strings is a light and lovely lament for lost times.”
Music Played in Today's Program
Gerald Finzi (1901-1956): Clarinet Concerto; Richard Stoltzman, clarinet; Guildhall String Ensemble; Robert Slater, conductor; BMG 60437
On This Day
Births
1879 - English composer Cyril Scott, in Oxton, Cheshire
1898 - American composer Vincent Youmans, in New York City
1903 - Russian-born American composer and songwriter Vernon Duke (Vladimir Dukelsky), in Parfianovka (Pskov) (Gregorian date: Oct. 10)
Deaths
1921 - German composer Engelbert Humperdinck, 67, in Neustrelitz
1956 - British composer Gerald Finzi, 55, in Oxford
Premieres
1960 - Stravinsky: Monumentum pro Gesualdo di Venosa ad CD Annum (three madrigals by Gesualdo transcribed for orchestra), in Venice, with the composer conducting
Others
1827 - At a private party in Vienna, Franz Schubert performs selections from his last piano sonatas
1892 - Czech composer Antonin Dvorák arrives in New York City to take up a position at the National Conservatory
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About Composers Datebook®
Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.
He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.