Search - Roderick Williams, Gerald Finzi, Ian Burnside :: Finzi: Earth and Air and Rain; By Footpath and Stile; To a Poet

Roderick Williams, Gerald Finzi, Ian Burnside
Finzi: Earth and Air and Rain; By Footpath and Stile; To a Poet
Genres: Pop, Classical

Track Listings (22) - Disc #1
1. Summer Schemes
2. When I Set Out For Lyonesse
3. Waiting Both
4. The Phantom
5. So I Have Fared
6. Rollicum-Rorum
7. To Lizbie Browne
8. The Clock Of The Years
9. In A Churchyard
10. Proud Songsters
11. To A Poet A Thousand Years Hence
12. On Parent Knees
13. Intrada
14. The Birthnight
15. June On Castle Hill
16. Ode On The Rejection Of St. Cecilia
17. Paying Calls
18. Where The Picnic Was
19. The Oxen
20. The Master And The Leaves
21. Voices From Things Growing In A Churchyard
22. Exeunt Omnes

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CD Details

All Artists: Roderick Williams, Gerald Finzi, Ian Burnside
Title: Finzi: Earth and Air and Rain; By Footpath and Stile; To a Poet
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Naxos
Original Release Date: 1/1/2006
Re-Release Date: 8/15/2006
Genres: Pop, Classical
Styles: Vocal Pop, Chamber Music, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830), Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 747313296323

Synopsis

Amazon.com

Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) is best known for his songs, particularly settings of poems by Thomas Hardy, certainly one of the bleakest of English writers. Earth and Air and Rain is a cycle of ten songs. "Waiting Both" ponders the meaning of existence in the form of a conversation between poet and a star. "When I Set out for Lyonesse" is a bit more positive, telling of the poet's meeting with his first wife. "Summer Schemes" looks forward to lazy, happy days but the joy is negated by the possibility of fate destroying the idyll. "The Clock of the Years" opens with spoken words and it tells of a deal with the "Spirit" to bring back the narrator's love. By the end, the poet wishes he had never spoiled the memory he had of her. The upbeat "Rollicum-Rorum" is a boisterous drinking song that startles the mood in mid-cycle. To a Poet is a six-song cycle with texts by different poets. "On Parent Knees" contrasts watching the smiling faces of people watching a baby cry while a man dying smiles as those around him weep. It's a remarkably potent minute and a half. The six-song Hardy cycle By Footpath and Stile is accompanied by string quartet (the first two are with piano), and they are the earliest-composed works on the CD; they are also the loveliest. Baritone Roderick Williams' impeccable diction and clear-as-a-bell baritone make each song special; Iain Burnside is the more-than-sympathetic pianist, and the Sacconi Quartet play handsomely. This is a very British, very fine recital--for fans, say, of Vaughan Williams. --Robert Levine

CD Reviews

Excellent performances of one near-masterpiece, one charming

G.D. | Norway | 12/07/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"English song is well represented on disc, but there is certainly room for performances such as these, in particular given Naxos's asking price. Finzi's music might not display a very huge compositional range, but it is always superbly crafted and inventive and displaying a certain individual voice. As a song writer he might not be quite on the level of, say, Warlock, but I wouldn't want to miss out on at least some of the songs here. The disc opens with Earth and Air and Rain, a masterly cycle of Thomas Harding setting composed between 1928 and 1932. The musical settings are marvelously responsive to Hardy's bleak but humane worldview, but also contrastive and nuanced in terms of atmosphere and mood. Highlights are probably the sensitive and touching `To Lizbie Browne' and of course the famous and, well, rollicking `Rollicum-Rorum', but I would also mention the eerily atmospheric In a churchyard.

To a Poet is a miscellany of songs gathered together after Finzi's death from his unpublished works. Unfortunately the collection displays little sense of unity and contains few works of particular interest; one is unfortunately left with the feeling that there was a reason, not just that he ran out of time, that the songs were left unpublished. The final cycle, however, By Footpath and Stile, is an early collection of settings of Hardy (again), this time scored for baritone and string quartet. It is a very effective work indeed, though not quite on the level of mastery displayed in the first cycle on the disc. It is a rather bleak thing on the theme of death and transcience, but there are some really memorable moments in there (this is a world premiere recording, apparently); overall, this is a very appealing score which, while no masterpiece perhaps, deserves the attention of potential listener.

Roderick Williams's warm, poignant baritone voice is eminently suited to the music; indeed he comes across as a master of light and shade and an impressive range of emotion; thoughtful and poignant and dramatic and nimble - and not the least charming and beautiful. His wide range of expressive resources ensures that one can listen to all the cycles here straight through without any feeling of monotony, although he does, I think, do his best in By Footpath and Stile. The contributions from Iain Burnside and the Sacconi Quartet are excellent as well. All in all, a rewarding collection, but I do think I'll recommend those unfamiliar with Finzi's songs to start with the earlier disc in this series."