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Posted: |
Jul 28, 2009 - 7:19 AM
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By: |
Hester_Prin
(Member)
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Preston,
Kennedy's name is listed in so many of the RVW inserts sleeves that naturally I sought out his book after Ursula's was such a dud -- (strange woman.... when the 'special' recording of a larger version of a London symphony was done, she stipulated it not performed in the concert hall... then the recording was cause for pants to be wet around the world and won so many awards that she changed her mind) -- but I only dimly remember it.
The Finzi biography is a different animal indeed. As I wrote before, it speaks of the man's life and then it actually BREAKS DOWN his compositions in detail and in relationships to others. It took me back to a time and place before I was born and enabled me to meet composers I greatly admire, if only through brief annecdotes. But RVW is heavily represented since both men were great friends.
Throughout the book is the theme that ran throughout Finzi's life: the tragedy of youth being cut short. The composer lost his father and all his brothers so early in life; and then his teacher in the Great War. His Requiem da Camera being dedicated to Ernest Farrar- its elegiaic stillness remains also a protest. Like many of Finzi's works, it was never played during his lifetime.
"We who are left, how shall we look again
Happily on the sun, or feel the rain,
Without remembering how they who went
Ungrudgingly and spent
Their lives for us loved, too, the sun and rain?"
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Well, if you're going to double-post, you could at least have mentioned archy in the second one.
I ordered the Finzi biography a few days ago when you first recommended it, and am looking forward to the day when I can browse through Amoeba again and expand my meager library of Finzi's music.
(Hadn't heard the story about Ursula and the 2nd Symphony. She sounds as odd as Dick's hatband. I've had enough trouble adjusting to the fact that Fred Astaire married a madwoman, don't tell me now I'll have to accept RVW doing the same thing? Damn.)
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Preston,
Throughout the book is the theme that ran throughout Finzi's life: the tragedy of youth being cut short. The composer lost his father and all his brothers so early in life; and then his teacher in the Great War. His Requiem da Camera being dedicated to Ernest Farrar- its elegiaic stillness remains also a protest. Like many of Finzi's works, it was never played during his lifetime.
Have a go at Arthur Bliss's 'Morning Heroes'.
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I wish I'd never known, and I never did until this thread. Ah well, I guess that's the price I pay for broadening my horizons. (Tom Baker WOULD have made a good Grainger. I can't remember the name of the actor who played him in that great Ken Russell film about Delius, SONG OF SUMMER.) I hope in time you'll be able to dismiss from your mind the more questionable aspects of Grainger's biography. Not for Grainger's ghost's sake, but for yours. There are so many lamentable and/or unsavory facets to the personalities of so many artists, living and dead, that if you only allow yourself to enjoy the works of the saints you'll soon be stuck for something to read, watch or listen to.
***
I happen to have a few Bliss CD's, so I hobbled into the living room just now to see if I have "Morning Heroes." No such luck, so I'll have to add that one to my Amoeba-in-the-future list.
Happily, my trek to the living room afforded me the chance to pull off the shelf my lone Finzi album: Richard Hickox conducting the City of London Sinfonia in DIES NATALIS, the CLARINET CONCERTO, and FAREWELL TO ARMS. (I know it's not your preferred performance, Hester, but I hope it will be acceptable. If you wish to warn me away from this performance/recording, now is the time to speak up...)
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Some of Holst's choral music is simply ravishing. I love his Eastern influenced works -- like the "Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda" -- and also his gorgeous short opera "Savitri" which is based on an episode from the Mahabharata.
The Hyperion recording of his beautiful "The Evening Watch" is one of my all time favorite CDs. Great stuff.
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Posted: |
Jul 29, 2009 - 1:17 AM
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By: |
Hester_Prin
(Member)
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(Happily, my trek to the living room afforded me the chance to pull off the shelf my lone Finzi album: Richard Hickox conducting the City of London Sinfonia in DIES NATALIS, the CLARINET CONCERTO, and FAREWELL TO ARMS. (I know it's not your preferred performance, Hester, but I hope it will be acceptable. If you wish to warn me away from this performance/recording, now is the time to speak up)
That recording is VERY rare. But it is the EMI budget version of Dies Natalis with Wilfred Brown that you want. This recording, along with a Holst piece conducted by his daughter, dates to 1964 and is the FIRST Finzi recording ever made. And no one has, and no one will ever out sing Wilfred Brown. The piece is actually designated to be sung by a 'high voice'.... and, hold on to your hat, it was Bernard Herrmann who was a GREAT fan of Finzi's work who suggested a tenor for the part.
I should send you a list of the best... but you have no contact info in your profile.
Naughty. ;-)
Send it to Joan and she will forward it on to me. Or should we try a Quija Board?
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Joan's already got it. You may fire when ready.
Cheers,
PNJ
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