Gerald Finzi - Eclogue for Piano and Strings Op. 10

Gerald Raphael Finzi

 

(14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer.

Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres.

Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata Dies natalis for solo voice and

string orchestra, and his concertos for cello and clarinet.

 

Eclogue for Piano and Strings Op. 10

 

To my surprise, I first came upon this piece only last year (2009). And I really don't know how that happened given my love of English music, and also of Finzi's nods to the Baroque idiom throughout this work.

I was driving home from Boston to Worcester along the (hideous) Massachusetts Turnpike when I heard "Eclogue" for the first time on the radio (NPR I think). I was so affected, I had to take the nearest off-ramp. It immediately seized my heart and mind. "If this doesn't break your heart, you haven't got a heart to break" as one reviewer has said of this piece.

Finzi gave this work an early Opus number (perhaps misleadingly in terms of his evolution as a composer) even though he revised it towards the end of his life. His "Elegy" for violin and piano, which shares elements of "Eclogue" is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_qKAi...