Finzi: A Young Man's Exhortation; Till Earth Outwears; Oh Fair To See

Gerald Finzi (Composer), Ian Burnside (Performer), John Mark Ainsley (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Ian Burnside, John Mark Ainsley
• Composer: Gerald Finzi
• Audio CD (June 26, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B000Q6ZUWQ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #305,589 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb English song, March 22, 2008

By 

M. J. Gray (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Finzi: A Young Man's Exhortation; Till Earth Outwears; Oh Fair To See (Audio CD)

A sensitive rendering of Finzi's songs, including the posthumous cycle, "Oh fair to see." John Mark Ainsley's beautiful phrasing and diction make this recording a joy to listen to. His voice is perfectly suited to the rather wistful subject matter. Iain Burnside's accompaniment is sympathetic.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gerald Finzi's Songs for Tenor Voice and Piano, December 20, 2011

By 

D. M. Ohara "Dan O'Hara" (Cleveland, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Finzi: A Young Man's Exhortation; Till Earth Outwears; Oh Fair To See (Audio CD)

Gerald Finzi lived from 1901 to 1956 and was one of the most distinctive English composers of his generation. He belongs in the English Pastoral tradition, exemplified by Vaughan Williams, John Ireland and EJ Moeran, rather than the modern school, associated with Walton, Tippett and Britten. During his lifetime his music was - with a few exceptions - not widely known or appreciated: but that has changed in the past few decades. He composed very slowly, often taking years, and sometime a decade, over a piece. He was dissatisfied with much that he wrote and often withdrew a work after a first performance, sometimes rewriting, and sometimes abandoning the project, in whole or in part. His relatively modest output ends with Opus 40.

Finzi did produce several masterpieces, among them the cantata for high voice and strings 'Dies Natalis', a clarinet concerto and a cello concerto. He published single movements of what were intended to be concertos for piano [Eclogue] and violin [Introit], several short orchestral works, often just for strings, and a quantity of choral music. History will probably judge Finzi mainly by his songs for voice and piano, of which around 70 survive. These were published in nine sets, several apearing posthumously edited by his friend and musical executor, Howard Ferguson. Thomas Hardy was Finzi's favourite poet, and the majority of his songs, including these three cycles, have words by the Dorset poet.

Most of Finzi's songs were written for the baritone voice, and these are included on 2 Naxos CDs performed by Roderick Williams. This third CD contains the songs for tenor voice, sung by John Mark Ainsley: Iain Burnside is the pianist throughout. Competition in the posthumously published set 'Oh fair to see' comes from Ian Partridge, with pianist Clifford Benson, in a Hyperion - now Helios - mixed recital which I have not heard. In the other two sets, the obvious comparison is with Neil Jenkins in 'A Young Man's Exhortation' and Robert Tear in 'Till Earth Outwears'. These come from pioneering Lyrita recordings with Howard Ferguson at the piano, coupled with three baritone cycles sung by John Carol Case, all now available on a Double CD. I think it could be argued that the 25-year old Neil Jenkins is still slightly to be preferred in the Op. 14 songs: at least he sounds more like a young man. But in Op. 19a, I prefer Ainsley to Tear. All three Naxos CDs deserve to be in any collection of English Song, and the Lyrita set is also worth having, even if it is now in some respects surpassed by these more recent Naxos offerings.

Added in Edit: There is another recent recording of these three cycles by James Gilchrist with Anna Tilbrook at the piano which I had overlooked. I have not yet heard it, but it has been well reviewed. Prospective purchasers may wish to take it into account before deciding.