Gerald Finzi: I Said to Love; Let Us Garlands Bring; Before and After Summer

Roderick Williams (Performer), Gerald Finzi (Composer), Ian Burnside (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Roderick Williams, Ian Burnside
• Composer: Gerald Finzi
• Audio CD (May 17, 2005)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B0008JEKEK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #264,952 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shakespeare and Hardy Songs by Finzi, Beautifully Done, June 8, 2005

By 

J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gerald Finzi: I Said to Love; Let Us Garlands Bring; Before and After Summer (Audio CD)

Finzi experienced great and devastating losses early in his life -- his father when he was eight, his main teacher Ernest Farrar in World War I, as well as his three elder brothers -- and he became a withdrawn, introspective man deeply attracted by poetry and most especially the dark and pessimistic poems of Thomas Hardy. He once wrote a friend of Hardy's Collected Poems, 'If I had to be cut off from everything THAT would be the one book I should choose.' Most of his songs, indeed, were set to Hardy poems. Here we have two of his Hardy song sets, 'I Said to Love' and 'Before and After Summer.' Also included are his settings of songs from Shakespeare's plays, including the well-known 'Who is Silvia?,' 'It was a lover and his lass,' and 'Come away, come away, death.'

There are two songs here that stand, for me, among the very best English songs of the twentieth century. 'I said to love,' the last from the set of that name, and 'Fear no more the heat o' the sun,' from the Shakespeare set.

'I said to love' was completed by Finzi just a month before his death in 1956. Its utter desolation is seen in these lines:

'I said to Love,

"Thou art not young, thou art not fair,

No elfin darts, no cherub air,

Nor swan, nor dove are things;

but features pitiless, and iron daggers of distress,"

I said to Love.

"Depart, then, Love!"'

and matched by the keening of the vocal line. The composer rarely raises his voice in any of his works, but there is, just after the final

'"Mankind shall cease. - so let it be," I said to Love,'

Finzi conveys his anger, bitterness and hurt in an unusual, for him, extended, even ugly, piano cadenza that all but shouts his pain. An extraordinary song.

Shakespeare's 'Fear no more the heat o' the sun,' (Cymbeline IV, 2) tells of the inevitability and welcome relief of death:

'Fear no more the heat o' the sun,

Nor the furious winter's rages;

Thou thy worldly task hast done,

Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages:

Golden lads and girls all must,

As chimney-sweepers, come to dust'

Finzi's word-setting as well as the piano commentary are given a haunting 6/4 melody that, once heard, will remain in memory.

Baritone Roderick Williams, a singer previously unknown to me, sings with rich voice, sensitive flexibility, wide dynamic range, and grace. He is accompanied by Iain Burnside, a pianist who is the creative presenter of BBC Three's treasurable 'Voices' program. He is sensitive partner for the singer.

This is a valuable volume, Number 12, in The English Song Series being brought out by Naxos. Finzi is a wonderful song-writer and his songs are here given wonderful performances.

Note: No texts are printed in the enclosed booklet, but are available at the Naxos website (www.naxos.com/libretti/finzi.htm)

Scott Morrison

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely wonderful, May 30, 2010

By 

G.D. (Norway) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gerald Finzi: I Said to Love; Let Us Garlands Bring; Before and After Summer (Audio CD)

Gerald Finzi might not have had the broadest compositional range among British twentieth century composers, but many of his songs are still marvelous creations; gorgeous melodies that serve to support the text rather than fight against it - rather providing completely apt, subtle colorations to emphasize the meanings of the words - superbly singable (and important and often overlooked point), often achingly wistful and beautiful. Naxos is in the business of recording them all, it seems, and we should be grateful for the opportunity to have them as excellently sung as they are by Roderick Williams.

The volume at hand might also be the very strongest in the series, containing as it does some of Finzi's most marvelous song cycles (two to Hardy texts while one, Let us Garlands Bring, to Shakespeare), full of striking, thoroughly memorable melodies and subtly contrasted moods. Of course, there is a pervasive atmosphere of wistfulness and yearning ere, but the programme never becomes one-dimensional or repetitive. Partially, this is because of Williams's admirable singing. His voice is warm and expressive and he articulates the words so well that texts are really superfluous, carefully phrased and with a masterly command of subtle colors. His partner Iain Burnside sounds as committed as Williams, always providing a perfect balance between singer and piano and even suggesting striking dialogues between singer and piano where appropriate. The sound quality is superb as well, and this is an absolute winner of a disc.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Garlands of Goodness, December 8, 2011

By 

christopher (United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Finzi: I Said To Love / Let Us Garlands Bring / Before And After Summer (English Song, Vol. 12) (MP3 Download)

These kinds of song cycles are often the finest examples of pure music-making: a singer and a pianist in a room. What else do you need?

The quality of the compositions accepted as a given (see J Scott Morrison above), I *so* wish more people would listen to real musicians like Williams and Burnside making real music instead of the manipulated noise that we are subjected to in popular media. There is more musicality and more humanity in one measure of I Said To Love than in the entirety of whatever was played on commercial radio today, which is just incredibly disappointing.

The songs are each breaths of fresh air, the musicality of the performers is superb and the quality of the recording is excellent. This may be the best ~$8 you ever spend.