Gerald Finzi - For St. Cecilia - Op. 30 - James Gilchrist, Tenor

English composer Gerald Finzi’s "For Saint Cecilia", subtitled "Ceremonial Ode", was a commissioned work by the St Cecilia’s Day Festival Committee for the 1947 celebration of music’s patron saint. It was premiered on 22 November 1947 at the Royal Albert Hall by René Soames with the Luton Choral Society and the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. The words are by noted English poet Edmund Blunden (1896-1974). Blunden and Finzi worked together closely over the words.

James Leonard of AllMusic writes "Perhaps no other English composer of the first half of the twentieth century had the talent of fitting words to music that Gerald Finzi did. So complete was the unity of his art that Finzi was acknowledged in his time to be the finest composer of English songs. Even in his larger works for soloist, chorus, and orchestra, Finzi never faltered but created works in which it was nearly impossible to tell which came first, the music or the poetry.

In this 2005 Naxos recording, tenor James Gilchrist and conductor David Hill leading the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus & Orchestra turn in superlative performances of Finzi's Intimations of Immortality and For St. Cecilia [featured here]. Part of the excellence is Hill's skill as a choral conductor -- listen to the bright, alert, and always sincere singing of the Bournemouth Chorus -- and part of it is Hill's skill as an orchestral conductor -- listen to the warm, sustained, and always graceful playing of the Bournemouth Symphony. But the largest part of the excellence is owed to James Gilchrist. A doctor turned tenor, Gilchrist has a supple yet strong voice that wonderfully captures the lyrical ecstasy of Finzi's writing. Better yet, Gilchrist has a sensitive yet objective soul that marvellously catches the subtle insights of Finzi's settings. Preserved in Naxos' clear yet deep sound, these performances are as fine as the best ever recorded of either work and are well worth hearing by anyone who loves twentieth century English vocal music."

From Schott Music: "For St Cecilia, Ceremonial Ode for tenor solo, chorus & orchestra; words by Edmund Blunden. The original work was commissioned by the St Cecilia’s Day Festival Committee for the 1947 celebration of music’s patron saint. The ceremonial mood is established with fanfares, and the sonorous sweep of the choral writing reflects Finzi’s admiration for Parry and Elgar. The ‘catalogue’ of saints, shared between the soloist and chorus, are deftly delineated: St Valentine, St George, St Dunstan, St Swithin and St Cecilia herself. In rapt stillness, the English composers of the past – Merbecke, Byrd, Dowland and Purcell – are summoned. To close, Finzi creates a festal summation with exultant counterpoint and the saint’s name pealing around the chorus."

Images

I took these images in various places in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England.

Performing Artists

James Gilchrist (tenor)
Bournemouth Symphony Chorus
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: David Hill
A Naxos Recording (p) 2005 - sponsored by the Finzi Trust

[Beyondabsence]

The highlight of my Saturday! I haven't listened to this treasure in two years or more. The wonderful images perfectly match every chord, every sonic wave. Thank you Anthony! God bless you always. Gus

[TheHeliogabalusene]

So very Finzi this piece. It saddens me that so few people have even heard of him and yet he was one of the very greatest British composers of the 20th century.

[urmorph]

Luminous music, luminous photos. Thanks so much for this post.

[kristenkim]

James Gilchrist is one of my favorite tenors, his voice provides an emotional intensity that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside... :)

[originaltommy]

I've been addicted to Finzi all of my fifty years. There is NO ONE that sounds like him. The same goes for Herbert Howells. My two favourite Brit Composers!

[jorgesavarino]

Bellísimo.Hace poco empeze a disfrutar y de los compositores británicos. R.V. W. , Finzi, Scott Elgar, Watson, etc y los admiro cada vez mas.Felitaciones..Todo muy bueno.

[evanofelipe]

Yet again lovely images, your technique of slow reveal and pan allows the viewer time to be fully engaged in the scene. Thank you. It’s always a pleasure to receive notification of your work.

[peterdewint]

Wonderful music which I first discovered over thirty years ago. I can remember borrowing a cassette with this piece (possibly conducted by Boult) many times from the university library. Fine images as usual. Cheers.

[lawrenceuk]

"For St Cecilia" - A Ceremonial Ode by Edmund Blunden (1896–1974)

Delightful Goddess, in whose fashionings
And fables Truth still goes adorned;
Resourceful Legend, taught by whom Time sings
Of what had else been lost or scorned,
Thine be our first devotion, while we throng
On this returning day to reverence one,
Thy fairest, and herself Time’s sweetest song:
Sing out Cecilia’s name, and earth is new-begun.

Changed is the age; mysterious, man’s next star;
But Legend’s children share his calendar,
And are beloved though change on change appear,
The due companions of the fleeting year:
St. Valentine for love’s adventure beams,
St. George is with us in war’s iron gleams,
St. Dunstan whose red tongs clipt Satan’s powers,
St. Swithin with his forty days of showers,
And many another saint, are fondly ours;
But where in all the saintly company
Is one beloved beyond melodious Cecily?

How came you, lady of fierce martyrdom,
How came you by your manifold skill?
You found the soul of music yet half dumb,
Deep-chained the utterance that should fill
The high-carved roofs of life with tides of tone.
Then in a rapture conscious of all these
You threw the palace open; and the throne
Blazed forth dominion of infinities.

Straight, by this beautiful inventress given
Art’s clue, a studious angel alit from heaven;
And in good times a host of mortals too
As Cecily’s disciples saw the clue,
Till through the West re-echoing genius vied
In making music where her clear notes guide;

In England too men marked Cecilia’s grace,
There looks turned listening to that faultless face.
Stand with us, Merbecke, and be Byrd close by;
Dowland and Purcell, lift the theme on high;
Handel is here, the friend and generous guest,
With morning airs for her, and choral zest.

How smilingly the saint among her friends
Sits, and with fingers white and long
Awakes her own praeludium, which transcends
The union of all other song!
For ever those the first in arts remain,
And their original blooms on winterless;
For ever Cecily’s delights sustain
Song’s later-comers, and her blue eyes bless.

Wherefore we bid you to the full concent
Of St. Cecilia’s joyous argument,
And in her host we congregate each form
Her music takes when it would lull, or storm;
And every means that grew beneath her hand
To wing man’s thought far past the ground
he spanned.

Exult in music’s strife and music’s calm,
For all man’s martyrdom the crowning psalm,
The gift of St. Cecilia whose young voice
Man doomed to death, and yet who could rejoice,
Sure of her dream that bears the world along,
Blest in the life of universal song.