Gerald Finzi

For St Cecilia op. 30

First publication of the full score of Finzi's 19-minute ceremonial ode for tenor solo, mixed chorus and orchestra; words by Edmund Blunden. The 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 violin counterpoint and the saint's name pealing around the chorus.