Gerald Finzi: Dies Natalis

As I've often said, I love doing Patreon-sponsored episodes in part because they allow me to discover music I might never have encountered otherwise. Today's episode is one of those, because the truth is that before I made it, I had heard of Finzi, but that was about it. I knew nothing about the circumstances of his life or his music, and while I knew this was a hole in my musical knowledge, I hadn't had time to fill it. Well, thanks to Jillian, I got the time to explore this wonderful 20th-century composer's works, and now I'm ready to tell you about him, since I imagine his is an unfamiliar name to many of you listening.

Gerald Finzi was a terrific composer and a fascinating figure in 20th-century music. He struck out on his own path, refusing to follow the trends of the time, and as a result his music has a special, unique quality: a bit more modest than that of someone trying to change the world, like Schoenberg, but nonetheless deeply human and often inspired by literary interests. Finzi was interested in much more than music, and amassed a library of over 3,000 volumes of English poetry, philosophy, and literature, much of which ended up appearing in his music.

This powerful marriage of poetry and music produced Finzi's strongest and most enduring works. Since Jillian left it up to me which of his works to tell you about today, I decided to lean into his love of English poetry and take a detailed look at a piece many consider his masterpiece: Dies Natalis, which translates to "Day of Birth," a work for solo voice and string orchestra.

The piece is set to the poetry of the 17th-century English Metaphysical poet and priest Thomas Traherne, and explores innocence, from the first moments a baby enters the world to the tarnishing of that innocence as the child grows older. This was a topic Finzi knew all too well, having lost all three of his brothers during his early years. The piece is a profound yet tender meditation on the joys and sufferings of new life, and I can't wait to share it with you today.