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Finzi's Cantata for Tenor and String orchestra was written over a period of many years and is a synthesis of all that is fine in his approach to setting words to music. Absolute respect for the rhythm of the text and beautiful melodic line. This five movement work is one if Finzi's very finest creations.
The Cantata Dies Irae, was written for The Chiswick Choir who gave the premier in March 1990. The text is a fusion of the Dies Irae from the Requiem Mass and words from Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year. The text was devised and arranged by Paul Davies. Prior to this second performance the cantata has undergone some judicious revisions, mostly in the orchestral accompaniment. And two missing bars in the original vocal score have been restored! The work depicts London during the time of the great plague, the plight of its citizens and the gradual return to sanity as the plague subsides - echoes of our own times can be found in the text and in its musical treatment. The work is scored for chorus (up to eight parts), the usual quartet of soloists with an orchestra of strings, organ, piano, harp and percussion. |
