Gerald Finzi - Eclogue for Piano and Strings Op. 10

English composer Gerald Finzi gives us a sublime piece here. To my surprise, I first came upon it only last year (2009). And I really don't know how that happened given my love of English music, and also of Finzi's nods to the Baroque idiom throughout this work.

I was driving home when I heard "Eclogue" for the first time on the radio. I was so affected, I had to take the nearest off-ramp. It immediately seized my heart and mind. "If this doesn't break your heart, you haven't got a heart to break" as one reviewer has said of this piece.

Finzi gave this work an early Opus number (perhaps misleadingly in terms of his evolution as a composer) even though he revised it towards the end of his life. His "Elegy" for violin and piano, which shares elements of "Eclogue" is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_qKAin4kqI

My pics here are of a snowy Derbyshire Peak District, England, at Christmas 2009. Again, these photos are centred on the village of Great Longstone, of its lovely medieval church and some of the surrounding landscape. I shall get better with the timings!

Piano: Peter Donohoe
Northern Sinfonia
Conducted by Howard Griffiths
A Naxos Recording

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