Of Italian Jewish ancestry, Gerald Finzi was among the most English of composers, spending much of his life in the countryside of Hampshire and later near Newbury, where the string orchestra he founded became an important vehicle for the performance of his music. His interest in earlier English music and in English literature is largely reflected in his own works, which owe something to Parry, to his older contemporary Vaughan Williams, and to Elgar.

Orchestral Music

Finzi’s orchestral music includes a Clarinet Concerto and a Cello Concerto, with a Grand Fantasia and Toccata for piano and orchestra. His very English Severn Suite enjoys some popularity, while Introit survives from an abandoned violin concerto.