Gerald Finzi Eclogue for piano and string orchestra Op.10

Gerald Finzi became known to the musical public when his short Severn Rhapsody for chamber orchestra was first performed in 1924 at the Winter Gardens in Bournemouth under the baton of Sir Dan Godfrey.

Towards the end of the nineteen-twenties Finzi began a few large-scale projects that were not to come to fruition – or at least only partly so. The Requiem de Camera was given its first performance in 1990 after lying forgotten since 1924.  Finzi began working on a Violin Concerto which was completed and given a performance under Malcolm Sargent in 1927. The work was subsequently withdrawn and, apart from the second movement, lay in the Finzi archives until it was revived in June 2000 in its entirety. This gorgeous slow movement was twice revised and lived a life of its own as the Introit op.6 

The Eclogue, not yet named as such, was first conceived in 1929 and was to have been the slow movement of a projected Piano Concerto which Finzi had commenced in 1927.

It seems that only sketches were made of the two outer movements of the Concerto.  The first movement of this work was disliked by R.V.W., and R.O. Morris insisted that it cannot be in a piano concerto but must be the ‘fantasia’ for a fugue.

It was to reappear in 1953 as material for the Grand Fantasia and Toccata op.38. The third movement caused considerable consternation to Finzi and was never completed.

The slow movement was a work that was to absorb the composer for some quarter of a century.  The ‘Eclogue’ was revised twice – once in the late nineteen-forties and again in 1952. The Concerto itself was abandoned, but Finzi was happy to preserve this slow movement as a discrete work.

The piece was given the present name after the composer’s death by agreement between family and friends – including composer Howard Ferguson who prepared the manuscript for performance. The title Eclogue is usually taken to refer to a poem in the classical style and is invariably on a pastoral subject. Many poems in this genre are referred to as ‘Bucolic’.  Classical authors referred to the poems in Virgil’s’ ‘Bucolica’ as ‘eclogae.’  Sometimes, they were written as a dialogue or even singing competitions between two shepherds. Perhaps this literary device helps us to understand the nature of Finzi’s piece –as a dialogue between pianist and string orchestra.

The first performance was on the 27^th January 1957 at the Victoria and Albert Museum with Kathleen Long as soloist and the Kalmar Orchestra conducted by John Russell,

A contemporary reviewer wrote that ‘The absence of anything distinctively pianistic [I think he meant in an extrovert sense] the simplicity of the music and its familiar character may well make it a favourite with amateur orchestras.’ Another reviewer suggested that the ‘…calm serenity…[was] typical of Finzi’s slow movements...there is a rare mood of tranquillity – the piece unfolds in a Bachian manner [an aria?]”

It should readily apparent to the listener that the keyboard writing reflects a synthesis of English ‘pastoral’ with baroque style.

The structure of the Eclogue is ambiguous. On the one hand it appears to be very simple – yet on the other, it is extremely subtle and makes for a particularly nuanced movement. Joy Finzi described the work as being ‘… ABA leading to a climax and a middle section leading back to A & B played together followed by a coda.” -where A and B are two contrasting themes. Stephen Banfield in his masterly biography of the composer feels that she is being a little disingenuous. He notes that it is ‘…in ternary form of which the opening is in ternary for itself.’

It is difficult to try to adduce influences on this or in fact on any of Finzi’s works. There is no doubt that the ‘pastoral’ mood of Vaughan Williams is apparent in the Eclogue. But it can never be defined as ‘a cow leaning over a fence’ type of music.  The touch of Elgar can be heard in some of the phrases of this work, but the formative influence here is undoubtedly J.S. Bach.

Gerald Finzi’s Eclogue for piano and string orchestra Op.10 has had several recordings. The earliest was issued in Lyrita SRCS 92 in 1977. It featured the pianist Peter Katin and the New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Vernon Handley. This has been conveniently uploaded to YouTube.

Since then several other versions and repackagings have been made.

With thanks to the English Music Festival, where this programme note was first published. I have made a few minor editorial changes.