Four Songs for voice and string orchestra

Finzi’s orchestration of four of his friend Ivor Gurney’s songs dates from 1919. It comprises settings of Under the Greenwood Tree and Orpheus (Shakespeare), Sleep (Fletcher) and Spring (Nashe). The arranger, only eighteen at the time, fully exploits the possibilities of the string orchestra in these melodious settings, with much use of divisi to produce a rich texture. The cycle looks two decades ahead to the mature Finzi’s own Shakespeare cycle for voice and string orchestra, Let us Garlands Bring. Gurney’s voice and piano album (with an additional song) appeared in 1920, entitled Five Elizabethan Songs (ISMN 979-0-060-03169-4). String parts available on hire from Boosey & Hawkes.