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Inni alla notte
(Hymns to the night (from Novalis) 1932). Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg
1772-1801) was, in his very short life, the high priest, the poet, the
purest voice of German romanticism. From his Hymns to the Night (Hymnen an
die Nacht) Finzi drew inspiration for this symphonic poem which is
remarkably different from the rest of his production for the great variety
of the situations and the precise thematic individualization of the themes.
Conceived, so to speak, “by panels” according to a module very much favoured
by composers between the two world wars the initiator of which is considered
to be Gian Francesco Malipiero, the piece offers an extremely sober
material, characterized by deliberately non well-defined lines after the
fashion of Debussy, but very varied in metre and dynamics; its sections are
contrasted by sharp changes of light and shadows and seem to follow the
guidelines of Novalis’ poems, even though there are no explicit references.
The work of thematic transformation is here so sophisticated as to make it
difficult to recognize a theme although heard shortly before, according to a
method of composition which tends to extract and which was to be typical of
Finzi’s later works. Inni alla notte by Gian Paolo
Sonsogno (translation Nora Heger).
Il Salmo
(Psalm for chorus and orchestra 1944-45) was composed in a
very different context to Finzi’s earlier works. It was 1944 and persecution
was at it highest. An underlying climate of threat leading to fleeing and
hiding accompanied the everyday life of the composer and his family. A
tragic event is at the origin of the work. In November the Italian SS were
about to capture the composer’s son. Rather than letting them take his
child, Finzi surrendered and offered himself as a captive instead. The
Italian SS being easy to bribe, he managed to obtain his own release,
letting them have all his belongings. Il Salmo was conceived as a
homage to the Lord to thank Him for having saved his son and himself and
represents a renovated period of creativity after unproductive years.
The work, divided into four movements of contrasting tempos, is written for
choir and orchestra including alternating piano and organ. It falls into a
typically modern genre, a strand that runs through the 20 century taking
free inspirations after Psalms and is exemplified by many a composer such as
Poulenc, Honegger, Stravinsky, Penderecki, Petrassi and Schoenberg. Il
Salmo may well be considered Finzi’s spiritual legacy. It is difficult to pin down
the character of a work whose originality resides in the rethinking and
reshaping of the most diverse materials drawing from the French (Faure’s
Requiem and Debussy’s Martyre) as well as the late romantic
choral tradition, and the contemporary music of the theatre. A further
element of originality is in the text that Finzi invented himself.
I Calmo e sereno. “Blessed is he who enters trusting in God, God Bless
him from His heavenly throne.”
II Ritmato e deciso. “The Lord is God, He sustains us; bear the
thanksgiving amphora to the corners of the altar.”
III Lento. “Thou art my God, I will pay Thee homage, my God, I will Thee
extol.”
IV Con impeto. “Render homage to God, He is gracious, His mercy is infinite, glory to God. Amen.”
As the conductor Gian Paolo Sonsogno has pointed
out that Finzi, in contrast to Bruckner, Salviucci and Petrassi, who used a
single Psalm, and Stravinsky who mixed a number of Psalms, became himself a
psalmist. The verses express a singular thankful praise to God, at times
whispered at times expressionistically cried, which manifest the composer’s
will not only to be thankful but also to believe and trust in God, in the
very moment in which a faith is such cause of suffering. “ Believe in Music
as the most powerful means of elevation for humanity to contemplate God”
Such statement can be read in the novel Finzi wrote a few months before he
started composing the Salmo. It can be assumed that he intended to
realise such an ambitious program in what was to be his very last work. Il
Salmo excerpt from: “Persecuted music” in Italy by Eleonora Carapella.
Igor Stravinsky was exposed to music from the day he was born on June 17, 1882. His father,
Fyodor Ignatievitch, was a famous opera singer with the Mariinsky Theatre
and his mother, Anna Kyrillovna, also sang and played the piano well. As
Stravinsky’s memoirs relate, it was from her he “inherited the valuable
ability to read orchestral scores at sight.” At nine, Stravinsky began to
study piano and music theory, but his interest in music was far from the
consuming passion it was to be later. In 1901, Stravinsky followed his
parents’ advice and enrolled in the St. Petersburg University to read law.
Yet it was not long before he started serious experiments in composition and
legal philosophy began to evaporate into the back of his mind as the idea of
becoming a composer took strong preference. It was at this time Stravinsky
became friendly with a fellow student, Vladimir, the youngest son of the
composer, Rimsky-Korsakov. On hearing Stravinsky play, Rimsky-Korsakov
advised him not to go through the rather rigid approach of the St.
Petersburg Conservatoire.
“Instead” as Stravinsky wrote later, “he made me the precious gift of his
unforgettable lessons.” The master-pupil relationship developed into a
close friendship, especially after the death of Stravinsky’s father in
1902. In 1905, he graduated in law from the St. Petersburg School, but he
had no intention of following a legal career. Fortunately, he made the
important decision of total commitment to music, resulting in a long and
extremely distinguished career. As an intellectual cosmopolitan Russian
émigré, Stravinsky was to rock the world with his startling, dynamic music
and came to be acknowledged as one of the greatest 20th century composers.
Throughout his life he often made such declarations as, “I speak Russian, I
think Russian, and, as you hear in my music, I am Russian.” After a long and
extremely productive life, Stravinsky died at his home in New York on April
6, 1971.
The Firebird Suite 1919 was the first of Stravinsky’s great ballets written for the
impresario Serge Diaghilev and is generally perceived as a traditional
composition. There is plenty in the score that make us think of his teacher,
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who died only two years before, and there are
several reminders of other composers, like such disparate personalities as
Balakirev, Mendelsshon, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin and even Debussy. However,
above all, there are suggestions of the Stravinsky to come, the hammering
rhythms, the complicated yet often eerily transparent harmonies and one of
the most spectacular climaxes in the repertory.
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