British classical composer best known as a choral composer, but who also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata Dies natalis for solo voice and string orchestra, and his concertos for cello and clarinet.
Finzi became one of the most characteristically “English” composers of his generation. Despite being an agnostic of Jewish descent, several of his choral works incorporate Christian texts.
In 1956, following an excursion near Gloucester with Vaughan Williams, Finzi developed shingles, probably as a result of immune suppression caused by Hodgkin’s disease. Biographies refer to him subsequently developing chickenpox, which developed into a “severe brain inflammation”. What this probably means, in modern medical language, is that the shingles developed into disseminated shingles, which resembled chickenpox, and was complicated by encephalitis. He died soon afterwards, on 27 September, aged 55, in the Radcliffe Infirmary hospital in Oxford, the first performance of his Cello Concerto on the radio having been given the night before.
Finzi’s eldest son, Christopher, became a noted conductor and an exponent of his father’s music. Finzi’s younger son Nigel was a successful violinist, and worked closely with their mother in promoting his father’s music. Thanks to both sons and the support of other enthusiasts, as well as the work of the Finzi Trust and the Finzi Friends, Finzi’s music enjoyed a great resurgence from the late 20th century onwards.
Link to Wikipedia biography