Herbert Howells, born into poverty, became an 'insider' at the Royal College of Music and in the British musical establishment, teaching there from 1920 to 1979.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Gerald Finzi, though not conventionally religious, cherished the Anglican Church as part of English cultural heritage, similar to Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Herbert Howells' church music, despite his success in the Anglican liturgy, was not inspired by religious sentiments, as he stated, "I am not a religious man any more than Ralph was."
Recording & Production
This album was recorded in 2006 and 2007 at All Saints' Church, Beverly Hills, and Capitol Records Studios, Hollywood.
Composer Biography
Gerald Finzi, born into an affluent Jewish-Italian family in London, worked to erase his Jewish heritage and become an assimilated English composer.
Critical Reception
In the 1950s, modernist critics dismissed composers Gerald Finzi and Herbert Howells as irrelevant pastoralists, overshadowed by Benjamin Britten.
Composition History
Herbert Howells' Requiem, completed in 1932, was not published until 1981, possibly due to its complex and highly chromatic modernist idiom being too difficult for choirs of the 1930s.
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