Introit The Music of Gerald Finzi Aurora Orchestra & Nicholas Collon

• 1 Amen 02:40
• 2 5. The Salutation 04:17
• 3 Who is Sylvia?, Op.18, No.2 01:43
• 4 1. Soliloquy 1: So sweet a kiss the golden sun gives not 01:44
• 5 2. Soliloquy 2: Did not the heavenly rhetoric of thine eye 01:33
• 6 3. Soliloquy 3: On a day, alack the day 01:16
• 7 Clear and gentle stream, Op.17, No.4 04:31
• 8 Rollicum Rorum, Op.15, No.6 01:43
• 9 Introit, Op.6 08:35
• 10 Come away, come away death, Op.18, No.1 03:43
• 11 Prelude, Op.25 04:30
• 12 Romance, Op.11 07:35
• 13 To Lizbie Brown, Op.15, No.7 04:07
• 14 1. Intrada 05:26
• 15 Fear no more the heat of the sun, Op.18, No.3 05:36
• 16 A Severn Rhapsody, Op.3 06:36
• 17 Eclogue Op.10 11:05
• 18 3. Carol 02:05
• 19 4. Forlana 03:01
• Total Runtime 01:21:46

Info for Introit The Music of Gerald Finzi

To commemorate the 60th Anniversary of British composer Gerald Finzi’s passing, Decca Classics and the Finzi Trust collaborate on a special album to bring some of Finzi's finest works to a whole new audience.

These pieces are some of the best kept secrets of pastoral England – it’s time Finzi's lush, lyrical music found a wider audience. Re-imagined popular vocal works are performed by Classic Brit winner and Grammy nominee Amy Dickson (saxophones). Other soloists include Thomas Gould (violin), Tom Poster (piano) and Nicolas Fleury (French horn).

This release invigorates Finzi’s music with the dynamic Aurora Orchestra and Nicholas Collon, playing arrangements specially commissioned from some of the country’s best arrangers by the Finzi Trust – the ‘guardians’ of this wonderful repertoire.

„Harvey Brough, Patrick Hawes, Paul Mealor and Mike Sheppard bring their own unique style and perspective to Finzi’s pieces but retain his lyrical essence. His Eclogue for piano and strings is one of Finzi's most popular works and an essential part of Classic FM’s “Hall of Fame”. “Music always needs great communicators, and here’s one whose captivating instrumental voice could open up a whole new world” (Amy Dickson, Classic FM)

'Bright, young and full of ideas, the Aurora Orchestra meld classical music with anything from jazz to tango to Nico Muhly.' (The Guardian)

Amy Dickson, saxophone
Thomas Gould, violin
Tom Poster, piano
Nicolas Fleury, French horn
Aurora Orchestra
Nicholas Collon, conductor

Aurora
After hearing her lithe, fairytale-reminiscent songs, perhaps it wouldn’t surprise you to learn that AURORA (born Aurora Aksnes) hails from a Norwegian city with a name translates to “Fjord of Lights.” Or that when she was six, the future singer/songwriter was disciplined for convincing classmates that their school was overrun with talking mice. Or even that her first brush with making music was discovering a toy piano, and she managed to keep her hobby a secret from her parents until well into her teen years.

Now nineteen and on the cusp of releasing her debut full-length, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend, AURORA’s fantasies have only grown, inhabiting every corner of her music. A girl makes peace with her murderer and the inherit vulnerability of life in the haunting piano ballad “Murder Song (5,4,3,2,1).” A runaway fades away into the wonder of nature over the course of “Runaway,” her escape marked with harpsichord, live percussion, and an undeniable sense of wonder. And coupled with an anthemic swell of synths and AURORA’s triumphant vocal, “Running With the Wolves” makes tapping into one’s lupine side seem not only plausible but downright irresistible.

“When I was very young, younger than now, I could listen to songs by Cohen and Bob Dylan, not even knowing the English language yet, and still kind of understand what the song was about, and have a sense of emotion from the song without knowing the words,” AURORA reveals. “I always strive to be better and I always feel like everything I’m making can be better if I had more time. I’m very picky. But the most important thing is the emotion in the song, of course. So I hope that the emotions in my songs are clear enough that you don’t need to know what the words mean.”

Nowhere is that idea of overflowing visceral content more evident than her new single “Conqueror,” where, against a percussive wave, she sings of someone longing to be rescued from “Broken mornings/broken nights/broken days in between.” Written for fun one night in the studio with her bandmates (who she refers to as her “second family”) AURORA calls the anthem a personal reminder—in addition to being one of the most fun songs in her catalogue to perform live.

“I know that I’m very sensitive,” she admits. “In many ways I’m weak. But if you’re weak, you’re also very strong. Because you need to work a bit harder to survive as well…You have to find the conqueror in yourself at first, I think. That’s what I think about in the song. It’s just a person who hasn’t realized that yet. That person is still trying to find the conqueror in someone else. You have to find the conqueror in yourself to land on your own feet. You are the only one you need to survive. Then other people will make your life a good life as well. It’s important to be strong in yourself.”

However AURORA prefers to swap weakness and sorrow for happiness, punctuating even the heaviest of topics with laughs and thoughtful tangents. Even her album title, a metaphor for making peace with your past, hints at a chance for not only redemption, but also joy amidst the darkness.

“I don’t want to write sad songs only to make people sad,” she notes. “I’ll end up with lots of depressed fans.” At that admission AURORA pauses, giggling as she admits she’s crying as she speaks, a byproduct of just reflecting on all the support she’s received so far.

“That’s not my goal at all,” she continues. “But I want to people to know that it’s not dangerous to cry or think of something sad for a while. It’s easier to think about it through a song, which can also be beautiful while being sad. It’s like taking medicine with a teaspoon of sugar. It’s important to have some hope.”

Booklet for Introit The Music of Gerald Finzi