The concerto is a late work (it was composed in 1955, a year before the composer's untimely death). Notes on the Finzi official website indicate the work dominated his final year of his life and was first broadcast on the night before his death in 1956. Sir John Barbirolli championed the concerto actively, the Cheltenham premiere was followed by a Royal Festival Hall and a Prom performance, which at any other time in Finzi’s life would have signalled a major breakthrough. In the years since the composer’s death, the work has become increasingly admired and performed as one of Finzi’s most eloquent and richly inventive scores. Finzi and Vaughan Williams were friends and you can hear the latter's influence in the work.
VIDEO: FINZI CELLO CONCERTO performed by Michael Grebanier and the San Francisco Symphony.
