Clarinetist at Madeleine Festival

Gerald Finzi belongs to that group of young English composers born around the turn of the last century who followed in the footsteps of Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan Williams. In fact, Vaughan Williams was so impressed with his younger colleague that he considered Finzi to be his natural successor.

Unfortunately, Finzi didn't outlive the older composer. He died in 1956 at the age of 55 of Hodgkin's disease, two years before Vaughan Williams.

Finzi didn't leave a large body of work. Much of what he wrote was for chamber ensembles or voice. He did compose a few larger pieces, though, most notably a concerto for clarinet and one for cello. Both of these are from the final years of his life.

One of the reasons Finzi left only a small collection of compositions was that he wasn't a full-time composer.

"He did a lot of things," said Russell Harlow. "Besides writing music he was also an expert apple grower. And for a short while in the '30s he taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London. That was the only professional job he had."

Harlow, the Utah Symphony's associate principal clarinetist, will play Finzi's Concerto for Clarinet tonight in the Cathedral of the Madeleine as part of the Madeleine Festival of the Arts and Humanities. He'll be joined by the Cathedral Chamber Orchestra under the baton of guest conductor Charles Ketcham.

This will be the first time Harlow has played the concerto. "I've known it for awhile," he said. "It's charming and very emotional music. Finzi is just a wonderful composer."

Finzi's music is all but neglected today. Harlow said the clarinet concerto has never been played in Utah. "And I don't recall it ever being done in the U.S." Harlow had to go through what at times seemed insurmountable obstacles to get the music. He'd been in contact with the New York office of Boosey & Hawkes to obtain the music, but without any success. "I told the woman I was dealing with that I needed the parts by April 21 (the day he and the rest of the orchestra returned to Utah from the symphony's European tour). But they weren't here." In frustration, Harlow's wife, Leslie, began making parts from the score on their computer. "It took three weeks just to get the score. Right now, I'm just going to pay them the rental fee and use the parts Leslie's been making.

"No wonder Finzi isn't played a lot—you can't get the music!" Harlow will play the concerto twice. In addition to tonight's concert, he'll also perform it Tuesday in St. Mary's Catholic Church in Park City.