"History, Analysis and Performance Considerations of Gerald Finzi's ...

3Hussey suggested a Eucharist theme:We have not so far had anything on the theme of the Eucharist . . . . The sort oftexts that pass through my mind are verses from Vaughan’s The Feast, or his TheHoly Communion, or Herbert’s Holy Communion, and many others of similarand other sorts. 10Henry Vaughan had been set by both Rubbra and Berkeley, and Finzi, likely in the interest oftime and familiarity, suggested a Vaughan text he was well acquainted with from his 1922setting of Psalm 121. 11Hussey responded favorably, and while providing additional options,kept his preferences clear:Yes, I think the Vaughan ‘Up to those bright and gladsome hills’ would beincluded within the limits . . . . Some of the old latin hymns are lovely and verysuitable . . . . But other things being equal, I am inclined to think than an Englishtext is preferred. 12Finzi settled upon a combination of stanzas from Richard Crashaw’s poetic versions ofthe St. Thomas Aquinas hymns, Adoro te, and Lauda Sion, and in so doing certainly met all ofHussey’s requirements. The two texts are English and, like Vaughan, metaphysical. They arebased on Latin sources, intensely devotional and subject-relevant, subtitled by Crashaw “inadoration of” and “for the Blessed Sacrament.” It would also seem of no small significance thatthe two poems are arranged side-by-side in Turnbull’s, The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw(1858), Waller’s edition of Crashaw’s, Steps to the Temple (1904), and Martin’s, The Poemssometimes while out of mind, the problem with the pieces in progress would vanish. Many of his compositions werewritten over a long period of time; e.g., Dies Natalis, one of his most respected earlier works took almost twentyyears to complete,” Dressler, 11-12.10 Hussey to Finzi, 6 June 1946, in Banfield, 327.11 Known as also as the first of “Two Motets.”12 Hussy to Finzi, 12 June 1946, in Banfield, 327.