In terra pax Op. 39

Christmas Scene for soprano and baritone soloists, chorus and orchestra (1954/6). The text conflates Robert Bridges’s poem Noel: Christmas Eve, 1913 and Luke 2: 8 14. Finzi suggested that the Nativity ‘becomes a vision seen by a wanderer on a dark and frosty Christmas Eve, in our own familiar landscape’. In terra pax is a masterpiece in miniature, Finzi’s pacifism at its heart, and his belief that men and women of goodwill should live harmoniously. Weaving through the music are three ideas: the pealing of the bells with their joyous message, a phrase from the carol The First Nowell, and the alleluia refrain from the hymn ‘Lasst uns erfreuen’. Duration: 14'. Vocal score onsale, performance materials on hire.