You may know that, in the recent Hall of Fame countdown of 300 pieces on Classic FM, Gerald had three entries – which is a remarkable achievement for a composer often perceived to be one with a low(ish) public profile.

I was particularly pleased to see the clarinet concerto (a piece with such a beautiful and moving slow movement) re-enter the chart after quite a long absence, joining Five Bagatelles and the Eclogue.

It annoys me that all sorts of tosh like Philip Glass (sorry if you feel differently about him!) and various sundry purveyors of fashionable contemporary stuff are to be found in the Hall of Fame but there is no room for Dies Natalis or Intimations or the cello concerto – the last being a wonderful piece whose succinct finale is far better, in my opinion, than Elgar’s rambling effort. 

Possibly because of the Barbirolli/DuPré version, the Elgar concerto has almost an untouchable, god-like status in the boardroom at Classic FM and it certainly seems to have airtime sewn up.

There may once have been a problem with Gerald’s traditional image as a “pastoral” composer (with all the adverse associations and implications of that expression), but surely we should be listening, in these more liberal days, to all sorts of music (so far as we can) with unbiased ears or without preconceptions?

Encouraging us to do so, rather than just flogging us the same old, should surely be one of Classic FM’s missions. Someone said to me that, if they heard Rach 2 or the above Elgar (or The Lark or Downton Abbey) again, this week, the radio was going out of the window. I am not (yet) at that point, although another dose of Downton may alter that!

What can we add but “hear, hear!”? For the record (pardon the pun), those chart positions were as follows:

• 265  - Clarinet Concerto
• 254 – Five Bagatelles
• 133 - Eclogue.

The recording itself is not of the highest quality as it was committed (we believe) straight to either a home reel-to-reel recorder or possibly even cassette, although we have done our best to enhance it using modern recording software. The name of the pianist accompanying Nigel is not known.

If anyone out there has any further information about this piece or the recording itself, we would be delighted to update our news about this.

Other highlights include two more world première performances of works by Vaughan Williams (including the breathtakingly beautiful Serenade in A minor), the world première of Walford Davies’s Symphony no.2, Sullivan’s glorious ‘Golden Legend’, and the second EMF New Commissions concert, with works specifically written for this event by Richard Blackford, Paul Carr, David Owen Norris, David Matthews, Christopher Wright, Paul Lewis and Ben Palmer.

Please note that there are still a few additional works to come – these will join the rest of the programme online as soon as they are finalised. Booking opens on 15th March (or 1st March for EMF Friends levels Advocate and upwards) and will again be available through the website and also by postal form.

Full details of the programme are here.

The disc features Vaughan Williams’ Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor, plus world premiere recordings of Holst’s Five Pieces for Violin and Piano and the Sonata for Violin and Piano in Eb Major by Sir Henry Walford Davies.

The recordings feature violinist Rupert Marshall-Luck and pianist Matthew Rickard.

You can order the disc at a discounted price direct from EMF by clicking here.

Aiesha wrote: “I discovered Gerald Finzi’s music today on YouTube and since then, have been listening to his music for six hours now.

“He was such a wonderful musician and I can’t imagine why he wasn’t more popular, especially beyond England. I am glad that his popularity is growing.

“His music moves me to tears, lifts my soul and transports me to the beautiful English countryside. I shall definitely purchase his music and thank you for your website.”

Our pleasure, Aiesha!

Included is Finzi’s song cycle for baritone and string quartet By Footpath and Stile, Op. 2, featuring the acclaimed young baritone Marcus Farnsworth.

The recording also features Finzi’s Interlude for oboe and string quartet with oboist Ruth Bolister and four arrangements for string quartet by Christian Alexander, including the popular Five Bagatelles with clarinettist Robert Plane, recorded here for the first time.

More details here.

Neville was the son of Gerald Finzi’s uncle Leon, who was himself a doctor and the brother of Gerald’s father Jack.

The Finzi Prize competition is open to all SpR radiologists and radiotherapists training in the UK and Northern Ireland, with a limit of one paper from each hospital.

First prize is £600, with the second and third prize winners receiving £300 and £150 respectively.

Anyone interested in submitting an abstract should contact The Royal Society of Medicine on +44 (0)20 7290 2987.