Finzi Resources

Newsletters & E-Bulletins

The Friends publish a newsletter in the Spring and the Autumn of each year, and more frequently when items of interest arise.
The newsletter is published free for all members and others interested in Finzi to access via the website.
Back copies from 2017 and 2018 are available here.

The most recent newsletter can be accessed by all site members within the membership area.

The Friends also publish a regular e-bulletin – the archive is available here.

Reviews & Articles

Read reviews and articles written by our members here. 

Other Resources

Here are some details of how and where to access other other resources about Finzi’s life and work:

Finzi Manuscript Collection – Bodleian Library, Oxford University

 The Bodleian developed a policy from the 1920s of encouraging the donation of the manuscripts of British 19th- and 20th-century composers, particularly those with Oxford connections. In this way substantial collections of the manuscripts of Hubert Parry, Basil Harwood, Percy Sherwood, George Butterworth, Ernest Farrar, Gerald Finzi, Robin Milford, Ernest Walker, Alfred Hale, Howard Ferguson, Bruce Montgomery and Clifton Parker have been collected, as well as isolated manuscripts of Bax, Elgar,  Holst,  Howells,  Vaughan Williams, Walton, Maxwell Davies and others. 

Finzi Book Room Collection – Reading University

The Finzi Book Room Collection consists of Finzi’s personal literature collection numbering about 6,000 printed volumes. English poetry, especially that written during Finzi’s lifetime, is a particular strength. Book collecting was a lifelong activity for Finzi, secondary to but parallel with his composition, in which settings of poetry are significant. 

The following authors are well represented: Thomas Hardy, Edmund Blunden, W H Davies, Walter De la Mare, John Masefield, Robert Graves, John Drinkwater and Siegfried Sassoon. Several copies were presented by those authors the Finzis counted among their friends and associates. The collection also includes many seventeenth-century volumes and loose press cuttings which Finzi saved between the pages of his books.

The collection also includes some pieces from the Book Room in the Finzi’s home at Ashmansworth, memorabilia, and pictures, including seven original portrait drawings by Joy Finzi (1907-1991).

As well as the literary collection, Special Collections holds some personal papers of the Finzis (MS 1399). There is also a large collection of music and books about music which are held by the University Library.

The collection was deposited in the University Library by the Finzi family in 1974 and is currently held with the Special Collections store in London Road.

Finzi Collection – St Andrew’s University

Purchased in 1966 from the composer’s library, the Finzi collection at St Andrew’s University consists of c.700 volumes, chiefly instrumental and vocal music of 18th century English composers in 18th century printed scores, with around 30 books (mostly 18th century) about music and also c. 100 manuscripts of 18th century English music in 20th century hands.

Thanks to the assistance of the Gerald Finzi Trust, the University has been able to digitise a selection of Finzi papers – this selection comprises most of the manuscripts of 18th century music in 20th century hands. They can be viewed online via the University website.