Gerald Finzi - Let Us Garlands Bring, Op. 18 (1929-42)

Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata Dies natalis for solo voice and string orchestra, and his concertos for cello and clarinet.

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Let Us Garlands Bring, Op. 18 (1929-1942)
Dedication: Ralph Vaughan Williams

1. "Come Away, Come Away, Death" (Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene 4) (0:00)
2. "Who Is Silvia?" (The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act IV, Scene 2) (3:29)
3. "Fear No More the Heat o' the Sun" (Cymbeline, Act IV, Scene 2) (5:04)
4. "O Mistress Mine" (Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene 3) (10:47)
5. "It Was a Lover and His Lass" (As You Like It, Act V, Scene 3) (12:28)

Roderick Williams, baritone and Iain Burnside, piano

Let Us Garlands Bring is a song cycle for baritone and piano composed by Gerald Finzi between 1929 and 1942, and published as his Op. 18. It consists of five settings of songs from plays by William Shakespeare. It was premiered on 12 October 1942 at a National Gallery lunchtime concert in London. That day was the 70th birthday of Ralph Vaughan Williams, and the cycle is dedicated to him. Finzi subsequently arranged the work for baritone and string orchestra.

The title of the cycle is the last line of "Who Is Silvia?".