Gerald Finzi was born on 14 July 1901 in London, the youngest of five. His early years were shadowed. His father died of cancer in 1909, aged forty-nine. Douglas (b. 1897) died of pneumonia in 1912, Felix (b. 1893) died of an overdose in Assam in 1913; Edgar (b. 1898) and Katie, the eldest (b. 1890), were left. Gerald was sent to school in 1912 in Camberley; this he hated, and he contrived to get himself taken away. His mother took him, Edgar, and a tutor, Walter Kaye, to Switzerland. At the outbreak of war in 1914 she brought them home, and by October 1915 she and her children were settled in Harrogate, first in lodgings, then from February 1916 at Birkholt, 22 Duchy Road. Finzi had already made up his mind to become a composer, and began to study with the enthusiastic young Ernest Farrar.* None of Finzi's letters to his parents or to Farrar survive.

1 From Ernest Farrar, 14 December 1915

15 Hollins Rd, Harrogate

Dear Mrs Finzi,

Forgive my not having written sooner. I find your son a v. interesting pupil. I should strongly advise him to keep on the study of Harmony, as he is evidently showing a bent for composition. It is a little early yet to see results in his Harmony work, but I have impressed on him the absolute necessity for a composer to ‘go through the mill’ of technical training (i.e. Harmony, Counterpoint, etc.). I am quite agreeable, and indeed wish him to make his own experiments in writing, so long as the somewhat Spartan training in Harmony etc. is not neglected. I think he finds it a trifle difficult to concentrate at present, but no doubt that is a matter of time. I do not wish to rush him on in any way, but to try & lay a solid foundation for future use. As I have told him already one must have the patience of Job multiplied by 4 to get on as a composer. In any case if we go on quietly the work cannot do him any harm and should be useful. His pianoforte playing is going on well, only his enthusiasm is so great that I think he would like to do 2 or 3 sonatas a week!!