Earth and Air and Rain is a song cycle for baritone and piano by Gerald Finzi (1901–56).
It was premiered on 2 July 1945 at the National Gallery, London by Keith Falkner (baritone) and Howard Ferguson (piano).
The title of the cycle is taken from "Proud Songsters":These are brand-new birds of twelve-months' growing, Which a year ago, or less than twain, No finches were, nor nightingales, Nor thrushes, But only particles of grain, And earth, and air, and rain.
The music critic Stephen Banfield has written, "in some ways this is Finzi’s richest score".
The cycle contains two of Finzi's best-known songs in "Rollicum-Rorum"[a] and "To Lizbie Browne"; which the composer himself described as "the two worst in the set" - "an opinion which says more about Finzi’s introvert character than his artistic judgement".