The early-twentieth-century British composer Gerald Finzi (1901–1956) is recognized largely for several song cycles, setting texts from a wide selection English poets, including Thomas Traherne, William Shakespeare, John Milton, Christina Rossetti, Thomas Hardy, Robert Bridges and Edmund Blunden.
However, his oeuvre includes well-regarded concerti for clarinet and cello, choral works, works for string orchestra, and chamber music.
However, the style of his compositions places him as among the most characteristically "English" composers of his generation.
Additionally, despite being agnostic, he wrote a significant amount of inspired and imposing Christian choral music that remains consistently in the performance repertoire.
The most common method of numbering Finzi's works is by opus number as assigned by his publishers during his lifetime.