Gerald Finzi made an unrivalled contribution to British twentieth-century song-writing, especially in his settings of Thomas Hardy, his favourite poet. This third and final volume of Finzi songs includes two Hardy settings, A Young Man�s Exhortation and Till Earth Outwears, which share the poet�s preoccupation with the �passing preciousness of dreams�, the transience of life and death itself. The posthumously published Oh Fair to see draws on various authors, from Christina Rossetti to Blunden and Bridges. Volumes 1 and 2 of the complete Finzi songs with piano are available on Naxos 8.557644 and 8.557963.