Delius?

[Henk]

Brian, can you explain the difference between poll choice 1 and 3? More or less the same I think??

[Mirror Image]

I prefer Delius, John. Shostakovich has that constant tension which I find rather annoying.

I'm listening to this recording [asin]B0000VV4T0[/asin]

That tension climax somewhere in the middle of Country Sketches. And that Chord on Dance Rhapsody no. 1. Awesome!

Henk, I'm glad you enjoy Delius! Great to hear! Shostakovich is certainly not for the faint of heart that's for sure, but I do truly love his music. Do you own any recordings of Delius' music?

[Henk]

I'm certainly going to get some Delius recordings. The one above I have in digital format. The box-set recording looked nice.

[Mirror Image]

I'm certainly going to get some Delius recordings. The one above I have in digital format. The box-set recording looked nice.

There were three box sets released during Delius' 150th Anniversary, which one of these are you referring to:







I own each of them and, of course, they're all essential to me.

[Henk]

I was referring to that second set. Which one do you recommend? I doubt between the second and last one you mentioned.

[Mirror Image]

I was referring to that second set. Which one do you recommend? I doubt between the second and last one you mentioned.

It really all depends on how much Delius you want and how large of a range you want a set to cover. The obvious choice for that would be the EMI 18CD set. It covers everything from chamber works to choral works to operas and everything in-between. The Delius Collection and the Delius Edition are more specialized sets. The Delius Collection is for the hardcore fan because of its' historical importance. Many of the performances are conducted by Eric Fenby (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Fenby). The Delius Edition is compilation of all of Charles Mackerras' Delius performances on Decca, which most of the recordings are now OOP and quite hard to track down for decent prices. I hope this helps you in your decision.

[Karl Henning]

... Shostakovich is, of course, violent, aggressive, manic, ....

Yup, that Largo from the Op.47, especially....

[Mirror Image]

Yup, that Largo from the Op.47, especially....

Quite possibly one of my favorite slow movements in any symphony. I'm not sure I would describe this movement the way I described Shostakovich's music in general. These were just the basic emotions that I personally find in a lot of Shostakovich's music, but there's so much more of course. Another thing I admire about Shostakovich is also one of the things I admire in Delius, Shostakovich always sounded like himself whether he writing something for solo piano, films, symphonies, etc.

[Brian]

Brian, can you explain the difference between poll choice 1 and 3? More or less the same I think??

Actually, I left it uncertain what choice 3 means, deliberately.

Delirious means "Marked by uncontrolled excitement or emotion" - but you can also be delirious if you're especially ill.

[DavidRoss]

... you can also be delirious if you're especially ill.

Suffering from severe mental impairment; mad, crazy, raving, insane, demented, deranged, incoherent, or unhinged. In some cases a pre-existing condition, not caused by exposure to Delius's music.

[Henk]

You made this poll a hard one, Brian. Choices 1, 3 and 4 mean more or less the same, just that you like his music.

[DavidRoss]

You made this poll a hard one, Brian. Choices 1, 3 and 4 mean more or less the same, just that you like his music.

If English were your first language you might recognize that the poll is just an excuse for some wordplay and should not be taken seriously.  (Should any GMG poll?) And from my perspective, options 2, 3, & 4 do not mean that the respondent likes his music, but rather believes that it's better heard less often (#2), that it's for folks who are mentally unhinged (#3), or that it's simply too trivial to matter (#4 -- banana).

[huntsman]

I'm fairly fluent in English and I concur with my Dutch chum, so instead of trying to decipher the poll dots, I'm giving Freddy a jolly strong...


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