Frederick Delius

Started by tjguitar, May 14, 2007, 05:44:52 PM

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Lethevich

Can anyone suggest some of the essential recordings of his major concerti and orchestral works? I saw an appealing looking LP of his VC performed by Menuhin (EMI) in the charity shop I price music for, and it was one of those things which made me think "If I didn't hate vinyl, I'd buy that"... Sad that its CD incarnation seems to be coupled with an Elgar VC instead of the original Delius coupling (which I cannot remember what it was ATM).
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

Dundonnell

Quote from: Lethe on June 07, 2008, 09:02:13 AM
Can anyone suggest some of the essential recordings of his major concerti and orchestral works? I saw an appealing looking LP of his VC performed by Menuhin (EMI) in the charity shop I price music for, and it was one of those things which made me think "If I didn't hate vinyl, I'd buy that"... Sad that its CD incarnation seems to be coupled with an Elgar VC instead of the original Delius coupling (which I cannot remember what it was ATM).

Although I am not a great fan of Delius-I am afraid that I find the pastoral musings rather tedious-I do seem to have quite a lot of his music on CD!

For the Violin Concerto-recommend Tasmin Little's performance with Sir Charles Mackerras conducting
Cello Concerto-Raphael Wallfisch(Mackerras)
Violin + Cello Concerto-Tasmin Little + Raphael Wallfisch(Mackerras)
Piano Concerto-Jean-Rudolphe Kars(Sir Alexander Gibson)- admittedly an old performance now.

I am sure that committed Delians will offer other recommendations but the above are all good renderings.

scarpia

Quote from: Lethe on June 07, 2008, 09:02:13 AM
Can anyone suggest some of the essential recordings of his major concerti and orchestral works? I saw an appealing looking LP of his VC performed by Menuhin (EMI) in the charity shop I price music for, and it was one of those things which made me think "If I didn't hate vinyl, I'd buy that"... Sad that its CD incarnation seems to be coupled with an Elgar VC instead of the original Delius coupling (which I cannot remember what it was ATM).

All of the recordings I would cite have been mentioned on this thread already.  There is an EMI 2CD set with Barbirolli conducting the major works, there is another EMI 2CD set with Beecham, may be oop now.  Those two understood Delius.  There is also a "double decca" with Delius conducted by Mackerras.  Any one of those will give you a beautifully performed, beautifully recorded sample of his music.

Wilhelm Richard

(Not sure if this is the "official" Delius thread...if it isn't, and he hasn't got one, one should be created)

I really have been on a Delius kick over the past two or three days and came across this interesting documentary:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1946103861927483904






J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: Wilhelm Richard on May 03, 2009, 03:15:40 PM
(Not sure if this is the "official" Delius thread...if it isn't, and he hasn't got one, one should be created)

I really have been on a Delius kick over the past two or three days and came across this interesting documentary:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1946103861927483904

Look at Langgaard's Lair where Delius has been derailing the thread these last few days (thanks to yours truly, who is a hardcore Delian...)

Oh, and thanks for that link.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Wilhelm Richard

Quote from: Jezetha on May 03, 2009, 03:47:53 PM
Look at Langgaard's Lair where Delius has been derailing the thread these last few days (thanks to yours truly, who is a hardcore Delian...)

:D

A brief look over Langgaard's Lair leads me to believe that I will soon be exploring and distracted by two more relatively unheard composers!

Wilhelm Richard

#46
Any thoughts on the operas of Delius? (specifically Koanga, Village Romeo and Juliet, and Fennimore and Gerda).  Are they worth owning?  I would love to hear them, but for some reason, used copies of the EMI recordings on Amazon seem to be a little on the pricey side.

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: Wilhelm Richard on May 16, 2009, 07:21:15 AM
Any thoughts on the operas of Delius? (specifically Koanga, Village Romeo and Juliet, and Fennimore and Gerda).  Are they worth owning?  I would love to hear them, but for some reason, used copies of the EMI recordings on Amazon seem to be a little on the pricey side.

A Village Romeo and Juliet seems to be Delius's masterpiece in the genre. 'Seems', because I can't personally vouch for it. The only thing I know from this work is the, admittedly sublime, Walk to the Paradise Garden...
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Dundonnell

Just to demonstrate what a fair-minded man I really am.......

For the attention of Delius fans(of whom I am not to be numbered ;D):

Dutton is about to release a Delius disc. It will contain the Double Concerto for violin and cello, the Suite for violin and orchestra, the Legende for violin and orchestra, the Caprice and Elegy fror viola and orchestra(only previously available in its original scoring for cello and chamber orchestra)....and the early Tone Poem "Hiawatha"(1888) which has only recently been reconstructed from the original incomplete score.

http://thompsonian.info/hiawatha.html

for more information about "Hiawatha".

The BBC Concert Orchestra is conducted by David lloyd-Jones.

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: Dundonnell on May 30, 2009, 05:17:14 AM
Just to demonstrate what a fair-minded man I really am.......

For the attention of Delius fans(of whom I am not to be numbered ;D):

Dutton is about to release a Delius disc. It will contain the Double Concerto for violin and cello, the Suite for violin and orchestra, the Legende for violin and orchestra, the Caprice and Elegy fror viola and orchestra(only previously available in its original scoring for cello and chamber orchestra)....and the early Tone Poem "Hiawatha"(1888) which has only recently been reconstructed from the original incomplete score.

http://thompsonian.info/hiawatha.html

for more information about "Hiawatha".

The BBC Concert Orchestra is conducted by David lloyd-Jones.

Thanks for the information, Colin. I hope you'll turn into a Delian one day (I'm not holding my breath, though), for then you would be known as 'Triple D': the Doughty Delian Dundonnell...
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

karlhenning

Colin is an excellent neighbor, Johan.

bhodges

Quote from: Dundonnell on May 30, 2009, 05:17:14 AM
Just to demonstrate what a fair-minded man I really am.......

For the attention of Delius fans(of whom I am not to be numbered ;D):

Dutton is about to release a Delius disc. It will contain the Double Concerto for violin and cello, the Suite for violin and orchestra, the Legende for violin and orchestra, the Caprice and Elegy fror viola and orchestra(only previously available in its original scoring for cello and chamber orchestra)....and the early Tone Poem "Hiawatha"(1888) which has only recently been reconstructed from the original incomplete score.

http://thompsonian.info/hiawatha.html

for more information about "Hiawatha".

The BBC Concert Orchestra is conducted by David lloyd-Jones.

Thanks so much, Colin.  I have a few Delius recordings but would like to add more, and this looks like an excellent candidate.

--Bruce

J.Z. Herrenberg

Slightly OT - Barry Humphries, the creator of Dame Edna Everage, was a guest recently on Desert Island Discs, a long-running programme on BBC Radio 4. I admire him greatly. I know he is a Langgaard fan, but at the end of a very enjoyable half hour he and I have even more in common.

For those interested...

http://www.mediafire.com/file/3g2yjnzmmlu/DID - Barry Humphries (R4 2009-05-24).mp3
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Dundonnell

Quote from: Jezetha on June 14, 2009, 06:08:00 AM
Slightly OT - Barry Humphries, the creator of Dame Edna Everage, was a guest recently on Desert Island Discs, a long-running programme on BBC Radio 4. I admire him greatly. I know he is a Langgaard fan, but at the end of a very enjoyable half hour he and I have even more in common.

For those interested...

http://www.mediafire.com/file/3g2yjnzmmlu/DID - Barry Humphries (R4 2009-05-24).mp3

Not cross-dressing, surely, Johan :o ;D

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: Dundonnell on June 15, 2009, 03:52:14 AM
Not cross-dressing, surely, Johan :o ;D

No, of course not only that.  ;)
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

drogulus



     

     This combo is available with a different cover as a Classics for Pleasure disc.

     I've grown to like the Piano Concerto, though I don't think it's at the level of Finzi's Eclogue or the RVW concerto. It reminds me a little of Strauss's Burleske, a kind of mini-concerto itself.
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karlhenning

Quote from: drogulus on June 15, 2009, 03:17:30 PM

     

     This combo is available with a different cover as a Classics for Pleasure disc.

     I've grown to like the Piano Concerto, though I don't think it's at the level of Finzi's Eclogue or the RVW concerto. It reminds me a little of Strauss's Burleske, a kind of mini-concerto itself.

I only wish WCRB would give the Eclogue some rest . . . .

Mirror Image

#57
Delius' music has become very important to me these past few years. I have realized that the more I listen to him, the more I understand him a lot better. He was kind of an enigmatic person in some regards, because his style wasn't really rooted in the Western Classical tradition, but rather an amalgamation of a lot of different kinds of music such as music he heard while he was working on an orange plantation in Florida. It was there he heard Black church music and spirituals. It was also in Florida where he received composition training. When he returned to Europe, he settled in Paris and became a permanent resident. This is where some of his best writing came about: "In A Summer Garden," "North Country Sketches," "Sea Drift," "Mass of Life," "Violin Concerto," "A Village Romeo & Julliet," among others.

It's interesting that his music is rarely talked about on any forum as he was an important part of classical music's rich history. Nobody sounded like Delius and his music is certainly an acquired taste, but once you close off any pre-conceived notions of his style of composition then you can understand him better.

Some of my favorite Delius recordings:





 






Saul

I really like some of Delius' work. Very unique and original composer.

knight66

I enjoy some of Delius; especially Sea Drift and what people keep terming, the miniatures. Mass of Life I think is pantheistic twaddle and I can't get along with it, despite some marvelous minutes within the piece.

Mike
DavidW: Yeah Mike doesn't get angry, he gets even.
I wasted time: and time wasted me.