Frederick Delius

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A write-up about Over the Hills and Far Away from All Music Guide:

Delius' fantasy overture Over the Hills and Far Away may have been begun as early as 1893 and was certainly completed by 1897, if not earlier, but documentation for those years -- among the most fascinating and formative of Delius' life -- is sparse. Enabled by an allowance from his father, a well-to-do wool merchant, Delius entered the fabled decade of the 1890s embracing the life of a bohemian artist, living on the outskirts of Paris and consorting with a fantastic array of artists and eccentrics. By the opening of the 1890s Satie was already ensconced at the legendary Chat Noir cabaret -- there is no evidence that his path crossed Delius', though it easily could have. But Gauguin, Mucha, Munch, Strindberg, Florent Schmitt (whom Delius engaged to make piano transcriptions of his operas), Jean Richepin (demimonde poet and Chabrier's sometime librettist), Richard Le Gallienne, and Gérard Encausse were boon companions. Under the pseudonym Papus, the latter was an intrepid negotiator of the occult crosscurrents rife through the 1890s and into the twentieth century. Satie wrote music for Papus' Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Croix and in 1894 Encausse published Anatomie et physiologie de l'orchestra, co-authored with Delius. Always industrious, by 1893 Delius had all but abandoned composition to throw himself wholeheartedly into the study of astrology and was soon casting horoscopes for friends. Strindberg was a student of alchemy and claimed to have performed alchemical transmutations, though it is also known that (like Gustav Meyrink) he took literally the alchemists' enigmatic direction that the Philosopher's Stone -- the agent of transmutation -- is "found in filth" and delved in ancient water closets. Delius opera The Magic Fountain, which occupied him over 1893-1895, is, not coincidentally, concerned with a quest for the Fountain of Youth. In his Recollections of Strindberg, Delius described an after-dinner séance -- "The lights were turned down and we joined hands around a small table. After ten minutes' ominous silence the table began to rap and Leclercq asked it what message the spirits had for us. The first letter rapped out was 'M', and with each letter Strinberg's interest and excitement seemed to increase, and slowly came the momentous letters 'M E R D E'. I do not think he ever quite forgave us." Summer excursions in the Norwegian mountains provided bracing relief from this decadent hothouse, reflected in the sense of vast distance, Nature's mysterious quietude, and heroic derring-do beneath clear sunlit skies palpable in Over the Hills and Far Away.

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Happy Birthday to Delius!

[Leo K.]

Happy Birthday to Delius!

Indeed! Happy B-day Frederick!

Wow, those write-ups on all Music guide, wonderful writings, someone really loves Delius on that site. Great information and rather peotic reviews!

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Indeed! Happy B-day Frederick!

Wow, those write-ups on all Music guide, wonderful writings, someone really loves Delius on that site. Great information and rather peotic reviews!

I thought they were well written as well. I'm heading into a Bruckner phase now.

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Bruckner phase subsided. Back to Delius...

Listening to the opera Fennimore and Gerda right now. How incredibly enchanting. Listening to this recording:

[asin]B000000B21[/asin]

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Not sure if this documentary has been posted before, but I remember watching this a couple of months ago and enjoying it:

http://www.youtube.com/v/HMjNcFEQOfo

[Leo K.]

Thanks for posting the documentary John. I'll catch that soon. This morning listening to Delius' Piano Concerto again, so addicting.

[Leo K.]

Bruckner phase subsided. Back to Delius...

Listening to the opera Fennimore and Gerda right now. How incredibly enchanting. Listening to this recording:

[asin]B000000B21[/asin]

Also, as a big fan of opera, I'm real curious about Delius' operas!

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Thanks for posting the documentary John. I'll catch that soon. This morning listening to Delius' Piano Concerto again, so addicting.

It's not a bad documentary at all, although I heard there's a new one that was recently aired on BBC, so I'm anxious to watch that one. Hopefully, someone on YouTube will upload it because I highly doubt it will be made available as a DVD.

Yes, the Piano Concerto is magical. I've been listen to the new Howard Shelley/A. Davis performance. Absolutely fantastic.

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Also, as a big fan of opera, I'm real curious about Delius' operas!

I don't like opera much at all, but I've loved all of the Delius operas I've heard, which would be A Village Romeo & Juliet, Koanga, and Fennimore and Gerda. I wish The Magic Fountain and Irmelin would get recorded again. Perhaps Lloyd-Jones or A. Davis could conduct these? One can only hope.

[The new erato]

I don't like opera much at all, but I've loved all of the Delius operas I've heard,

Perhaps because they're essentially not very operatic. At least a village Romeo&Juliet isn't, but I like it as well. The element of a story with text brings some much needed drama to Delius.

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Perhaps because they're essentially not very operatic. At least a village Romeo&Juliet isn't, but I like it as well. The element of a story with text brings some much needed drama to Delius.

Delius' 'operas' are actually described as 'lyric dramas,' which is a term I like better since, like you said, these works aren't really operas or at least in the traditional standpoint we associate with the genre.

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My last listening of the night will be the extremely gorgeous Koanga from this box set:



I don't plan on listening to the entire opera...err...lyric drama , but at least Act I.

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Figured I would post this here:

Some late night listening:



I was looking through my Delius collection earlier tonight and ran across this curiosity. Listening to In A Summer Garden. Absolutely beautiful. Nice hearing how these works sound arranged for two pianos. I'm quite impressed with Ogawa's Debussy set of solo piano music, so it's nice to hear her in Delius. Kathryn Stott I'm familiar with through her recordings on Chandos.

This is fascinating recording. I believe there is another one of these two piano arrangement recordings on another label. Anyone else heard this BIS recording? It sounds great to my ears.

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Finishing up Koanga from last night, this is simply an incredible piece of music. There was one movement called Dance furioso and this short movement is absolutely thrilling. This movement must be quite taxing on the orchestra musicians. It reveals yet another facet of Delius' art: he could write fast, virtuosic musical passages with the best of them. Such a phenomenal composer.

[mahler10th]

For anyone who can access BBC Channels, in this case BBC4, there is an hour and a half length feature On Delius which begins at 19:30hrs GMT, called    Delius:  Composer, Lover, Enigma

[Leo K.]

My quest is now to get to know the final revised version of Delius' piano concerto. I found two historical accounts on the Amazon Mp3 store for pennies, one by Beecham with his wife at the piano, and the beautiful performance by one of England's other celebrated pianists, Benno Moiseiwitsch (originally born in the Ukraine) with the BBC Orchestra at the Proms in 1955.These accounts blow me away, what a piece of music, one of my favorite piano concertos now!

I also think that, while listening to this concerto, under the surface, there was quite alot of darkness there. It would be quite easy to dismiss this work as simply a light one, but I think that would just show that one is listening superficially. its prinicipal qualities. I can hear the influence of Wagner, Debussy & Ravel, but Delius obviously had his own individual style. He was a good orchestrator, & I especially like his use of woodwinds when they are playing with the strings. There's plenty of lyricism in this work, & I like how he lets the melodies just flow freely. It doesn't sound like fortissimo playing, clear-cut rhythms and blaring fanfares. I think that's what many people consider soft or boring in his music, the absence of pomp and overt drama. Some say it lacks strength, because it's more flowing and blooming than pounding and sharp. I couldn't disagree more that those are weaknesses, and I think it's the originality, colour, rafinement and profound impact that are personally feel that nobody should live by another person's philosophies. If an idea sounds good and you're inspired by it, then great adopt that into your way of thinking, but I don't think a "system" of philosophy is worthy enough to live by. People have to develop their own thoughts independently. What's also important with Delius is not to expect a lot of What's so great about Delius is on the surface it's really beautiful music, but with a deeper listening will reveal his vulnerability, a deep despair, and even sadness. What is sad is when we think of his life and the circumstances he composed music under. All of the suffering he endured, but the music somehow prevails over that pain. It's unbelievable really.

[Leo K.]

Delius is the Master of Colour, even. I always have a feeling while listening to his music that every single note and chord is a differently coloured ray of light, or a flower - and that these also exude different fragrances. Getting synesthetico-poetic here... but that's what I mean.

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For anyone who can access BBC Channels, in this case BBC4, there is an hour and a half length feature On Delius which begins at 19:30hrs GMT, called    Delius:  Composer, Lover, Enigma

Thanks, John. I heard about this documentary through the Delius Society. I wish I could watch it! Maybe someone will be gracious enough to upload it on YouTube. Looks like an interesting program.

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My quest is now to get to know the final revised version of Delius' piano concerto. I found two historical accounts on the Amazon Mp3 store for pennies, one by Beecham with his wife at the piano, and the beautiful performance by one of England's other celebrated pianists, Benno Moiseiwitsch (originally born in the Ukraine) with the BBC Orchestra at the Proms in 1955.These accounts blow me away, what a piece of music, one of my favorite piano concertos now!

I also think that, while listening to this concerto, under the surface, there was quite alot of darkness there. It would be quite easy to dismiss this work as simply a light one, but I think that would just show that one is listening superficially. its prinicipal qualities. I can hear the influence of Wagner, Debussy & Ravel, but Delius obviously had his own individual style. He was a good orchestrator, & I especially like his use of woodwinds when they are playing with the strings. There's plenty of lyricism in this work, & I like how he lets the melodies just flow freely. It doesn't sound like fortissimo playing, clear-cut rhythms and blaring fanfares. I think that's what many people consider soft or boring in his music, the absence of pomp and overt drama. Some say it lacks strength, because it's more flowing and blooming than pounding and sharp. I couldn't disagree more that those are weaknesses, and I think it's the originality, colour, rafinement and profound impact that are personally feel that nobody should live by another person's philosophies. If an idea sounds good and you're inspired by it, then great adopt that into your way of thinking, but I don't think a "system" of philosophy is worthy enough to live by. People have to develop their own thoughts independently. What's also important with Delius is not to expect a lot of What's so great about Delius is on the surface it's really beautiful music, but with a deeper listening will reveal his vulnerability, a deep despair, and even sadness. What is sad is when we think of his life and the circumstances he composed music under. All of the suffering he endured, but the music somehow prevails over that pain. It's unbelievable really.

Beautifully said, Leo! I couldn't agree more and is pretty much what I've been saying all along. People who don't particularly like Delius' music more often than not listen superficially instead of trying to get to meaning and the emotion of the music. They, like you said, only hear what's on the surface without getting to the bottom. There is a feeling of isolation, loneliness, and vulnerability in his music. He simply has chosen a different kind of 'surface,' if you will, to mask the true nature of the music. Some composers feel the need for huge barrages of percussion and so forth to somehow cover up this vulnerability --- not that this isn't a viable way to express an emotion, but, rather, Delius has no need for such pyrotechnics. His music is exposed as a flower is exposed to the light. People can scowl all they want to about Delius' music, this just makes my passion for his music stronger. Spread the word, Leo! Spread the word!