Frederick Delius: In a Summer Garden

This was one of my earliest discoveries of Delius in particular, and English music in general. I remember buying the old Decca Eclipse (ECS 634) version of this piece played by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Anthony Collins. This record was released in 1972 was a ‘re-mastering’ of original recordings made in 1953. It included a splendid evocation of Paris, The Song of a Great City and the more intimate Summer Night on the River.   This recording of In a Summer Garden has remained my favourite version of this work for over forty years. Fortunately it has been released on CD and download.  

Just the other day I found out something I did not know about this work: the composer associated two quotations with the piece. The first is inscribed on the score and is two beautiful lines from Sonnet LIX from The House of Life by the poet and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1822):

‘All are my blooms: and all sweet blooms of love

To thee I gave while Spring and Summer sang’.

This sonnet, ‘Love’s Last Gift’ was set by Ralph Vaughan Williams as part of his song cycle The House of Life.

John Masefield commenting on this sonnet (LIX) has suggested that it is a ‘proud utterance.’ Love tells the poet that all ‘growth and flower and fruit are Love’s very own, and that all these things had been given in Spring and Summer.’ However there was a catch, all these things end with Autumn, which hints at a worse time to come. The sonnet concludes by a defiant act from the poet –there is a final gift, a bright leaf of laurel, over which no winter has power.’

The second inscription was printed on an early programme for the work:-

‘Roses, lilies, and a thousand scented flowers. Bright butterflies, flitting from petal to petal. Beneath the shade of ancient trees, a quiet river with water lilies. In a boat, almost hidden, two people. A thrush is singing in the distance.’ This is unattributed to any writer and may well have been the creation of the composer.

In a Summer Garden is dedicated to the composer’s wife, Jelka Rosen.

I have always regarded this work as an impressionist piece of music: using the musical equivalent of the technique Pointillism. Yet, maybe it is less of a nature study than a love poem.

Peter Warlock has written about In a Summer Garden:-

‘The title might mislead those who look for objective impressionism in Delius' music. The summer garden is no more than the background, the setting of his mood; one feels indeed that this work has a more intimate and personal programme than most of its kind. Yet, to the external eye, it appears to be built up of thematic scrappets that might well have been suggested by whispers of wind and the colloquy of birds. Certain passages suggest a kind of musical pointillism as though the luminous effect of the whole were attained by a thousand little points of light and colour’.

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Frederick Delius: A Dance Rhapsody – An Analytical Note

I was delighted to find this short programme note of Delius’s Dance Rhapsody. Further to my postings about Thomas Beecham’s performance of this work in the Free Trade Hall at Manchester it is worthwhile to post it here.

This work was first performed at the Hereford Festival of 1909, having been written the previous year. It is scored for a large modern orchestra, including a heckelphone.  It opens with a short ‘Introduction’ (Lento), in which the cor anglais, bass-oboe (or heckelphone), and horn fore shadow some of the subjects to come. The first of these is given by the oboe in 'easy dance movement'. The second, a brief two-bar phrase for the flute, returns from time to time. The first theme is repeated by clarinet, and the second by cor anglais. These materials are developed by various instruments with much that is charming and original in the scoring and harmonization. A change of tempo to ‘vivo’ (almost twice as quick') brings a fresh theme, introduced by the basses (strings and wind); a second being given later by the violins in octaves. Both these motives are now discussed, oboe and cor anglais dealing with them as solos. A figure presented by the 'cellos and double-basses, and echoed by wood-wind, is afterwards developed and emphasized by trumpets and horns. Further on two of the subjects are worked in combination. A diminuendo and rallentando lead to the recapitulation of the first principal subject, in slower time, by flute and clarinet in octaves, with accompaniment for strings, and afterwards repeated in a more rapid tempo by first violins and violas. This is also treated by other instruments, trumpets included, and a vigorous climax is built up. In a section headed ‘molto adagio’ a solo violin next presents a rhythmically modified version of the subject, accompanied by muted strings only, which are sub-divided. This is followed by quotations of other thematic material by clarinet and bass-oboe. There is now a return to ‘molto vivo’, and the principal theme is given out by the strings with great energy, the brass having an equally vigorous accompaniment. The melodies used strike one as being thoroughly English in character, while their treatment is that of a musician versed in all schools and imitative of none.

Rosa Newmarch  (Minor edits)

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The Complete Delius Songbook: Volume 2 on Stone Records

THE COMPLETE DELIUS SONGBOOK - VOLUME 2

Frederick Delius(1862-1934)

Five Songs from the Danish (Set 1) (c.1897) Noch ein Mal (1898) Lieder nach gedichten von Friedrich Nietzsche (1898) Four Posthumous Songs –Danish (1895/1901) Songs to Words by Various Poets –Danish & Swedish Songs to Poems by Paul Verlaine Avant que tu ne t’en ailles (1919) Eleven Early Songs –Danish, German & French (1885-1898) Five Songs from the Danish (Set 2)

Mark Stone (baritone) Stephen Barlow (piano)

STONE RECORDS 5060192780109

An excellent task for the train journey between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston was the collation all the tracks on the first and second volumes of the Complete Delius Songbook against Mary Christian Huismann’s catalogue of Delius’ music.  ‘Volume 1’ of the Songbook contained 27 songs; ‘Volume 2’ has 34 numbers. The collation produced a couple of interesting results.

Firstly it would appear that the project is now largely complete. Out of the section listing the  ‘Songs with Pianoforte Accompaniment’ only three numbers appear to be missing. They are ‘When other lips shall speak,’ ‘Aus deinen Augen fliessen meine lieder’, from the Heine settings, although this is actually by Franz Ries, and the second of the Two Songs for Children, ‘The Streamlet’s Slumber Song.’  Included in this present volume are the Seven Danish Songs, which were issued with orchestral or piano accompaniment. Interestingly two pieces from the catalogue section II (Voices and Orchestra) have been included: - ‘Mitternachtslied Zarathustras’ (The Midnight Song of Zarathustra) and one of the Songs of Sunset. Piano accompaniments for these songs were provided by the composer.

I am not sure as to whether there is another CD due to be released: I emailed the record company to ask them, but they have not replied. Perchance they are going to issue the orchestral songs including the Maud cycle, A Late Lark and Cynara along with the remaining two songs noted above?

This brings me to my first criticism of this CD (and its predecessor). The selection of songs for each volume appears to defy analysis. The groupings given in the track listings bear little resemblance to the catalogue (Huismann’s or Threlfall’s), either in batting order or in chronology.  For example, Volume 1 included two songs from the Eleven Early Songs and the present CD has the remaining nine. The Four Posthumous Songs are split equally between the two volumes.  There is no rationale presented for this splitting and reforming of cycles and groups.

The second issue to address is whether it is a good idea to have all the Scandinavian songs sung in English. I am a bit of an anorak when it comes to this sort of thing and I like the language to be that in which it was conceived and published. I do not suggest that I am fluent in Danish or Norwegian: I am not. However, with a good translation, the original text and a following wind I get a lot of pleasure out of hearing the original language. Interestingly, the songs that were originally published in German and French are performed in those languages.

Yet as I pointed out in my review of Volume 1 of the ‘Songbook’ there are precedents for the use of English. Many of the songs have an English translation above/below the ‘foreign’ text in the vocal score, suggesting that Delius was not averse to the songs being sung in English. In fact, the composer provided some of the translations himself. It is a question on which my particular jury is currently out.

It is not necessary to comment on every song. This is a CD to explore slowly and I suggest listening to it in ‘bite-sized chunks.’ The place to begin is with the two sets ‘Five Songs from the Danish’. These are presented as they have been collected in the Complete Delius Edition. I liked the rather melancholic ‘In the seraglio garden’ and ‘Irmelin’ out of the first set and the delicious ‘Summer Night’ (On the Seashore) from the second. There is a rare beauty about these songs that makes them almost timeless.

The Four Songs by Verlaine are grouped here, but are a combination of ‘Deux Melodies’ dating from 1895 and two individual numbers composed in 1910 and 1911.  They are beautiful examples of a cosmopolitan Englishmen writing fine ‘chanson’ in the French style. There appears to be little stylistic dislocation between the former and latter songs. They are delicious numbers that are ‘with perfume laden’.

The Eleven Early Songs were only published in 1974. However, they were all composed between 1885 and 1898. The liner notes suggest that these are amongst the most conservative of the composer’s songs. Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that there is little to suggest the ‘Delius that we all know and love’ these are attractive numbers that well-deserve their place in the singer’s repertoire. I was especially taken by the Heine settings ‘With your blue eyes’ and ‘A beautiful star.’
It is good to have Delius’ last completed song here – the Verlaine setting ‘Avant que tu ne t’en ailles’ – ‘Before you go away’. This was composed in 1919 and was completed and published in 1932, just two years before the composer’s death. It is a harmonically involved number that reflects the unusual structure of the poem.

 My comments about the general presentation of this CD differ little from the first volume. The performance by baritone, Mark Stone and the accompanist Stephen Barlow is superb. I was impressed with the liner notes, which include the concluding part of a short essay entitled ‘An Englishman abroad, a foreigner at home – Composing in sickness and in health.’  The commentary on the songs themselves is thorough and helpful. Text and translations are given along with a paragraph giving a brief description of their literary and musical content.

I noted in my review of Volume 1 of the Songbook that I was a little concerned about the ‘uniformity’ of the baritone voice throughout this recital. I guess I would rather have had a variety of singers where appropriate. However, this personal preference does not detract in any way from the brilliance of Stone’s performance or the validity of the Songbook project.
I have no doubt that all Delius enthusiasts will want to buy a copy of this CD. Once again, the two performers convince listeners that whilst Delius may not be in the first rank of song composers, the many songs that he did write are invariably interesting, well-constructed, often beautiful and sometimes quite moving.
With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published

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Frederick Delius: Dance Rhapsody at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester

March 7 1912 marked an interesting date in Mancunian musical history. For one thing it was the occasion of a performance of Richard Strauss’ great opera Elektra. This work had received its UK premiere at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in 1910 with Edyth Walker in the title role and Sir Thomas Beecham conducting. However, in Manchester it was the turn of the Bavarian Mr. F. Cortolezis to conduct the work at the Theatre Royal. Beecham, for his part, was directing the Hallé Orchestra at the Free Trade Hall. The Manchester Guardian reviewer, ‘X’ notes that Elektra‘seriously interfered with the attendance’ at the Halle concert.

The second worthy event of that day was the fact that, according to ‘X’, this was Sir Thomas’ first appearance at a Hallé Concert in the city, in spite of the fact of him being then one of the most prominent figures in the musical life of the country, and is unquestionably a brilliant and accomplished musician’. However, Michael Kennedy has noted that this was not actually Beecham’s first encounter with the ‘band.’ This will be the subject of another post.

And the third significant event of that day was a performance of Frederick Delius’ Dance Rhapsody – probably the first in Manchester. 

The Manchester Guardian reviewer writes that this piece was ‘the most interesting and at the same time the most completely successful work given by the orchestra. Here Mr. Beecham was evidently thoroughly at home, and we are grateful to him for a performance that should do much to convince our musical public that in Delius we have a composer of real genius –a man who stands entirely outside and above the so-called young English ‘school’ with which, unfortunately, he is frequently identified by some of our impatient and not too discriminating enthusiasts, who would have us believe that he is but one of a shoal of equally gifted English writers’.

The reviewer analyzes the Dance Rhapsody, and in so doing is a wee bit unfair towards Clause Debussy, although I guess I can see where he is coming from.

‘His music has a subtle and exotic charm that belongs to no ‘school,’ and arises chiefly from his exquisite harmonic sensibility, in which quality the only composer at all comparable to him is Debussy. At the same time one does not feel the sense of monotony that sometimes becomes oppressive through Debussy’s constant use of a restricted scale and even when he [Delius] embarks on a veritably sea of chromatic harmonies there is no trace of the restless feeling that accompanies the mere mechanical invention so largely relied upon by many modern German as well as English composers and too often mistaken for originality of thought.’

The other works at the concert included Mozart’s Prague Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, Liszt’s Symphonic Poem Tasso: Lament and Triumph, Gretry’s Ballet Air for Strings and Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel.  So all in all it was a good night in Manchester for Richard Strauss!

Finally Michael Kennedy in his book The Halle Tradition has noted that the Guardian reviewer who was signed as ‘X’ was in fact R. J. Forbes, the Principal of the Royal Manchester College of Music. Apparently, in a letter to James Agate, critic and diarist, he had written the review, Samuel Langford (1862-1927), the regular correspondent being ‘indisposed’ by attendance at the opera. 

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Delius in Danville

Hat tip to Pamela Blevins who sent me this photo. It is totally self explanatory! 

For further information one could do no better than consult Mary Cahill's book Delius in Danville, which was published by the Danville Historical Society in 1986.  This was a detailed account of the centenary of Delius short stay in the town. The composer spent just under a year in Danville as a music teacher, based at the Roanoke Female College. The book, includes much background material on the town, and comes complete with details of Delius' associates and contemporary  students.. 

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Mr. Delius Discourses on His Music to 'Hassan'

This excellent article is written by the composer, performer and musicologist Marion M. Scott and was sent to me by Pamela Blevins. It is posted here with grateful thanks.

Flecker's drama "Hassan", with incidental music by Frederick Delius, is the most talked of production in London at the moment.  Undoubtedly here is a great play by a man of genius, around which another genius has woven music that is the sensitive, sincere reaction of one poet to another. [1]

Very soon after the premiere the writer had the privilege of a talk with Mr. and Mrs. Delius on his music. The writer was received by Mrs. Delius. The questions that followed may be seen from her replies.

"When did my husband compose the music to "Hassan"? It was about three years ago in 1920. And, no, he didn't know Flecker at all, or any of his work; the first thing that happened was that he had a letter from Mr. Basil Dean [2] asking him if we would compose the music for this play.  But my husband does not like writing for plays, and he refused.

"Then Mr. Dean himself came over to France, brought "Hassan" with him and insisted on reading it to my husband. Mr. Dean asked him again if he would do the music. My husband was so impressed with the drama that this time he consented, and began work upon it almost at once. It took such possession of his thoughts that in a few months he had completed it. He wrote it straight off as he felt it, without any consultations with Mr. Dean or the theater people. Then delays occurred, and everything had to wait three years before the play could be produced.

"Yes, Hassan is a wonderful drama, isn't it, and Mr. Dean has produced it wonderfully. He has thought of everything. The music? Yes, my husband put his very best into it. Yet at the performances the audiences make so much noise that hardly anyone can hear it properly. It is strange in England how they allow tea and chocolate to be sold in the theater while the music is going on, and then the people talk! It is terrible: - I think that the English theater public has no reverence for art."

Reticent and Modest

At this moment Mr. Delius entered the room, quiet, reticent, modest. However, after a few general remarks, he was induced to discuss his 'Hassan' music. "Yes, it was practically all done in those few months. Only the ballet was enlarged later. When Mr. Dean saw the first draft he thought it was too short, so I added to it".

"When composing the music did you wish to emphasize any particular aspects of the drama?" Mr. Delius replied very simply: "No, I had no special views. I just followed the drama and wrote music when it was necessary. The ballet is the only thing that really has nothing to do with the drama - that was added later, as I told you, because they thought it would be effective. From the theatrical point of view." "People are already beginning to express a hope that they may hear your "Hassan" music in a concert room version. Have you any wishes yourself?" Mr. Delius dismissed the question like one whom it did not concern. "No - no views at all. At present my music is so bound up with the drama for me that I cannot think of it apart from it." He seemed to muse a moment perhaps recalling the poet's work surrounded and completed by the atmosphere of his own melodies. Then he again roused to speech.

Curtain Calls Deplored

"But how can one make an atmosphere when the people talk all through the music. It is true, the audiences at the 'Old Vic' and the Queen's Hall Promenade concerts show that there are some people in London who appreciate art, but they are not the regular theater audiences. And then that terrible English custom of allowing actors to come before the curtain and take calls at the end of each act. It destroys any atmosphere which the musician has succeeded in building up. (Speaking with energy). Now there is something I particularly want you to say - a full artistic impression is impossible under the conditions that prevail in the London theaters."

That closed the interview, but readers of The Christian Science Monitor who have not had a chance of hearing "Hassan" for themselves may like a brief description of this much-talked-of and talked-over music.

In all theater bands the number of players is necessarily small. Delius, famous in the past for his masterly management of great masses of instruments, here shows an equal mastery of his treatment of few. He has taken the original course of scoring "Hassan" for an orchestra of 26 solo instruments. This, besides the usual strings, wood-winds, and horns, etc., includes such less usual instruments as the cor anglais, tuba, xylophone and harp. The result is rich, varied and original - the more so that he introduces voices freely, with or without words, not only for solo purposes and in chorus, but sometimes as parts of the orchestral texture.

Music and Play Well Related

This method is familiar to people acquainted with his concert works. Here it gains additional appositeness from the singers having their raison d'être in the scheme of the play. Throughout, the relation of the music to the drama is resourceful and sincere. Sometimes it stands by itself, as in the preludes and interludes; at others it forms a background to the spoken words as when Ishak extemporizes his exquisite poem on the dawn, or again it rises clear into song. Mainly lyrical during the earliest part of the drama, the music moves in soft tone colors and exotic melodies. The little prelude preceding the night scene in the street is perfect of its kind, though scarcely more than 6 bars long.

As the drama proceeds, the music gathers force, the colors heighten, the chorus and ballet are introduced, and the voices produce wild, elementally indefinite waves of sound. Though not realistically Eastern nor dominantly rhythmic, all is poetic and picturesque. Toward the close of the drama come two great opportunities for the composer - the march and the final scene. Opinions probably will be divided as to whether Delius has found inevitable music for the march, but in the closing scene (which the poet evidently intended as a choral climax) Delius has achieved a splendid finale.

Fully experienced as a composer of opera and concert room music, he has known exactly how to draw together, harmonize and tranquillize all the actions, passions and tragedy of the drama, and has ended the whole upon the emotion of hope.

M.M.S.

Marion Scott, October 27, 1923, Christian Science Monitor

[1] James Elroy Flecker (1884-1915) poet, playwright, civil servant.  Hassan was first performed in London at His Majesty’s Theatre on September 20, 1923 with Eugene Goossens conducting.  The world premiere was June 1, 1923 in Darmstadt, Germany. 

[2] Basil Dean (1888-1978) actor turned theatrical and film producer and director.  Dean had attended a performance of Delius’s A Village Romeo and Juliet and decided that he wanted Delius to write the incidental music for Hassan.

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Happy 150th Birthday, Fred Delius!

Today, 29^th January, is the celebration of the 150^th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Delius. I first discovered this composer back in the early 1970’s on a Decca Eclipse LP. Unlike many people, it was not the First Cuckoo that first impressed me, but the delicious A Song of Summer. This was played by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Anthony Collins. Included on this album was The Walk to Paradise Garden, Brigg Fair and that ubiquitous Cuckoo. I soon discovered that there was another Eclispe record that show-cased Summer Night on the River, In a Summer Garden and the Nocturne: Paris-Song of a Great City.

In 1973, whilst travelling on the back of a lorry to my summer job at a builders yard, I heard the Piano Concerto on Radio Three. It bowled me over. It has remained a favourite ever since.

Five pieces that I have come to love over the years. Any of them could be a ‘Desert Island Disc.’

1.       A Song of Summer

2.       Piano Concerto

3.       In a Summer Garden

4.       Summer Evening

5.       Summer Night on the River.

For anyone wanting an introduction to Delius’ music I could recommend nothing better that Sir Thomas Beecham’s recordingson EMI. The piano concerto is available in a number of recordings including the original version on Hyperion.

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The Complete Delius Songbook Volume 1

Frederick Delius (1862-1934)
Seven Songs from the Norwegian RT V/9 (1889-1890) Four Old English Lyrics RT V/30 (c.1915) Eleven Early Norwegian Songs: ‘Over the mountain high’ RT V/2 (undated, Pub.1974) & ‘Mountain life’ RT V/6 (1888) ‘They are not long, the weeping and the laughter’ RT II/5 (1906) Two Songs for Children- ‘Little birdie’ RT V/29 (1913) Songs to Words by Various Poets – ‘The Nightingale has a lyre of gold’ RT V/25 (1910) & ‘I-Brasil’ RT V/28 (1913) [English] Four Posthumous Songs – ‘In the Forest’ RT V/10 (1890/91) & ‘I once had a newly cut willow pipe’ RT V/14 (c.1892/93) [from the Norwegian] Three Songs, the Words by Shelley RT V/12 (1891) Five Songs from the Norwegian RT V/5 (c.1888)
Mark Stone (Baritone) Stephen Barlow (piano)
Stone Records 5060192780062

 A.K. Holland hit the nail on the head when he wrote (1952) that ‘in the ultimate assessment of Delius’s art it is conceivable that his songs will occupy a somewhat minor place.’  Certainly when set beside the well-known orchestral works such as Brigg Fair, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring and In a Summer Garden or his great choral works such as the Mass of Life and Sea Drift,  they will never command a deal of attention.  Delius’ situation is not in the same category as John Ireland or Benjamin Britten where the ‘lieder’ make up a vital and integral part of their musical achievements, irrespective of what other fine works they produced.

Yet there is a danger that in accepting the largely incidental nature of Delius’ songs to his corpus of music, we cast them aside as undeserving and trivial. Nothing could be more mistaken or wrong-headed. They may not define the composer’s career, but they are worthy and enjoyable examples of the genre which both entertain and move.

 I have had a quick check of these songs against Robert Threlfall’s (RT) catalogue and also the Mary Christison Huismann Guide to Research and conclude that there seem to be about 61 songs currently listed. The present CD has recorded some 27: the remainder will be issued on a subsequent release.   

Any consideration of this excellent new Delius CD will involve the listener taking a view about the use of English throughout. I am a traditionalist at heart and consider that if a song, opera or oratorio is written in a particular language, then that is how it ought to be heard. There are times when I do get off my ‘high-horse’ – for example, with some of the excellent performances at the Coliseum with English National Opera.  The problem arises with a number of the songs recorded here: the beautiful ‘Funf Lieder’ and the ‘Sieben Lieder’ both ‘from the Norwegian’ which Delius originally set in German! The purist (or the pedant) would argue that they must therefore be sung in German. However as they had already been translated (Norwegian to German), then another translation (German to English) does not do too much harm to the artistic integrity of the music.

The arguments in favour of English in this particular case are twofold. Firstly, it allows the listener to easier approach and understand some fine songs that are not well-known to the general recital-going or gramophone-listening public. The second argument is more convincing: the scores of these songs typically have the English translation written above/beneath the German text. So the editor and the publisher, if not the composer, must have imagined performances of these songs in English as well as in German and, much less likely, Norwegian. 

There does not appear to be a chronological format to the track-listing on this CD, however the order chosen makes for an attractive programme.

The recital opens with the lovely Seven Songs from the Norwegian which were composed in 1889-1890.  Delius had been impressed by the literature he had read whilst visiting Grieg in Norway. In fact, the Norwegian composer had set six of these seven texts (‘Young Venevil’ was the exception.) These (Delius’) are songs that are straightforward and often employ a simple diatonic or modal tune with a more chromatic accompaniment.  Interestingly, six of the present translations of these poems were made by Peter Pears. They make good introduction to any exploration of Delius’ songs.

 The latest group of songs in this recital are the Four Old English Lyrics. The liner notes point out that English poetry makes up a ‘disappointing eleven items in Delius’ song catalogues’ (not including the Maud settings and Henley’s Late Lark.)  The present four songs were composed during the Great War after the composer had been forced to return to England. At this time many English composers had been seduced by Elizabethan music ‘and were trying to catch its spirit, sometimes with pseudo-Tudor and modal sophistications.’ Perhaps the best known exponent of this style was Delius’ friend Philip Heseltine (Peter Warlock) who was a composer and an editor of Elizabethan musical material. However Delius does not attempt to use the prevailing retro ‘song fashion.’ These four numbers, ‘Spring, the sweet Spring’, ‘To Daffodils’, ‘So white, so soft, so sweet is she’ and ‘It was a lover and his lass’ are written in a complex ‘Euro’ style that reflects considerable chromaticism and an involved and sometimes awkward melody.

Interestingly, there are only two of the ‘Four Posthumous Songs’ recorded on this CD. I hope that other two will appear on a future CD. However, both ‘In the Forest’ and ‘I once had a newly cut willow pipe’ are derived from Norwegian texts: the other two are from the German.  The liner notes suggest that these are the latest, (1891-1901) of the Norwegian songs, in spite of their relative simplicity. I find these songs a little edgy to listen to: they are both introspective and despairing in their tone.

I do wonder why only one of the Two Songs for Children was included on this CD. According to the catalogues these were originally conceived for unison or two-part chorus with pianoforte accompaniment. They were composed in 1913 for use in American schools. Both songs were to texts by Tennyson: ‘What does the little birdie say?’ and ‘The Streamlet’s Slumber Song’. The first song is quite charming and has a number of ‘Delian’ fingerprints in the accompaniment. Could they not have squeezed the other one in?

I must admit to enjoying the Three Songs, the words by Shelley (1891) in spite of their critical failings. Trevor Hold has pointed out that the composer wrote these ‘in the only English tradition that he was aware of, the drawing room ballad.’ He then outlines their defects, including ‘hackneyed figurations and harmonies’ in the piano part, ‘sentimentality of conception in which emotions are falsified and sent melodramatically ‘over the top...’’ These are amongst the earliest published songs by the composer. Yet they are, to my ear at least, good examples of the ballad genre and deserve to be given an occasional airing.

A number of other songs recorded here include two of the Eleven Early Songs which were published in 1974 as ‘songs hitherto uncollected’ -‘Over the mountain high’ and ‘Mountain life’. One of the songs from the composer’s Songs of Sunsetwhich was originally scored for soprano, baritone, mixed chorus and orchestra is also presented with piano accompaniment. This version of the song derives from a manuscript sketch prepared before the choral work was composed. Finally, Henley’s ‘The Nightingale has a lyre of gold’ and Fiona McLeod’s ‘I-Brasil’ which explores the idea of the legendary island off the West coast of Ireland are included. ‘I-Brasil’ is one of my favourite Delius’ songs: it manages to nod towards a Scottish folk-song style without adopting any kind of obvious ‘tartanry.’

The CD concludes with Five Songs from the Norwegian. These are amongst the earliest of the Scandinavian settings, being composed in 1888 and are dedicated to Nina Grieg. In comparison to the slightly later Shelley songs, these five lyrics are a near perfect balance between text, melody and accompaniment. The difference could not be more striking. The first song, the ‘Slumber Song’, is surely faultless. The entire set is possibly the most moving sequence in this recital.

The CD is well-presented with an excellent performance by Mark Stone and Stephen Barlow. The liner notes are extremely helpful and contain the texts of all the songs preceded by a good introduction to the composer’s life and work. Detailed remarks explain some of the often convoluted translation and publication history of these songs. My onlyconcern is the uniformity of ‘voice’: I would have liked an edition that made use of soprano, alto, tenor and bass, where appropriate. Much as I have enjoyed Mark Stone’s attractive and well-rounded renditions of these songs, I would have preferred a little variety such as Hyperion provided in the Frank Bridge and John Ireland cycles.

This CD is an essential purchase for all enthusiasts of Fred. Delius in particular and English ‘lieder’ in general. It has been argued that Delius’ songs are not as ‘good’ as RVW, Warlock or other English composers. However, any hearing of this disc must encourage the listener to explore this ‘lost’ or ‘forgotten’ aspect of the composer’s life and works. The last word can go to A.K Holland who wrote that ‘measure for measure… [these songs] yield a fruitful reward to the singer of intelligence and imagination as the work of a master who has acres to till but does not disdain to cultivate his flower-garden.’ For ‘singer’ in this assessment we can substitute ‘listener’. 

The present CD is a fine introduction to these songs and I look forward to the subsequent volume.

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Fred. Delius: Two Tales of his Childhood

Fred (or Fritz as he was called by his brothers and sisters) was noted for enjoying lurid stories, or Penny Dreadfuls. [1] Of course, his parents refused to allow the young lad to read them. However he managed to find a way of perusing them that his parents would not find out about. He used to hide his books and magazines in the bed and read them when he was meant to be asleep. We have all done this of course. However, Delius went a stage further. In order not to be caught, he rigged up an 'ingenious contraption of strings and pulleys," by means of which he could turn off the gas-light when he heard his mother approaching. Alas, one night the pulley system did not work, the young lad was caught and the apparatus was confiscated.

Yet while all the while under these boyish spirits, the call of music was never silent. Fritz announced one day that he wanted to learn to play the violin. 'What do you think you can do with a violin?' asked his father. 'I can play it,' answered Fritz.

And so they bought a violin and handed it to Fritz, just to show him he could not play it. It was the first time he had ever touched a violin, but he surprised them all by playing a tune on it at once. So he was allowed to have lessons [2] and he was only twelve years old when he played a trio with the greatest living violinist and cellist. [3]

[1] Thomas Beecham suggests that this literature included Wild West stories, mystery thrillers, and his favourite, Sweeney Todd!

[2] From a certain Mr Bauerkeller from the Halle.

[3] Probably Alfredo Piatti (1822-1901) the cellist and Joseph Joachim (1831-1907) the violinist, composer and conductor

With thanks to the unnamed author in 'The Young Musician' January 1936

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