Delius: now unsung?

[Alan Howe]

I am not the world's greatest Delius fan, but I must admit to having been bowled over by a broadcast of his Song of the High Hills from 1911 last week and again today by the Unicorn recording of it conducted by Eric Fenby. It occurs to me that Delius' reputation has taken something of a dive since the great Beecham/Barbirolli days, but I might be wrong. What do others think?

[M. Henriksen]

I agree with you on this one Alan. It seems that Delius' music is very much coupled with the advocacy of the two conductors you mention. And now..? No advocacy, Delius is disappearing in the mist..
I'm very fond of Delius' works, although I seldom get the "bowled over" experience with his music.
By the way; I have a Mackerras reading of Song of the High Hills released on Decca some 15 years ago. A great release that I bought on my first ever trip to London.
We don't see many new Delius records in the catalogues, the last I can think of came from Dutton (with the Hiawatha tone poem).


Morten

[Mark Thomas]

I've never been a great fan of Delius either but I can certainly remember a time thirty, even twenty, years ago when his music featured quite prominently both in concert halls and on air. Certainly much more it seems to now. It seems as if his star is on the wane, at least temporarily, and I'm sure that the lack of advocacy from star conductors has a role to play. Dare I also suggest, ducking as I do, that much of the music itself might be to blame as well? Some of his pieces sound very "tired" when you do catch a broadcast.

There are fashions in great composers I guess, just as there are in everything else. Sibelius was omnipresent in the UK back in the 1970s, then went into a decline and now seems to be on the ascendant again. Having last night revelled in a shimmering performance in Birmingham of Mahler's Third (a work which I'm ashamed to say I hardly knew at all), I wonder if his current worldwide top of the bill status will be maintained?

[Alan Howe]

Do try Song of the High Hills, Mark. It's astonishingly beautiful. 

[febnyc]

For me Delius has been an acquired taste - and I listen to his music infrequently.  I do very much enjoy his "Florida Suite," however.  Also the popular version of the Suite from "Irmelin" - really quite a knockout - for Delius.   

[Hovite]

It occurs to me that Delius' reputation has taken something of a dive since the great Beecham/Barbirolli days

Beecham also performed Atterberg, and I much prefer Atterberg to Delius, but so far as I can see Delius still gets more outings. Two of his works will be performed in Brighton on 16 January 2011, namely Walk to the Paradise Garden and Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra. Apparently it is his 150th birthday in 2012, so no doubt there will be a surfeit of Delius when that milestone is reached.

I am not a particular fan of Delius. Mostly I find his works insipid and easy to forget. Partly this is due to the nature of his output. The popular items are his short orchestral works. There are no monumental symphonies.  I personally feel that his better offerings are the various rhapsodies and concerti. The rare piano concerto can be found on disc 39 of the Hyperion series. It may not be Scharwenka, but at least it isn't Herz.

[jerfilm]

Well here I am the contrarian - I'm an old fan of Delius and I think I have a recording of everything of his that's been recorded in the last 50 years.  No, he wasn't a symphonist - do we hold that against him?  Sadly, he's not on the hit parade of the Minnesota Orchestra.  They did one of my favorites, Sea Drift, gosh, it must be 30 years ago.  A lovely performance.  The recording I come back to from time to time is Idyll: I once passed through a populous city.  While many of our unsung heroes were somewhat imitators (or to be more politically correct, "influenced by") other more famous names, one has to admit that Delius had a style and sound all his own.  And, like a Mahler, it's hard to mistake it for someone else.  I guess as someone pointed out, he's probably an acquired taste.

[eschiss1]

I've gotten to like Delius more and more myself, but then he has the right fans (Sorabji, George Shearing, Heseltine, Havergal Brian (at least for the Mass of Life), others...)   I used to have a fine tape of the 3 (official) violin sonatas and the cello sonata...

[Amphissa]

 
I've never really cared much for Delius. It's not because I haven't tried. I've got more than a dozen LPs and CDs of his music. Beecham and Barbirolli were not the only ones recording his music. I've got recordings by most every British conductor and a few Yanks as well.

Thing is, I find his music all kind of mushy and vague and indefinite. It's pleasant while it is happening, there is nothing offensive about it, but I never really care about it. I get bored and start reading or putzing around, looking for something else to listen to.

I don't think Delius was ever as popular in the U.S. as he was in England, despite the titles and origins of some of it. Some composers came to America and were embraced, heralded, loved -- Rachmaninoff, Dvorak, etc. And some of those who had languished for decades have experienced a resurgence on popularity here, like Korngold. But I really don't see that happening for Delius. I suspect he will remain unsung here in the provinces.

[Revilod]

Thing is, I find his music all kind of mushy and vague and indefinite. It's pleasant while it is happening, there is nothing offensive about it, but I never really care about it. I get bored and start reading or putzing around, looking for something else to listen to.

I'm a bit of a fan of Delius although I have to agree that he seems to have dropped off the radar recently. In fact, I regard the three string concertos (especially the Violin Concerto) as amongst the greatest music of the last century. The seemless yet tightly organized flow of exquiste lyrical invention is pretty much without parallel ....and for an antidote to the "mushy, vague and indefinite" Delius,  try "Paris-Song of A Great City"....one of the great virtuoso orchestral showpieces and a million miles away from that springtime cuckoo!

[JimL]

I find Delius pleasant, but no great master.  For some reason he was lumped for a while with the "Impressionist" composers in academic circles, which I find a bit of a stretch.  I heard the Double Concerto on the radio a number of years ago.  It just seemed to be a lot of noodling by the soloists, usually at the octave.  I lost interest, too. 

[Alan Howe]

I suspect that there is far more to Delius than I have yet discovered. Certainly the Mass of Life ought to be heard by anyone with a penchant for that sort of grand and imposing music. Its opening, for example, is just glorious and couldn't have been written by anyone else. That alone makes him a master in my eyes...

[Revilod]

I find Delius pleasant, but no great master.  For some reason he was lumped for a while with the "Impressionist" composers in academic circles, which I find a bit of a stretch.  I heard the Double Concerto on the radio a number of years ago.  It just seemed to be a lot of noodling by the soloists, usually at the octave.  I lost interest, too.

I just can't let you get away with that assessment of the Double Concerto, Jim! Although it is not quite as fine as the 'Cello Concerto, let alone the Violin Concerto, it is still a superb work. Although an unbroken 20 minute span, it is in three sections, the last being a truncated version of the first.

There is a short introduction which returns at important structural points. The outer sections are built on two tunes, one wonderfully lyrical and the other  plainer and much more square-cut rhythmically.  The middle section is built on another lovely tune which builds to an exquisite phrase which Delius dwells on and which forms the rapturous climax of the whole work.

For most of the time the soloists play together so it's important to pick out the main melodic line. That will take a few hearings. The orchestra's role is largely supportive. The Double Concerto  is a lovely piece. You really must try it again!

I do think there was an element of Impressionism in Delius's earlier music but he did outgrow it and there is no trace of it in the concertos. In the way melodic fragments fly by in a dazzling array of colours, "Paris" is not unlike Debussy's "Jeux", for example.