About Delius, Frederick (1862-1934)

Frederick Delius (1862 – 1934) is generally considered to be a truly international composer, having lived and worked across Europe and America - in Germany, France, Norway and Florida - and much of his music is inspired by the literature and natural world of these surroundings.

Although pastoral miniatures, such as On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring and The walk to the Paradise Garden, are today probably most popular with listeners, the composers’ output is in fact much more diverse, with a wealth of compositions that include concertos, operas, chamber works, symphonic poems and dances, a Mass, and a Requiem.

His impressionistic and rhapsodic style is truly unique, often creating a special atmosphere from the very first bar, and can be characterized by individual orchestration and use of chromatic harmony. His compositional output offers the listener rich soundscapes; from African-American spiritual music to the vast stillness of snow-covered mountains.

Delius was one of the most important British composers working in the early years of the 20th Century during the re-flowering and divergence of British music, socialising with many of the influential writers and artists of the time including Gauguin, Strindberg and Munch, and cultivating significant musical friendships with composers Edward Grieg and Percy Grainger which were to last his lifetime.

From 1907 his works were increasingly championed by the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham, helping to establish him as a leading British composer between the wars. In spite of ailing health he was to continue composing into old age, finally, with the extraordinary collaboration of his amanuensis, Eric Fenby, to whom a number of late master-works were dictated.

Many composers and musicians - from Duke Ellington to Ernest Moeran and Kate Bush - have acknowledged the influence of Delius on their work, not least composers from the world of jazz, and many a film director has turned to his music for use in documentaries and films.

www.delius.org.uk

Read our reviews

Date and venue	Title
7-Feb-2013 Howard Assembly Room	Delius, Britten and Elgar from Tasmin Little and Martin Roscoe
Delius is a composer who is often misunderstood, the English pastoralism of works like On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring hardly representative of either his cosmopolitan life or the breadth of his output. Tasmin Little has long been one of the composer’s most passionate advocates, and opened this recital with her regular duo partner Martin Roscoe with the earliest of Delius’ four violin sonatas. Read full review...
1-Feb-2013 Sage: Hall One	A Hero's Life: The Bergen Philharmonic at the Sage Gateshead
Richard Strauss’s tone poem Ein Heldenleben (“A Hero’s Life”) appears on the face of it to be a musical illustration of a medieval legend – perhaps a knight in shining armour, overcoming evil. The expansive opening theme shouts of heroism, monsters threaten, then there is a tender portrait of his lady before he heads off into battle. Except it isn’t like that at all. The “hero” of Strauss’s poem is the composer himself, the monsters are the music critics of Vienna, and the hero’s lady is an affectionately honest portrait of Strauss’s wife Pauline. Read full review...
20-Jan-2013 Southbank Centre: Royal Festival Hall	Philharmonia, John Wilson, Leon McCawley: 20th-century English music at the Royal Festival Hall
As London became a vision in white and all went quiet, the Southbank Centre was abuzz with all manner of arts-related activities. One rail replacement bus and a brisk walk behind me, I had made it to see the Philharmonia Orchestra’s matinee concert of 20th-century English music, framed around John Ireland’s Piano Concerto. Read full review...
6-Oct-2012 St George's Bristol	British in Bristol: Stephen Hough and Bristol Classical Players at St George's
Two encores, a virtuoso and a cracking orchestra. This concert truly celebrated the best of British music and musicians, as the first concert in St George’s “Best of British” concert season. The scene was set with an array of red, white and blue amongst the orchestra in several forms: bow ties, flags, ribbons and other accessories. The stage was built forward for this occasion with an impressively large group of instrumentalists for the Bristol Classical Players surrounding a grand piano for the internationally renowned pianist Stephen Hough. Read full review...

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