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Frederick Delius, photographed in 1907
The musical compositions of Frederick Delius (1862–1934) cover numerous genres, in a style that developed from the early influences of composers such as Edvard Grieg and Richard Wagner into a voice that was uniquely Delius's. He began serious composition at a relatively advanced age (his earliest songs date to his early twenties), and his music was largely unknown and unperformed until the early 20th century. It was a further ten years before his work was generally accepted in concert halls, and then more often in Europe than in his home country, England. Ill-health caused him to give up composition in the early 1920s and he was silent for several years, before the services of a devoted amanuensis, Eric Fenby , enabled Delius to resume composing in 1928. The Delius-Fenby combination led to several notable late works.[ 1]
Chronological list of principal works [ edit ]
The "principal" works are those identified as such by Eric Fenby .[ 2] A division of Delius's work into phases such as "apprentice" and "middle period" has been suggested by many commentators, notably Anthony Payne in "Delius's Stylistic Development" (1962).[ 1]
Apprentice works, 1887–1899[ edit ]
"Middle period" works, 1900–06[ edit ]
Mature works, 1907–24[ edit ]
1929–30: A Song of Summer
1930: Sonata for violin and piano No. 3
1930: Songs of Farewell (setting of poems by Walt Whitman)
List of works by genre [ edit ]
A definitive catalogue of the works of Delius was produced by Robert Threlfall in 1977, and a supplement to it in 1986.[ 4] It is abbreviated as RT. The Threlfall sectioning is a categorization where works are assigned nominal numbers according to a roman-numeric genre numbering scheme . For example, A Village Romeo and Juliet is, according to Threlfall's counting, the sixth piece of dramatic work Delius composed. Thus, the piece is in Section I, number 6, so is designated RT I/6.[ 5]
Year(s) composed
RT
Title
Genre
First performance
Comments
Ref.
1888
I/1
Zanoni
Incidental music
[ 3]
1890–92
I/2
Irmelin
Opera
Oxford, 4 May 1953
Libretto: E. Graham, T. Round
[ 3] [ 6]
1893–95
I/3
The Magic Fountain
Lyric drama
Broadcast performance, BBC 1977
Libretto: Delius
[ 3] [ 6]
1895
I/4
Koanga
Lyric drama
Elberfeld , 30 March 1904
Libretto: Charles Francis Keary , after George Washington Cable
[ 3] [ 6]
1897
I/5
Folkeraadet
Incidental music
Christiania , October 1897
Play by Gunnar Heiberg
[ 3] [ 6]
1900–01
I/6
A Village Romeo and Juliet
Lyric drama
Berlin, 21 October 1907
Libretto: Delius, after Gottfried Keller . The orchestral interlude between Scenes 5 and 6, "The Walk to the Paradise Garden", is often performed and recorded separately.
[ 3] [ 6]
1902
I/7
Margot la rouge
Lyric drama
Libretto: I. Rosenval
[ 3] [ 6]
1909–10
I/8
Fennimore and Gerda
Opera
Frankfurt am Main , October 1919
Libretto: Delius, after J.P. Jacobsen
[ 3] [ 6]
1920–23
I/9
Hassan
Incidental music
Darmstadt , 1 June 1923 Full version first performed in London, 30 September 1923
Play by James Elroy Flecker
[ 3]
Works for voices and orchestra [ edit ]
Year(s) composed
RT
Title
Vocal forces
First performance
Comments
Ref.
1898
II/1
Mitternachtslied Zarathustras (The Midnight Song of Zarathustra)
Male chorus
[ 3]
1903
II/2
Appalachia: Variations on a slave song
Choir, baritone solo
Elberfeld , 1904
[ 3] [ 6]
1903–04
II/3
Sea Drift
Choir, baritone solo
Essen , 24 May 1906
[ 6] [ 7]
1904–05
II/4
A Mass of Life
Double choir, SATB soloists
London, 7 June 1909
Part II was performed in Munich, in 1908
[ 6] [ 7]
1906–07
II/5
Songs of Sunset
Choir, Mezzo-soprano & baritone soloists
London, 16 June 1911
[ 6] [ 7]
1911
II/6
A Song of the High Hills
Choir, tenor & soprano soloists
London, 26 February 1920
Textless chorus
[ 6] [ 7]
1911
II/7
An Arabesque
Choir and baritone soloist
Newport , 1920
[ 6] [ 7]
1914–16
II/8
Requiem
Choir, soprano & baritone soloists
London, 23 March 1922
[ 6] [ 7]
1930
II/9
Songs of Farewell
Choir
London, 21 March 1932
[ 7]
1930–32
II/10
Idyll: Once I passed through a populous city
Soprano & baritone soloists
London, 3 October 1933
Music adapted from Margot la rouge ; words from Walt Whitman ; after the first performance, Delius expanded the work and renamed it Prelude and Idyll
[ 7] [ 8]
Works for solo voice and orchestra [ edit ]
Year(s) composed
RT
Title
Vocal forces
First performance
Comments
Ref.
1888
III/1
Paa Vidderne (Melodrama)
Recitation
Revised (1891) as orchestral suite
[ 3]
1889
III/2
Sakuntala
Tenor soloist
[ 3]
1891
III/3
Maud (from Tennyson)
Tenor soloist
[ 3]
1897
III/4
Seven Danish Songs: 1. "Summer Nights (On the Sea Shore)"; 2. "Red Roses (Through Long, Long Years)"; 3. "Wine Roses"; 4. "Let Springtime Come, Then" (Den Lenz laβ kommen); 5. "Irmelin Rose"; 6. "In the Seraglio Garden"; 7. "Silken Shoes"
Solo voice (unspecified)
Paris, 1901
[ 3] [ 5] [ 9]
1907
III/5
Cynara
Choir, Baritone soloist
London, 18 October 1929
Left incomplete, finished in 1929
[ 7]
1925
III/6
A Late Lark
Solo voice (unspecified)
[ 7]
Works for unaccompanied voices [ edit ]
Year(s) composed
RT
Title
Vocal forces/accompaniment
First performance
Comments
Ref.
before 1887
IV/1
Six German part-songs: 1. "Lorelei" (H. Heine ); 2. "Oh! Sonnenschein" (Oh! Sunshine); 3. "Durch den Wald" (By the Forest) [von Schreck]; 4. "Ave Maria"; 5. "Sonnenscheinlied" (Sunshine Song) [Bjornsen]; 6. "Fruhlingsanbruch" [Bjornsen]
Choir, unaccompanied
[ 3] [ 5]
1907
IV/2
On Craig Ddu
Soprano, alto, 2 tenor, 2 bass, piano
Blackpool , 1907
[ 6] [ 7]
1908
IV/3
Wanderer's Song
2 tenor, 2 bass, piano
[ 6] [ 7]
1908
IV/4
Midsummer Song
2 soprano, 2 alto, 2 tenor, 2 bass, piano
Whitley Bay , December 1910
[ 6] [ 7]
1917
IV/5
Two Songs to be sung of a summer night on the water
Soprano, alto, 2 tenor, 2 basses, unaccompanied
London, 28 June 1920
Also arranged for string orchestra by Eric Fenby in 1932, titled Two Aquarelles.
[ 7]
1923
IV/6
The splendour falls on castle walls (from Tennyson)
Chorus, unaccompanied
London, 17 June 1924
[ 7]
Songs with piano accompaniment [ edit ]
Year(s) composed
RT
Title
Comments
Ref.
undated
V/1
"When other lips shall speak"
Unpublished
[ 5]
undated
V/4
"Der Fichtenbaum" (The Spruce Tree)
Unpublished
[ 5]
1885
V/2
"Over the mountains high"
Unpublished
[ 5]
1885
V/3
"Zwei braune Augen" (Two Brown Eyes)
Unpublished
[ 5]
1888
V/5
Five Songs from the Norwegian: 1. "Slumber Song" (Bjørnsen); 2. "The Nightingale" (Wellhaven); 3. "Summer's Eve" (Paulsen); 4. "Longing" (Kjerulf); 5. "Sunset" (Munck)
[ 6] [ 7]
1888
V/6
"Hochgebirgsleben" (High Mountain Life)
Unpublished
[ 5]
1888
V/7
"O schneller mein Ross" ( O faster, my Ross)
Unpublished
[ 5]
1889
V/8
"Chanson (de) Fortunio"
Unpublished
[ 5]
1889–90
V/9
Seven Songs from the Norwegian: 1. "Cradle Song" (Ibsen); 2. "The Homeward Journey" (Vinje); 3. "Twilight Fancies" (Bjørnsen); 4. "Sweet Venevil" (Bjørnsen); 5. "Minstrel" (Ibsen); 6. "Love concealed" (Bjørnsen); 7. "The Birds Story" (Ibsen)
[ 6] [ 7]
1890
V/10
"Skogen gir susende langsom besked" (Softly the Forest)
Unpublished
[ 5]
1890–91
V/11
Songs to words by Heine: 1. "Mit deinen blauen Augen" (With your blue eyes); 2. "Ein schöner Stern geht auf in meiner Nacht" (A shining star appears in my night); 3. "Hör' ich das Liedchen klingen" (I hear the sound of singing); 4. "Aus deinen Augen fliessen meine Leider" (From your eyes flows my song)
Unpublished
[ 5]
1891
V/12
Three English songs [Shelley]: 1. "Indian Love Song"; 2. "Love's Philosophy" 3. "To the Queen of my Heart"
[ 6] [ 7]
1891
V/13
"Lyse Naetter"
Unpublished
[ 5]
1893
V/14
"Jeg horde en nyskaaren Seljeflojte" (I once had a newly cut willow pipe)
Unpublished
[ 5]
1893
V/15
"Nuages" (Clouds)
Unpublished
[ 5]
1895
V/16
Deux Melodies [Verlaine]: 1. "Il pleure dans mon coeur" (It cries in my heart); 2. "Le ciel est, par-dessus le toit" (The sky is over the roof)
Accompaniment later orchestrated
[ 7]
1895
V/17
"Pagen hojt paa Taarnet sad" (The page sat in the lofty tower)
Unpublished
[ 5]
1898
V/18
"Traum Rosen" (Dream Roses)
Unpublished
[ 5]
1898
V/19
Lieder nach Gedichten von Friedrich Nietzsche (Songs after poems by Fredrich Nietzsche): 1. "Nach neuen Meeren" (By New Seas); 2. "Der Wanderer" (The Wanderer); 3. "Der Einsame" (The Lonely One); 4. "Der Wanderer und sein Schatten" (The Wanderer and his Shadow)
[ 7]
1898
V/20
"Im Glück wir lachend gingen" (In bliss we walked with laughter)
[ 7]
1900
V/21
Two songs from the Danish: 1. "The Violet"; 2. "Autumn"
"The Violet" accompaniment orchestrated, 1908
[ 7]
1900
V/22
"Black Roses"
[ 6] [ 7]
1901
V/23
"Jeg horer i Natten" (I hear in the night)
Unpublished
[ 5]
1902
V/24
"Summer Landscape"
Orchestral accompaniment 1903
[ 7]
1910
V/25
"The Nightingale has a Lyre of Gold"
[ 6] [ 7]
1911
V/26
"La Lune blanche" (The white moon) (Verlaine poem)
Orchestral accompaniment 1911
[ 6] [ 7]
1911
V/27
"Chanson d'Automne" (Song of Autumn) (Verlaine poem)
[ 6] [ 7]
1913
V/28
"I-Brasil"
[ 6] [ 7]
1913
V/29
Two songs for children: 1. "Little Birdie"; 2. "The Streamlet's Slumber Song"
[ 7]
1915–16
V/30
Four old English lyrics: 1. "It was a lover and his lass"; 2. "So white, so soft, so sweet is she"; 3. "Spring, the sweet Spring"; 4. "To Daffodils"
[ 7]
1919
V/31
"Avant que tu ne t'en ailles" (Morning Star)
[ 7]
Works for orchestra alone [ edit ]
Year(s) composed
RT
Title
First performance
Comments
Ref.
1887
VI/1
Florida Suite
Leipzig, 1888
Revised 1889
[ 3]
1888
VI/2
Hiawatha (tone poem)
[ 3]
1888
VI/3
Rhapsodic Variations
Incomplete
[ 3]
1888
VI/4
Three pieces for string orchestra
[ 5]
1889
VI/5
Idylle de Printemps
[ 3]
1889–90
VI/6
Orchestral suite (Petite Suite No. 1)
Marche
Berceuse
Scherzo
Duo
Theme with variations
London, 18 November 1946
[ 3] [ 5]
1889 (approx.)
VI/6a
Suite of 3 Characteristic pieces
La Quadroöne (Rhadsodie Floridienne)
Scherzo
Marche Caprice
[ 5]
1889 (approx)
VI/6b
Marche Française
[ 5]
1890
VI/7
Three small tone-poems:
Summer Evening
Winter Night (Sleigh Ride)
Spring Morning
London, 2 January 1949
[ 3]
1890 (approx.)
VI/8
A l'Amore
[ 5]
1890
VI/9
Orchestral Suite (Petite Suite No. 2)
Allegro ma non troppo
Con moto
Allegretto
[ 3] [ 5]
1890–92
VI/10
Paa Vidderne (On the Mountains) - symphonic poem
Christiania, Norway, 10 October 1891
[ 3]
c. 1891
Mazurka
Incomplete sketch
[ 5]
1895–97
VI/11
Over the hills and far away (fantasy overture)
London, 30 May 1899
[ 3] [ 6]
1896
VI/12
Appalachia : an American rhapsody
Orchestral version, later adapted for solo and chorus
[ 3]
1899
VI/13
La Ronde se déroule (The Dance Goes On)
London, 30 May 1899
Revised, 1901, as "Lebenstanz" (Life's Dance)
[ 3]
1899
VI/14
Paris: The Song of a Great City
Elberfeld , 1901
[ 3] [ 6]
1901
VI/15
Lebenstanz (Life's Dance)
Düsseldorf , February 1904
Further revised, 1912
[ 3] [ 6]
1907
VI/16
Brigg Fair
Basel , 1907
[ 3] [ 6]
1908
VI/17
In a Summer Garden
London, 11 December 1909
Delius conducted the first performance
[ 3] [ 6]
1908
VI/18
Dance Rhapsody (No. 1)
Hereford (Three Choirs Festival) 8 September 1909
Delius conducted the first performance
[ 3] [ 6]
1911–12
VI/19
Two pieces for small orchestra:
On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
Summer Night on the River
Leipzig, 2 October 1913
[ 3] [ 6]
1912
VI/15
Life's Dance (final version)
Berlin, 15 November 1912.
Revised from 1901
[ 3]
1913–14
VI/20
North Country Sketches
London, 10 May 1915
[ 3] [ 6]
1915
VI/21
Air and Dance
London, Aeolian Hall, 16 October 1929[ 10]
[ 3]
1916
VI/22
Dance Rhapsody (No. 2)
[ 3]
1917
VI/23
Eventyr (Once Upon a Time)
London. 11 January 1919
[ 3]
1918
VI/24
A Song before Sunrise
[ 3]
1918
VI/25
Poem of Life and Love
Incomplete, lost
[ 3]
1929-30
VI/26
A Song of Summer
London, 17 September 1932
[ 3]
1931
VI/27
Irmelin prelude
[ 3]
1931
VI/28
Fantastic Dance
London, 12 January 1934
[ 3]
undated
On the moors (Impressions of Nature)
Incomplete sketch
[ 5]
undated
Sunday morning on the moors
Incomplete sketch
[ 5]
undated
Mountain poem
Incomplete sketch
[ 5]
Works for solo instrument(s) and orchestra[ edit ]
Year(s) composed
RT
Title
First performance
Comments
Ref.
1888
VII/1
Suite for violin and orchestra
[ 3]
1890
VII/2
Legendes (Sagen) for piano and orchestra
[ 3]
1895
VII/3
Legende for violin and orchestra
Later revised for violin and piano
[ 3] [ 6]
1897
VII/4
Piano Concerto in C minor
Elberfeld , 1904
1st movement revised 1906
[ 3] [ 6]
VII/4a
Rhapsody for piano and orchestra
[ 5]
1915
VII/5
Double Concerto for violin and violoncello
London, 21 February 1920
[ 3]
1916
VII/6
Violin Concerto
London, 30 January 1919
[ 3]
1921
VII/7
Cello Concerto
Vienna, 30 January 1923
[ 3]
1930
VII/8
Caprice and Elegy for cello and chamber orchestra
[ 3]
undated
Second Piano Concerto
Incomplete sketch
[ 5]
undated
Fantaisie for piano and orchestra
Incomplete sketch
[ 5]
Year(s) composed
RT
Title
Instrumental forces
First performance
Comments
Ref.
1888
VIII/1
First string quartet
[ 7]
1889
VIII/2
Romance
Violin, piano
[ 7]
c. 1890
Vasantasena for violin and piano
Violin and piano
Incomplete sketch
[ 5]
1892
VIII/3
Violin Sonata in B major
Violin, piano
Achille Rivarde with Harold Bauer , Paris 1893 (private performance)
[ 7] [ 11] [ 12]
1893
VIII/4
Second string quartet
[ 7]
1896
VIII/5
Romance
Cello, piano
[ 7]
1905–14
VIII/6
Violin Sonata No. 1
Violin, piano
Manchester , 1915
[ 6] [ 7]
1916
VIII/7
Cello Sonata
Cello, piano
London, 11 January 1919
[ 7]
1916
VIII/8
String quartet (1916)
London, 1 February 1919
[ 7]
1923
VIII/9
Violin Sonata No. 2
Violin and piano
London, 7 October 1924
[ 7]
c. 1923
Sonata for violin and piano in C
Violin and piano
Incomplete sketch
[ 5]
1930
VIII/10
Violin Sonata No. 3
Violin and piano
London, 6 November 1930
[ 7]
Year(s) composed
RT
Title
First performance
Comments
Ref.
1885
IX/1
Zum Carnival
written before first departure from Florida
[ 5]
undated
IX/2
Pensees mélodieuses (Melodious thoughts)
[ 5]
undated
IX/3
Norwegian Sleigh Ride
[ 5]
undated
IX/4
Badinage (Danse lente)
[ 5]
undated
IX/5
Two piano pieces: 1. Valse; 2. Reverie
[ 5]
1919
IX/6
Dance for Harpsichord
[ 7]
1922–23
IX/7
Five piano pieces: 1–2. Mazurka and Waltz for a Little Girl; 3. Waltz; 4. Lullaby for a Modern Baby; 5. Toccata
[ 7]
1923
IX/8
Three piano preludes: 1. Scherzando; 2. Quick; 3. Con moto
London 4 September 1924
[ 7]
undated
Presto leggiero for piano
Unpublished piano solo
[ 5]
^ a b Payne, Anthony (Winter 1961–62). "Delius's Stylistic Development" . Tempo (60). Cambridge University Press: 6–16. doi :10.1017/S0040298200055662 . S2CID 145521419 . (subscription required)
^ Fenby, Eric (1971). The Great Composers: Delius . London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-09296-3 .
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1980). New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Volume 5 . London: Macmillan. p. 342. ISBN 978-0-333-23111-1 .
^ Frederick Delius website, Delius: Robert Threlfall , retrieved 23 January 2016
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am Threlfall, Robert (1977). "A Catalogue of the Works of Frederick Delius" . The Thompsonian Institution. Retrieved 14 January 2011 .
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj Heseltine, Philip (March 1915). "Some Notes on Delius and his Music" . The Musical Times . 56 (865): 137–42. doi :10.2307/909510 . JSTOR 909510 .(subscription required)
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1980). New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Volume 5 . London: Macmillan. p. 343. ISBN 978-0-333-23111-1 .
^ Liner notes from A Mass of Life & Prelude and Idyll Naxos 8.572861-62
^ imlsp.com, 7 Danish Songs (Delius, Frederick) , retrieved 23 January 2016
^ "Naxos" . Archived from the original on 25 October 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013 .
^ Tamino Classic Forum
^ Harrison, May (Autumn 1985) [March 1945]. Lloyd, Stephen (ed.). "The Music of Delius" . The Delius Society Journal (87): 37. (originally appeared in the Journal of the Royal Musical Association , vol. 71, 1944, pp. 43-48 )