There’s a scene in Preston Sturges’ 1948 comedy “Unfaithfully Yours” in which a detective, played by Edgar Kennedy, waxes enthusiastically during a meeting with conductor Sir Alfred de Carter, played by Rex Harrison.
“Nobody handles Handel like you handle Handel!” he exclaims. “And your Delius? Delirious!”
This week on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll echo that appreciation of the great English composer – who lived most of his last four decades in the picturesque village of Grez-sur-Loing, outside Paris – with an hour of recordings of some of his lesser-heard works, made by some of his greatest champions.
More than any other, Sir Thomas Beecham was responsible for establishing Delius’ reputation as one of the UK’s greatest composers. Delius was inspired by a poem of Henrik Ibsen to write a melodrama (a piece in which a speaker recites over an orchestra), called “Paa Vidderne” – Norwegian for “On the Mountain.” This work would remain unperformed during Delius’ lifetime. However, two years later, in 1894, he composed a purely orchestral work on the same theme. If you’re a Delius fanatic, you may recognize a horn motif toward the end of the piece. It was to reappear in Delius’ fantasy overture “Over the Hills and Far Away.” We’ll hear “Paa Vidderne,” the purely orchestral work, in Beecham’s 1946 recording.
Another great champion of Delius’ music is the violinist Tasmin Little – recently retired, at the top of her game, at the age of only 55! Little made two recordings of Delius’ violin concerto. She also recorded a highly-regarded set of the violin sonatas. For a release on the Chandos label that includes Delius’ violin and cello concertos, she was one of the soloists for the rarely-heard Double Concerto – a work for violin, cello and orchestra – dating from 1920. David Watkins is the cellist, and the late Sir Andrew Davis conducted.
Finally, Eric Fenby was very closely associated with Delius during the final years of the composer’s life, when he acted as his amanuensis, taking down music by way of dictation, at a time when Delius was blind and paralyzed (the result of a syphilitic infection he contracted as a young man).
Fenby later made some authoritative recordings of the composer’s work. We’ll hear one of the pieces he helped Delius to complete – “Songs of Farewell,” from 1930, after texts of Walt Whitman, from the poet’s collection “Leaves of Grass” – with Fenby conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Ambrosian Singers.
Bid farewell to astronomical summer with “Delirious for Delius” on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!
Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:
PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT
SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday at 11:00 AM EDT/8:00 AM PDT
THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT
Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!
PHOTO: Fenby with Frederick Delius (in chair)
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