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Welcome to my Delius site!

Frederick Delius (1862-1934) composed a wealth of singularly masterful musical works.  I hope you enjoy browsing through the pages, pictures, sound files and links I have collected here.   E-mail me with suggestions, problems, or comments.

Special Thanks to:
Jeff Gower - Jeff Driggers - Graeme Fyfe -  Bill Early -  Bill Marsh -  Frank Lieber -  Harry Froehlich - Harold Diamond -  Derek Cox - George Little - Alan Becker - Peter Starkey - Terry Sanderson 

-- Bill Thompson

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A MASS OF LIFE
by Frederick Delius

CHOIR OF THE EARTH
THIS ONLINE CHOIR IS PREPARING AN AMAZING RECORDING OF "A MASS OF LIFE" in 2022-2023
Information about the project:  https://choiroftheearth.com/mass-of-life
Video discussion of the project:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y22Z1KHBmiQ

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2022 Performance by the Bergen Philharmonic, choir and soloists
Conducted by Sir Mark Elder
YouTube video of complete performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXhe167l_Sg

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2016 Performance at Carnegie Hall
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Carnegie Hall (Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage)
881 7th Avenue, New York, NY  10019

Conductor's Notes Q&A at 7 PM
Concert 8 PM - 10:05 PM

American Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leon Botstein
Bard Festival Chorale (James Bagwell, director)

Program Booklet       Notes by Byron Adams       Notes by Leon Botstein      Concert Photo

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VIDEOS: DOCUMENTARIES AND DOCUDRAMAS

"Discovering Delius" (1993 documentary)
YouTube link

Ken Russell's "SONG OF SUMMER" (1968)

John Bridcut's documentary "Delius: Composer, Lover, Enigma" (2012)
Re-released as "The Pleasures of Delius"
YouTube link

Andrew Boyle's docudrama about Delius "Song of the High Hills"
(in Norwegian with subtitles)
Part 1       Part 2      Part 3      Part 4

"THE LOST CHILD"
(Tasmin Little researches legends about Delius' sojourn in Florida)

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VIDEOS: CONCERT PERFORMANCES & OTHER


"Zum Carnival" (performed by Christina Pepper - first performance on YouTube)

The Walk to the Paradise Garden from "A Village Romeo and Juliet" (Proms 2012)

"In a Summer Garden (Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Sir Andrew Davis)

"Sleigh Ride (Winter Night)" (Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Mikko Franck 2016)

"Brigg Fair" (OSES, Helder Trefzger)

Two Pieces for Small Orchestra (Durham University Orchestral Society 2016)

"A Village Romeo and Juliet" (complete opera)

"Sea Drift" (Bryn Terfel, baritone, BBC Symphony & Chorus, Mark Elder)
Part 1     Part 2

Delius' String Quartet (1916) (Plage Quartet)

"The Song of the High Hills" (BBC Philharmonic & Chorus, Sir Charles Mackerras - Proms 2009)

"Songs of Sunset" (NOVA Chorus & Orchestra) (now offline)

"Songs of Farewell" (BBC Symphony and Chorus)

Piano Concerto in C minor (1906 Revised Version)
(Justin Bird, piano; Indiana University Ad Hoc Symphony Orchestra, Nick Hersh, conductor)

Violin Concerto
(Yuka Ishizuka, violin)

An excerpt of Delius' "Sleigh Ride" (Winter Night) was used in
the 2010 TV commercial for the Glade Winter Collection.
Watch the video

DELIUS: "BRIGG FAIR" - orchestra conducted by Jeffrey Tate on Italian TV:      
Download links:   Part 1      Part 2

BERLIN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA  conducted by Simon Rattle
performed "BRIGG FAIR" BY DELIUS
at the fabulous Waldbühne Open Air Stage (outside Berlin)
Download Link  (large file - 760 MB)


DELIUS: "BRIGG FAIR" - 4 hand piano arrangement (Duo-Art piano roll played by Percy Grainger and Ralph Leopold)
Watch the YouTube video clip

The Delius Channel has a number of videos with music by Delius and scenes from the Scarborough area

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2012: THE DELIUS SESQUICENTENNIAL YEAR!
Article by Lionel Carley about 2012 events
Delius Society 2012 placard
Delius cover article in Gramophone Magazine (February 2012)

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A NUMBER OF DELIUS WORKS WERE PERFORMED
DURING THE 2012 BBC PROMS CONCERTS!
Link to Proms Delius Page

LIST OF UPCOMING DELIUS EVENTS

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Click here for information on past Delius concerts

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DELIUS CD RELEASES

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"THE DELIUS COLLECTION"
(originally on Unicorn-Kachana)
was reissued on Heritage Records as a Box Set in July 2012!
Box Cover      Information Sheet

Click here for complete track list and ordering information

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Delius Two-Piano Arrangements - Volume 1 (SOMM 0112)
CD Cover     Simon Callaghan & Hiro Takenouchi
   
Dance Rhapsody No. 1 (arr. Percy Grainger)
Brigg Fair (arr. Philip Heseltine)
Poem of Life and Love (arr. Balfour Gardiner & Eric Fenby)
A Song of Summer (arr. Eric Fenby)
Koanga: La Calinda (arr. Joan Trimble)

Delius Two-Piano Arrangements - Volume 2 (SOMM 0129)
CD Cover    Simon Callaghan & Hiro Takenouchi

Paris (arr. Julius Buths)
Eventyr (arr. Benjamin Dale)
On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (arr. R. Schmidt-Wunsdorf)
Fantastic Dance (arr. Bartlett & Robinson)
Summer Night on the River (arr. Philip Heseltine)
Song of the High Hills (arr. Percy Grainger)

NOTE: for a future release (?)
Delius: Piano Concerto (arr. Julius Buths)

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THE DELIUS SONG PROJECT
The Complete Songs of Delius, recorded by Mark Stone, baritone

Volumes 1 and 2 are available now from Stone Records
"To Daffodils" video
Review of Volume 1

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Julian Lloyd-Webber: Evening Songs
(Delius & Ireland songs arranged for cello and piano)

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THE DELIUS 150th ANNIVERSARY EDITION BOX SET ON EMI
Presto Classical page

"Frederick Delius: Apostle of Nature"

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Visit Presto Classical for information on these and other Delius CD releases

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FILM PROJECT: "FREDERICK DELIUS IN FLORIDA"
Click here for information on this production!

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  The Delius Festivals in Jacksonville, Florida (1961 to 2004)

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"What's New"
A Chronological Listing of Additions to the Delius Site

News, Organizations and Events
 

• Delius-Related Organizations
• The Delius Society & The Delius Trust
  
• The Delius Society, Philadelphia Branch
• List of Delius Manuscripts Auctioned in May 1998
• Delius Festival in Denmark (June 1998)

Delius Fan Survey

• Read the responses received for the Delius Fan Survey

Reference Information

• Online Catalogue of the Works of Frederick Delius (Oxford University)
  

• A DELIUS DISCOGRAPHY - A Reference to Current and Deleted Recordings (compiled by Bill Thompson)

• Brief Biography (from the Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, 1964)
• Chronological List of Delius' Works (compiled by Jeff Gower as per Lionel Carley)
• A Catalogue of the Works of Frederick Delius (Robert Threlfall)
• Delius: The Collected Edition (Published in 33 Volumes with Supplements)
• Books about Delius and his music
• Delius: A Bibliography
• DELIUS SOCIETY JOURNALS - NOW ONLINE! (Thanks to David Tall)
• DELIUS SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
  
• Articles about Delius (from newspapers, journals and magazines)
  
• "Delius Connections" (little known ways that Delius has influenced well-known artists and programs)
• Delius on "DESERT ISLAND DISCS" (BBC Radio program) - Castaways who selected a Delius work
  
• Delius: Composer of the Week BBC Page (1999)
• Eric Fenby's memories of Delius, Grez-sur-Loing and the making of "SONG OF SUMMER" film
• "The Story Behind Delius' Final Works" (NY Times, May 30, 1982)
• "The Last Summer" - Article by David Howarth (1961)
• "Centennial: Frederick Delius" - Essay by Neville Cardus (1962)
  
• "The Dormant Masterworks of Frederick Delius" by Frank Corsaro
• Delius LP Review (1973) by A.D. Penchansky
• "The Delius Affair" (James Goodfriend review of "A Village Romeo and Juliet" - Stereo Review 1972)
  
• "His Country At Last Acclaims Delius" by Ernest Newman (NY Times Magazine 3-16-1930)
• Obituary of Delius by Bernard Van Dieren (Musical Times, July 1934)
• Leonard Bernstein Conducts Delius' "Paris" (Dec. 1943 program notes by L.B.)
  
• Don Gillespie's essay about an early (1885) song "Two Brown Eyes" that Delius wrote in Florida (includes hi-res JPG scans of song)
  
• American Guild of Organists feature on Delius' Houston connection (via Thomas F. Ward, Anunciation Church organist)
  
• Delius' A MASS OF LIFE: the 1972 Groves recording (liner notes and a review)
• Delius' REQUIEM (article by Dr. Lionel Carley)
  
• Quotations BY Delius
• Quotations ABOUT Delius
• Jacksonville Public Library Delius Collection
• The 1899 Concert
• The 1929 Delius Festival (WITH SCANS OF PROGRAMME FROM FIRST CONCERT)
• The 1946 Delius Festival (WITH SCANS OF HANDBILL ANNOUNCING PROGRAMMES)
• The 1962 Delius Centenary Festival in Bradford (WITH SCANS OF FESTIVAL PROGRAM)
• The 1985 Bradford Delius Festival (4 PAGE COLOR FLYER WITH PROGRAM LISTINGS)
  
• The Delius Festival in Jacksonville - 1998
• The Delius Festival in Jacksonville - 2004
• "Delius Inspired" Festival in Bradford - 2006 (produced by Tasmin Little)
  
• The KOANGA Page
• Songs of Sunset - Words by Ernest Dowson
• The 1929 Decca recording of "Sea Drift" (Article by Norman Gentieu)
• The Eric Fenby Page
• Delius and Duke Ellington
• Delius and Warlock's correspondence about pianolas (player pianos)
• Delius' last mountain journey in Norway
  
• Jacksonville University Collection of Deliana

• Mark Stoneman - "The Delius Festival of Jacksonville, Florida (1986)
  
• Dr. Andrew Joseph Boyle - "Frederick Delius: A Quest for Innocence" (1984) - COMPLETE TEXT (385 pages) - PDF file (12 MB)
  
• Excerpt discussing several early Delius works including HIAWATHA and RHAPSODIC VARIATIONS (pp. 21-30)
• Francis Wilcox Proctor - "The harmonic technique of Delius and its relation to his orchestration" (1940)
• Jonathan Daniel Strommen Campbell - "The Choral Music of Frederick Delius" (2015)
• Mary E. Greene - "Before the Champions: Frederick Delius' Florida Suite for Orchestra" (2011)
• Catherine Sarah Kirby - "'The Art-Twins of Our Timestretch': Percy Grainger, Frederick Delius and the 1914-1934 American 'Delius Campaign' (2015)
• Clive Ian Crichett - "Proportion and the Esoteric: The Music of Frederick Delius" (2017)
• Jillian Johnson - "Voodoo and Slave Culture in Frederick Delius' KOANGA" (2018)
• Donald Graham Caldwell - "The Choral Music of Frederick Delius" (1975) - Selected chapters
  
  • 00-Intro-01-Life-02-Texts.pdf
  • 03-Sea-Drift.pdf
  • 05-Songs-of-Sunset.pdf
  • 08-Songs-of-Farewell.pdf
  • 09-Appalachia.pdf
  • 10-A-Song-of-the-High-Hills.pdf
  • 11-Part-Songs.pdf
  • 12-Compositional-Techniques-13-Conclusion-Appendices.pdf
    

• Cover artwork (inspired by "In A Summer Garden")
  
• Part 1 of article
  
• Part 2 of article
  
• Portrait photo of Delius
• Photo of Solano Grove cabin (before restoration)
  
• Early photos of Delius and one of his Danville students
• College in Danville where Delius taught

• Essay on Delius' music by Dr. J. Marshall Bevil

• "Frederick Delius: Devotion, Collaboration and the Salvation of Music" by Emanuel E. Garcia, MD

• "The High Hills: Frederick Delius and the Secular Sublime" by Thomas F. Bertonneau, Ph.D. (from The Praesidium, published by The Center for Literate Values)
  

Sound Files
 

• DELIUS RADIO: MP3 files of rare recordings (check for updates!)
  
• Yu Nakajima's OUTSTANDING Delius MIDIs and MP3s - realistic orchestral sound!
• Delius MIDI Files (featuring recently revised versions for wavetable sound cards)
• Sound Clips from BBC Film "Song of Summer" in RealAudio
• Excerpt from Eric Fenby's music for "Jamaica Inn" in RealAudio
• Eric Fenby's "Rossini on Ilkla Moor" in RealAudio
• Live Recording of "The Walk to the Paradise Garden" in RealAudio
• A "Caribbean" Irmelin in RealAudio
• "Poem of Life and Love" Sound Files
• "HIAWATHA" Sound Files page
• Duke Ellington's "In a Blue Summer Garden" in RealAudio
• "Beecham on Delius" - RealAudio files of Beecham's comments on Delius' music
• Delius' A MASS OF LIFE (sung in English - 1966) - MP3 files
  

Picture Files

• Delius' Florida 1998
• Panoramic Views of Solano Grove - 1972 & 1998
• Pictures of Solano Grove & The Delius House - 1972
• Delius House 1972 (Flickr album)
• Solano Grove 1972 (Flickr album)
  
• A Delius Picture Gallery
• Delius' Home and Garden in Grez-sur-Loing, France: A Photographic Survey
• Delius' Home in Grez: FLOOR PLANS (approximated)
• Recent Color Pictures of Delius' Home in Grez-sur-Loing, France - Part 1
• Recent Color Pictures of Delius' Home in Grez-sur-Loing, France - Part 2
• The 2004 Delius Festival: Photos by Bill Thompson (a shutterfly.com album)
• The 2004 Delius Festival: Photos by Donald Ricketts (a shutterfly.com album)
• Photos of the gravesite of Thomas F. Ward in Houston, Texas (a shutterfly.com album)

• Delius Postage Stamp - "British Composers" series:

• First Day Cover, Bradford Festival 1985
• Benham Silk FDC, Bradford Festival 1985

• Delius Postage Stamp - "Britons of Distinction" series (2012):
• Overview of the series
  
• Delius stamp
• Entire set
  
• Segment with Delius stamp
  
• Packet of stamps
  
  
• Hugh Alderman's medallion from 1963 Jacksonville Delius Festival      Front     Back 
  
• DELIUS AUTOGRAPHS:
• Undated autograph
• Autographed notebook fragment
  
• 1907 musical quote from Appalachia
• 1910 postcard to Edwin Evans regarding Brigg Fair
• 1913 musical quote from Songs of Sunset
  
• 1934 letter to John Barbirolli
  

Recordings
 

• British Library Sound Archive Catalogue (contains information on both commercial and private recordings)
  
• DTR Music: Delius Organ Album & Piano Album
• Dutton Laboratories CD's (Restored Historic Recordings on CD)
• CD of Delius World Premieres from NAXOS!
• World Premiere CD Release of Delius' HIAWATHA
  
• Berkshire Record Outlet - search on "Delius" to find great prices on discontinued recordings

• Folktrax Records - Two releases include Percy Grainger's 1906 field recordings, including BRIGG FAIR:

• #135: "Unto Brigg Fair" (includes Joseph Taylor's original recordings, plus commentary by his family)
• #136: "The Seeds of Love" (includes comparative versions of Brigg Fair and other songs)

• Free PDF downloads of several Delius scores are available at IMSLP (International Music Score Library Project)
• Full score of A MASS OF LIFE (Google Books site) - LARGE PDF FILE (56 MB)
• Piano score of APPALACHIA (Google Books site) - PDF FILE (4 MB)
  
• Boosey and Hawkes Music Publishers
  
• The Collected Works of Frederick Delius (available from Boosey and Hawkes and others)

Artists performing Delius

• Mark Stone - The Delius Song Project:    Volume 1    Volume 2
  
• Tasmin Little - Violin Virtuoso and Delius researcher
• Julian Lloyd-Webber - Cellist
• David Lloyd-Jones - Conductor      
  
• Felix Slatkin - Conductor
• Myer Fredman - Conductor               
  
• Thomas Hampson - Baritone
• Sir Thomas Beecham - Conductor
  
• The Beecham Society
• Sir Charles Mackerras - Conductor           Interview
• Georg Tintner - Conductor          Tanya Tintner's book "Out of Time: The Vexed Life of Georg Tintner"
• Sir Charles Groves - Conductor
• Richard Hickox - Conductor
  
• Sir John Barbirolli - Conductor
• Norman Del Mar - Conductor
• Vernon Handley - Conductor
• Stanford Robinson - Conductor
• The Marian Anderson String Quartet
  

Links to Other Delius Sites

• The Delius Society/Delius Trust Web Site (England)
• Nishihara Satoshi's Delius Site (Japan)
• BBC Film researching legends about Delius' years in Florida: "The Lost Child"
• Jeff Gower's Delius Page (now archived by The Thompsonian Institution)
  

Other Links of Interest to Delians

• The Eric Fenby Page
• The Peter Warlock Page
• British Music Society
• Percy Grainger Page (including 1946 concert audio)
  
• The Grainger Museum (Melbourne, Australia)
• E. J. Moeran Site (The Worldwide Moeran Database) - archived at The Internet Archive
  
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold Site
• Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Site

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