Delius’s 150th anniversary.

[gurnemanz]

The Ken Russell film reminded me how relatively little of his output I was familiar with and nudged me towards leaping in with the EMI box which arrived today. 18 well-packed CDs should keep me busy for a while. Details here:

http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product...es/0841752.htm

...but I paid only £30.99 at Amazon.

[jayne lee wilson]

That EMI box does look an excellent buy (remasters too!), but funds are scarce so I'll quarry out my previous separate purchases. Special favourites are Florida Suite/North Country Sketches with Handley/Ulster Orchestra, and Hickox's gorgeous Sea Drift with Terfel/BSO. I'll have to try and tackle Hickox's Mass of Life again (deep breath...). Mackerras has a great Paris with my beloved RLPO too. Not to mention Sir Thomas! It is a rich catalogue.

Among the lesser known, I like Fenby's arrangement of Late Swallows which Barbirolli set down with the Halle.

English music does keep producing these great originals - from Holst and Delius through to Tippett, Birtwistle and Max Davies. And all of them have landscape at or near the heart of their inspiration, often in the very titles. Pastoral perhaps - but a Haunted Pastoral, as in VW's 3rd. Latterly we have David Matthews with A Vision and a Journey, and The Music of Dawn...

[Serial_Apologist]

all of them have landscape at or near the heart of their inspiration, often in the very titles. Pastoral perhaps - but a Haunted Pastoral, as in VW's 3rd. Latterly we have David Matthews with A Vision and a Journey, and The Music of Dawn...

I would add Anthony Payne to that list, jayne, as very much in the landscape-inspired traditions of British, or at any rate, English music.

[cloughie]

I would add Anthony Payne to that list, jayne, as very much in the landscape-inspired traditions of British, or at any rate, English music.

Isn't he the one who wrote a symphony based on ideas from Elgar?

[Brassbandmaestro]

Isn't he the one who wrote a symphony based on ideas from Elgar?

Yes, cloughie, that'sthe one!

Is De3lius, like Tippett, out of fashion, or is British Music out of fashion, as far as Radio 3 is concerned?

[cloughie]

Yes, cloughie, that'sthe one!

Is Delius, like Tippett, out of fashion, or is British Music out of fashion, as far as Radio 3 is concerned?

Unfortunately, replaced by phone-ins, celebrities, wittering and baroque concertos.

[Don Petter]

Since seeing the Ken Russell Delius film i've had FD's music in my mind and just found (on Spotify) the original Beecham recordings of Brigg Fair, On Cooking the First Hero and The Walk to the Paradise Garden - such eloquent and inspired playing, the years just drop away. Lets hope the Proms include a good selection of FD's music in performances of comparable quality.

I notice that in the February Gramophone anniversary article about Delius none of the twenty suggested CDs are by Beecham! While this suggests that good interpretations abound in the later generations of conductors, it does seem a strange omission. Probably says more about the current magazine than any dimming of his pioneering work and matchless artistry.

[waldhorn]

I too noticed that.
I simply assumed that there was a brief to exclude Beecham ( 'too old-fashioned') in favour of modern, 'up-to-date sound' CDs. VERY wrong-headed IMV.
Many of those justifiably legendary Beecham recordings have never been equalled, let alone surpassed.

[Maclintick]

Yes, cloughie, that'sthe one!

Is De3lius, like Tippett, out of fashion, or is British Music out of fashion, as far as Radio 3 is concerned?

It's a strange omission for Radio 3 to have ignored the Delius 150th, with the single exception of the estimable Martin Handley, whose unseasonal introduction of the cuckoo to his Sunday morning programme remains the only offering in this anniversary week. What makes it more puzzling is that the BBC as an organisation suffers from chronic anniversary-itis, so I can only assume that they think poor old Fred D has had his day, along with most of the conductors who championed his works. Does anyone know if there were any celebrations in Bradford this week ?

[Chris Newman]

Many of Tommy's wonderful earlier recordings have been cleaned up on issued on Naxos. Some tracks sound as new as fresh bread when you tap its bottom straight from the oven and surprise the ear when you see that they were indeed recorded in the 1920s. Of course some of the Naxos recordings are from the 50s.