Delius - composer of the week 9.04.12

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

A real must for me. Having lived in the Scarborough area for 26 years and having repeatedly kicked myself for passing up the opportunity of meeting Eric Fenby (I knew his sister) I have since become more familiar with Delius's music, changing my former dismissive opinion of it.

[Brassbandmaestro]

Well done for doing that EA! A great oppurtunity missed there, for which i would give my eye's teeth for!!

I saw this and thought, goodness! R3 doing something worthwile!!

[pilamenon]

A real must for me. Having lived in the Scarborough area for 26 years and having repeatedly kicked myself for passing up the opportunity of meeting Eric Fenby (I knew his sister) I have since become more familiar with Delius's music, changing my former dismissive opinion of it.

A must for me, too. The previous COTW on Delius was movingly done by Donald McLeod, but this looks like new material. Tasmin Little's recordings of the violin sonatas are amongst my favourite recordings, so am looking forward to hearing her in the concerto.

[Brassbandmaestro]

I havn't looked at the schedule, but TLs recordings of Delius are always worth a listen!!

[Roehre]

I havn't looked at the schedule, but TLs recordings of Delius are always worth a listen!!

A pity they weren't bothered yet to publish the playlists properly

[Pabmusic]

I'm pleased. I've never taken to Delius - why, I don't know, because he superficially 'ticks all the boxes'. Appalachia is probably my favourite, but even there I find myself tiring (for which read 'getting bored') as often as not. I quite accept that it's my problem, not Delius's, so I shall listen each day in the hope that I can expand my mental repertoire.

Incidentally, the only time I had a musical mutiny was with an (amateur) orchestra who had the First Cuckoo on their stands. The strings just refused to play it. Shameful - I suspect they detected my ambivalence.

[waldhorn]

Tasmin Little's recordings of the violin sonatas are amongst my favourite recordings, so am looking forward to hearing her in the concerto.

Hmmm... if you can put up with the sickly wobble that passes for a vibrato

[Serial_Apologist]

Have to say the Mackerras/WNOO version of "First Cuckoo" was bar far the slowest I have ever heard; imv this is a piece that suffers from being dawdled.

Also I've never quite understood those who, like today's star presenters, argue that Delius was in no way an English composer in manner. I've always felt that Delius's rude rebuffal of the English music tag as applied to himself was a rhetorical determination not to be typecast. While it is of course true that Delius spent most of his adult life abroad, apart from Vaughan Williams and Holst, virtually all the English composers following immediately in his wake, who are described as being typically English in their idioms, came heavily under the spell of his most prominent characteristic, his harmony, along with his way of setting English folk materials.

S-A

[Flosshilde]

Incidentally, the only time I had a musical mutiny was with an (amateur) orchestra who had the First Cuckoo on their stands. The strings just refused to play it. Shameful - I suspect they detected my ambivalence.

Did they play something else while the rest of the orchestra played 'First cuckoo'?

[Pabmusic]

Did they play something else while the rest of the orchestra played 'First cuckoo'?

That could have worked, couldn't it, in the right programme? No, it happened at rehearsal