Frederick Delius rejected a career in the family business to become a composer, studying at the Leipzig Conservatoire * Early musical influences included Wagner, Chopin and Grieg * Settling in Paris in 1888 his circle included Gauguin, Strindberg and Munch * Pantheistic love of nature inspired by youthful sojourn in Florida and engagement with Scandinavian culture * Although he fostered ambitions as a stage composer, he is best remembered for his sensuous orchestral idylls * Rhapsodic style blends Impressionism and Romanticism, employing expressive harmonies and rich orchestration * From 1907 works increasingly championed by Sir Thomas Beecham, helping to establish him as a leading British composer between the wars * Blind and crippled in his later years, a series of important works were realised with assistance from his amanuensis Eric Fenby
Works by Frederick Delius include: Appalachia (1898-1903) for baritone, chorus and orchestra A Village Romeo and Juliet (1900-01) Lyric drama in six scenes Sea Drift (1903-04) for baritone, chorus and orchestra A Mass of Life (1904-05) for SATB soloists, chorus and orchestra
Looking Ahead: 150th anniversary of birth celebrated in 2012
"...I believe myself in no doctrine whatever - and in nothing but in Nature and in the great forces of Nature..." — Frederick Delius
Britten's pacifist masterwork, combining war poetry by Wilfred Owen with the Latin Requiem Mass, is included in the Masterworks Library of full scores, ideal for conductors, students and music lovers.
