The Delius Society Journal Autumn 2012, Number 152 The Delius Society (Registered Charity No. 298662) President Lionel Carley BA PhD Vice Presidents Roger Buckley Sir Andrew Davis CBE Sir Mark Elder CBE Bo Holten RaD Lyndon Jenkins RaD Richard Kitching Piers Lane BMus Hon FRAM ARCM LMusA David Lloyd-Jones BA Hon DMus FGSM Julian Lloyd Webber FRCM John McCabe CBE, Hon DMus Anthony Payne Robert Threlfall Website: http://www.delius.org.uk ISSN-0306-0373 1 DSJ 152 Autumn 2012.indd 1 29/10/2012 10:45 Chairman Martin Lee-Browne CBE Chester House, Fairford Gloucestershire GL7 4AD Email: Chairman@The DeliusSociety.org.uk Treasurer and Membership Secretary Peter Watts c/o Bourner Bullock – Chartered Accountants Sovereign House 212-224 Shaftesbury Avenue London WC2 8HQ Email: [email protected] Secretary Lesley Buckley c/o Crosland Communications Ltd The Railway Station Newmarket CB8 9WT Tel: 07941 188617 Email: [email protected] Journal Editor Paul Chennell 19 Moriatry Close Holloway, London N7 0EF Tel: 020 7700 0646 Email: [email protected] Front cover: The Cow and Calf rocks, a favourite place for Delius on Ilkley Moore Back cover: Advertisement for the concert at the Royal Festival Hall on 29th January 1962 The Editor has tried in good faith to contact the holders of the copyright in all material used in this Journal (other than holders of it for material which has been specifically provided by agreement with the Editor), and to obtain their permission to reproduce it. Sometimes, however, he has received no reply. Any breaches of copyright are unintentional and regretted. 2 DSJ 152 Autumn 2012.indd 2 29/10/2012 10:45 The British Library, the venue for Delius in 2012: An International Celebration 3 DSJ 152 Autumn 2012.indd 3 29/10/2012 10:45 CONTENTS CHAIRMAN’S NOTES................................................................................... 7 EDITORIAL...................................................................................................... 8 THE DELIUS SOCIETY AGM 2012…………………………….................. 10 2012 UPDATE................................................................................................... 12 DELIUS TODAY A Conversation with Sir Mark Elder by Paul Chennell................................................................................................ 14 A NOTE ON THE ORIGINS OF CARL DEICHMANN, DELIUS’S VIOLIN TEACHER by Mary Kelman Harrison ................................................................................ 25 ON HEARING THE FIRST CUCKOO IN SPRING by Andrew Mitchell........................................................................................... 32 DELIUS FOR THE YOUNG! by Stephen Threlfall........................................................................................... 38 THE DELIUS INTERNATIONAL COMPOSITION PRIZE...................... 41 IS APPALACHIA THE OLD INDIAN NAME FOR NORTH AMERICA? THE QUESTION REVISITED. by Brick Autry and David J. Eccott................................................................... 43 NEWS FROM MEMBER SOCIETIES by Michael Green............................................................................................... 49 SONG OF SUMMER by Cesare Marinacci........................................................................................... 52 100 YEARS AGO by Paul Chennell................................................................................................ 54 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA AND THE MUSIC OF DELIUS by Stewart Winstanley....................................................................................... 56 4 DSJ 152 Autumn 2012.indd 4 29/10/2012 10:45 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA Roy Henderson in conversation......................................................................... 61 REMEMBERING ERIC FENBY..................................................................... 73 LETTERS Tony Noakes.................................................................................................... 91 Tony Augarde.................................................................................................. 92 THE FIRST DELIUS FESTIVAL IN NORWAY by Andrew J. Boyle............................................................................................ 93 AN INTERVIEW WITH MARK WHITMIRE by Michael Ridderbusch................................................................................... 96 DELIUS by Paul Carpenter.............................................................................................. 98 CD REVIEWS: Frederick Delius English Masterworks 99 Delius And His Circle 101 Evening Songs 102 Delius: Four Part Songs 104 Frederick Delius Orchestral Music Arranged For Two Pianos Volume 1 105 Sir John Barbirolli, Boston Concerts 107 Sir John Barbirolli Delius: Studio And Live Performances 107 A Mass of Life 111 CONCERT AND OPERA REVIEWS Romance 114 Caprice and Elegy 114 Cello Sonata 114 String Quartet 115 Sea Drift 116 Songs of Sunset 118 Brigg Fair 119 Piano Concerto 120 Fennimore and Gerda 120 Paris: The song of a great city 122 Proms Round-up 124 A Mass of Life 128 5 DSJ 152 Autumn 2012.indd 5 29/10/2012 10:45 TELEVISION REVIEW Delius: Composer, Lover, Enigma 130 EXHIBITION REVIEW Ida Gerhardi 134 DELIUS SOCIETY MEETINGS 21st February 2012.......................................................................................... 136 21st March 2012.............................................................................................. 142 Philadelphia Branch Report.......................................................................... 145 MISCELLANY................................................................................................. 147 EVENTS 2012-13............................................................................................. 158 6 DSJ 152 Autumn 2012.indd 6 29/10/2012 10:45 CHAIRMAN’S NOTES I have found the critics so almost uniformly damning, and in many cases nearly vitriolic, in their comments on the quality of Delius’s music performed at the Proms – Sea Drift, Cynara, Paris, Eventyr and even the Violin Concerto (I write before the Last Night and Songs of Farewell) – and the Edinburgh A Mass of Life – that I have begun to wonder whether those of us who love it are somewhat (or very) odd or worse. We all accept, I think, that, apart from perhaps his half a dozen or so finest works, Delius was probably a member of the Third XI (or Hall of Fame, as some would call it) of music – on par, perhaps, with (but not, of course, in any way like) Rachmaninoff, Ravel or Prokofiev – but the majority of the reports I have seen imply that he played for the Fourth or even Fifth XIs, never at mid-on but just dreaming away in the outfield. I have often thought of launching into print to challenge those views, but each time realised (or was told), before it was too late, that it would be very unlikely to do our cause any good. People who like Delius’s music will have ‘noted and passed on’, and those who don’t will have had their prejudices confirmed. The chances of persuading anyone to explore it through a concert notice must be extremely small, and there is nothing like live performances for converting the ‘Dislikers’ or the ‘Not interesteds’. Hopefully, at least a modest number of the 4000–5000 members of the Proms audiences on the nights in question might have been sufficiently interested to listen again or try a little more. I continue, however, to be delighted at the number of performances being given all over the UK and Ireland with a Delius work in the programme, and particularly with those by pro-am or small professional orchestras – who have often been very adventurous in their choice of works. Having talked quite often to players during their concert intervals, contrary to received wisdom, they seem actually to have enjoyed playing it – and that is a modestly hopeful sign for the future. The anniversary year is finishing with a bang – our seminar at The British Library, the Ealing Festival, the long weekend at Chetham’s and the Wexford Festival – and I don’t think that anyone can say that the musical world has ignored it – even if the critics may have thought it a waste of time! Martin Lee-Browne 7 DSJ 152 Autumn 2012.indd 7 29/10/2012 10:45 EDITORIAL As this special year draws towards its final weeks, we have enjoyed a wonderful period of live performances of music by Delius, at the Proms; in Edinburgh and from orchestras and soloists throughout the country. In the autumn and winter we can look forward to the exciting Study Weekend at The British Library; The Ealing Autumn Festival; a fine-sounding concert performance of A Village Romeo and Juliet at The Queen Elizabeth Hall, in the more than competent hands of Ronald Corp and a full production of this same opera at Wexford in Ireland. We must also not forget all the concerts and events at Chetham’s in Manchester and Bradford in October. What strikes me again and again is the number of people who attend concerts where music by Delius is performed and who clearly enjoy it. This only underlines once again that people will come to live performances of music by Delius especially when it is sensitively programmed with other music from all parts of the world. Although in the past I have been critical of the BBC regarding the lack of Delius’s music in Proms concerts, this year the BBC must be warmly congratulated for its coverage of the anniversary in the 2012 Proms. Critics have been hostile to several performances so far, but yet the public still attends and enjoys