The Delius Society Journal Spring 2009, Number 145 The Delius Society (Registered Charity No. 298662) President Lionel Carley, BA PhD Vice Presidents Sir Andrew Davis Sir Mark Elder 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 Sir Charles Mackerras, CH, AC, CBE Robert Threlfall Website: http://www.delius.org.uk ISSN-0306-0373 1 Chairman Martin Lee-Browne, CBE Chester House, Fairford, Gloucestershire GL7 4AD Treasurer and Membership Secretary Stewart Winstanley Windmill Ridge, 82 Highgate Road, Walsall, WS1 3JA Tel: 01922 633115 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 Departure of Hiawatha Albert Bierstadt © The Longfellow National Historic Site, USA. Back cover: A late portrait of Jelka Delius © The Delius Trust 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 Vernon Handley and Lewis Foreman © Lewis Foreman 3 CONTENTS CHAIRMAN’S NOTES.................................................................................... 6 EDITORIAL....................................................................................................... 8 ROGER BUCKLEY, By Michael Green............................................................. 9 THE DELIUS PRIZE 2008. By Martin Lee-Browne......................................... 13 OBITUARIES Vernon Handley................................................................................................. 16 Richard Hickox................................................................................................... 24 Norman Cusack................................................................................................. 28 Henry Giles........................................................................................................ 28 Joan White......................................................................................................... 29 VERNON HANDLEY AND DELIUS; A Discographical Appreciation By Robert Matthew-Walker................................................................................ 30 RICHARD HICKOX; An appreciation by Martin Lee-Browne............................................................................................. 35 SONGS OF FAREWELL, An Analysis By By Paul Guinnery................................................................................................ 38 DELIUS AND VAN DIEREN By Richard Packer............................................. 47 THE DELIUS ARTS AND CULTURAL CENTRE, By Clare Lamkin................................................................................................. 68 MUSIC SOCIETIES – RECIPROCAL MEMBERSHIP................................... 76 NEWS FROM MEMBER SOCIETIES By Michael Green................................ 77 100 YEARS AGO................................................................................................ 79 TWO PIECES FOR ORCHESTRA – By Tony Summers................................................................................................ 80 DELIUS RETURNS TO WATFORD, Session Report by Lewis Foreman..................................................................... 83 A VISIT TO GREZ SUR LOING 1962 By Don Gillespie.................................. 88 THE MEDITATION OF OLD TIMES RESUMED By John White..................................................................................................... 92 4 MY 1972 VISIT TO JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA By Bill Thompson................................................................................................ 95 SOME DELIUS MOMENTS By David Laing................................................................................................... 98 THE AGM AND DELIUS PRIZE Saturday 20th June 2009.................................................................................. 101 LETTERS, Tony Summers, Norman Jones, Bill Marsh....................................... 102 BOOK REVIEW Thomas Beecham An Obsession With Music By John Lucas......................... 105 Frederick Delius. Musik – Konzepte, Vol.141/142 by Agnes Weiske................................................................................................ 107 CONCERTS Bath 21st September......................................................................................... 110 Sevenoaks 22nd November............................................................................. 111 Guildford November 29................................................................................... 113 THE FEDERATION OF RECORDED MUSIC SOCIETIES LTD AGM By Anthony Lindsey............................................................................................ 115 DELIUS SOCIETY BRANCH MEETINGS Philadelphia Branch October 12th 2008 by Bill Marsh................................. 117 London 25th November By Roger Buckley...................................................... 117 Midlands Branch 30th November, By E. E. Rowe........................................... 120 London January 21st By Martin Clark............................................................. 123 Philadelphia Branch 31st January 2009 by Bill Marsh.................................... 126 MISCELLANY................................................................................................... 127 EVENTS 2008-2009.......................................................................................... 133 5 CHAIRMAN’S NOTES It’s a curious thought for me that, by the time you see this, it will have been closely scrutinised by the Editor, and probably amended in red ………! Perhaps the most important piece of news for our Members is that a new Index, covering DSJs 101 to 144, will be winging its way to them soon, probably around Easter, free of charge as a gift from the Society. It has been prepared by Peter Barber, a retired schoolmaster living in Oxfordshire – who, by one of those curious coincidences, happens to be, as we say in the family, one of my co-in-laws. I have no doubt that everyone will approve of it; the layout follows that of Stephen Lloyd’s magnum opus covering the first 100 issues, and it will be a marvellous help for both ‘ordinary’ Members and scholars alike. Together with David Tall’s magnificent work – free of charge to the Society – in putting every issue since No 1 on to the Delius website, our research resource so far as the Journal is concerned will be impossible to better! The arrangements for the Society’s Annual General Meeting will be changed this year. In the past, of course, it has traditionally been held in the summer, either as a ‘stand-alone’ event (as in London in 2005 and in Cambridge last year) or at one of the Festivals (Bradford in 2006 and Cheltenham in 2007). The Committee felt that the opportunity to hear A Mass of Life in Leeds was too good to be missed, but appreciated that sufficient numbers were unlikely to go for the weekend to make it sensible to hold this year’s AGM there. As a separate matter, the Committee has felt for some while that it would be appropriate to have a change of venue for The Delius Prize – and as the result of some skilful negotiations by my predecessor, it will be competed for at the long-established and highly regarded Birmingham Conservatoire of Music in the afternoon of Saturday 20 June. The AGM will be held in the Conservatoire during the second half of the morning, and will be followed by a lunch there before the Prize in the afternoon. Full details of the arrangements for the day will be sent to all Members shortly. The Committee hopes, of course, that the move to the Midlands will enable a number of Members who have not been able to attend the Prize before to do so, but without making it too difficult for London-based ones to go too. As is the case with almost every ‘composer society’ in the country, our numbers are slowly dropping – for a variety of reasons, we lost 17 members during 2008. As societies go, however, I have the feeling that we are one of the leaders – but to retain that position we simply must at least replace those whom we have lost, and hopefully bring in new Members – and especially any who are sufficiently interested in FD’s music and the all-important 6 background to it that they might be willing to write the occasional article for the Journal, give talks at Branch Meetings and to their local music societies, and do some research. It is remarkable that, even after 144 issues of the Journal, there still seems to be a wealth of subjects to consider – without our becoming a collection of ‘Delian-nerds’ or ‘anoraks’! The recruiting of new Members is critical for the Society – and I strongly urge every one to try and persuade a friend or acquaintance to join us. Those who do will be rewarded with a small thank-you gift. One of our quite indefatigable Members is Bill Thompson in far-away Texas. At the end of last year he asked Robert Threlfall to autograph two items for him – a copy of his Collected