The Delius Society I Journal Winter 1998, Number 124 The Delius Society (Registered Charily No. 298662) Full Membership and Institutions .C15 per year USA and Canada US$31 per year Africa, Australasia and Far East .Cl 8 per year President Felix Aprahamian, I Ion D Mus, I Ion FRCO Vice Preside11ts Roland Gibson MSc, PhD (Founder Member) Lionel Cilrley BA PhD Meredith Dilvics CBE, MA, B Mus, FRCM, Hon RAM Vernon I Iandlcy MA, FRCM, D Univ (Surrey) Richard Hickox FRCO (Cl IM) Rodney Meadows Rober l Thrclfo ll Cha in 11a11 Lyndon Jenkins Treasurer (to whom ch.ingcs of address :m<l membership 4ucrlcs should be directed) Derck Cox Mercers, 6 Mount Pleasant, Blockley, Clos CL56 9BU Tel: (01386) 700175 Secretary Anthony Lindsey 1 'lhe Pound, AldwickVillage, West Sussex P021 3SR Tel: (01243) 824964 Edito1 Roger Buckley 57A Wimpolc Street, London W1M 7DF (Mail should be marked 'The Dl•hus Snril'ty') '!Cl: (0171) 935 4241 Fax: (0171) 935 5429 email: RJBucklcy(iilaol.com Website: hllp://www.dclius.org uk email: dcliussocictyCa>tcsco.nel Chairman's Message........................................................................................... 5 Edilorial................................................................................................................ 6 ORIGINAL ARTICLES 'The Fenby Legacy' a Postscript, by Robert Thrclfoll... ... .. .. .. .. .. ..... .... ... .. .. .. ... 7 Solano Grove to World Golf Village, by C Jeff Driggers................................. 11 An English Odyssey, by Frank Lieber............................................................... 16 TI lE DEUUS TRUST (Purl 3): David Lloyd Jones........................................... 23 DELIUS SOCIETY MEETINGS Midlnnds Branch, 18 April 1998........................................................................ 26 Midlands Branch, 18October1997 and London, 23 April 1998.................... 27 Delius in the West Country, by Christopher Redwood................................... 28 London, 24 September 1998.............................................................................. 29 West of England Brnnch, 31 October 1998....................................................... 31 CONCERT AND FESTIVAL REVIEWS Julian Lloyd Webber al the I Ionilon Fcslival, 16 May 1998, by Ronald Prentice............................................................................................. 32 Tasmin Little and Piers Lane at the Wigmore Hall, 17 May 1998, by Jane Armour-Chelu....................................................................................... 33 Frederick Delius and Friends: A British-Danish Music Festival 18-20 June 1998, Aarhus and Palsgaard, Denmark I Ielen Faulkner................................................................................................... 35 Richard Kitching................................................................................................. 38 Three Choirs Festival, Gloucester, 15-22 August 1998 Lyndon Jenkins................................................................................................... 42 Peter Ratcliffe...................................................................................................... 44 Roger Buckley..................................................................................................... 46 Somerset Chamber Orcheslrn, Wells Cathedrnl, 29 August 1998, by Ronald Prentice............................................................................................. 48 RECORD REVIEWS Beecham Conducts Delius (The RPO Legacy, Vo! 2), by Richard Kitching... 50 The Paradise Garden', A Delius Organ Album, by Felix Aprahamian.. ....... 51 'Cello Recital by John Ehde, by Lyndon Jenkins.............................................. 53 BOOK REVIEW Frede1 ick Delius: Music, Arl and Lileralurc (Lionel Carley), by Roger Buckley................................................................................................ 55 OBITUARIES Rowena Fenby.................................................................................................... 63 Anno Merle d'Aubignc...................................................................................... 65 Aniory Lcggatt. ... .. .. ........ ... .. ... .. ........... ... .. ... .. ... ......... ... .. .. .. .. ..... .. .. .. .. ... 66 Christopher Cable.............................................................................................. 67 THE ERIC FENBY MEMORIAL PLAQUE.................................................. 68 THE 1998 ACM WEEKEND Report by 1bny Lindsey, Honorary Secretary................................................... 71 STOP PRESS!.................................................................................................... 73 MISCELLANY............................................................................. .. ... ................ 74 DELIUS RADIO LISTINGS....................... .................................................... 78 LETTER TO THE EDITOR............................................................................. 81 FORTHCOMING EVENTS........................................................................... 82 CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE-------- Eve1yone has been very saddened to learn of Lhe passing of Mis Rowena Fenby, which occurred in Scarborough on 2nd October. 'A lovely spir it, full of life yet so gentle, so thoughtful for everyone, and alwoys kindness and consideration ilself', were some of the expressions l used in speaking about her in <.1 letter of sympathy to the Fcnby family. I hope I found the words to express all your feelings. It was very sad that increasing ftailty meant that she was forced to miss the unveiling of the plaque commemorating our beloved founder Ptesic..lent (sec elsewhere in this fournaQ but we were particularly pleased that the new Society sponsored CD of Delius's music which we had inscribed lo him reached Scarborough in time to give her pleasure. Their duughtcr Ruth wrote: "Mum thanks you so much for the CD dedicated to dear Dad. Whal a lreasure. No words are truly adequate to express out <.1ppreciation of this kindness. We thank you all most warmly." So closes a chapter, in which we have counted it a privilege to have known two such wonde1ful people. The fulfilment of the'abiding wish for the continuation of the Society long after my death' of which Eric spoke in 1990 will be the best tribute we can pay them now. Lyndon Jenkins Eric and Rowena Fcnby at home in Scarborough (Plrc>lt>Xffl/•li R11tl1 li:nby) 5 EDITORIAL-------------- 1998 was a year of t1 iumph and loss. Delian interests were exceptionally well served by two foslivals, one of which unprecedented in its ingenuity and a wonderful example of Anglo-Danish collaboration - took place in Denmark. lWo contrasting repmts ilppear in this edition of the ]oumal. In Gloucester, at the Three Choirs Festival, the Society built a very successful AGM Weekend around some of the musical events of the first two days. We print reviews of the Festival programmes that featured the music of Delius, and a note on the ACM by its admirable organiser. Sadly, four people connected indirectly with Delius have passed away. Rowena, widow of Eric Fen by, mother of theit two children, and friend to so many of us, is the subjc.•ct both of the Chairman's Message and of an orntion written by her son. Madame Anna Merle D'Aubigne, who has died in Paris, was with her late husband the owner (f01 over sixty years) of the former home of Delius in Grez-sur Loing. Delius's great niece Amory Leggatt is remembered by her daughter. We also record the death (at far loo young an age) of Christopher Gable, who played the character of Eric Fen by in what many consider to have been director Ken Russell's best film. We pause in reflection and appreciation, but then turn our attention to the future, as we always must. No fewer than three programmes of Society meetings arc in progress, in London, the Midlands, and the West Country. Coming up soon, in Glasgow and Edinburgh, is this country's first ever staged production of The Magic Fountain. Details of Scottish Opera's initiative will be found under 'Forthcoming Events' at the end of this ]011rnnl. The Editor asks his correspondents kindly to note the new editorial address. 6 'The Fenby Legacy' - a Postscript Robert Threlfall It is to Dr David Tail's thoughtful study which appeared in The Delius Society Journal No 61(October1978), that the present notes refer; not to the later series of recordings for which the same title was appropriately borrowed. When preparing my Catalogue of the Co111positio11s of Frederick Delius, published in 1977, several sessions with Eric Fenby helped me to fill out the somewhat sparse details given in his Delius As I Knew I Jim regarding the slate of incompJetion at which drafts or sketches for the works in question were taken up. David Tail's subsequent research confronted Dr Fcnby with the relevant final printed scores and, if not at pistol-point al least pointing a live Lape-recorder, requested him to indicate those junctures therein where work had been resumed with his assistance. The only reason lo hail the resulting absorbing survey as a little less than definitive is that, at that time, the survival of Delius's original sketches was in question. They were not in the Trust's Archive, Dr Penby had no knowledge of their whereabouts and it was (perhaps too readily) assumed that Jelka Delius had disposed of them - and, after the passage of half a century, the memory of the less than musicologicruly inclined Eric Fenby could reasonably be uncertain