The Delius Society Journal Spring 2014, Number 155 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 Piers Lane AO, Hon DMus David Lloyd-Jones BA, FGSM, Hon DMus Julian Lloyd Webber FRCM Anthony Payne Robert Threlfall Website: delius.org.uk ISSN-0306-0373 THE DELIUS SOCIETY Chairman Martin Lee-Browne CBE Chester House, Fairford GL7 4AD Email: [email protected] Treasurer Peter Watts c/o Bourner Bullock Chartered Accountants Sovereign House, 212-224 Shaftesbury Avenue London WC2H 8HQ Email: [email protected] Membership Secretary Paul Chennell 19 Moriatry Close, London N7 0EF Email: [email protected] Journal Editor Katharine Richman 15 Oldcorne Hollow, Yateley GU46 6FL Tel: 01252 861841 Email: [email protected] Front cover: The Deliuses in their garden at Grez-sur-Loing, 1916 Photo: Marie Clews. Coll. Delius Trust Back cover: The garden at Grez, Autumn 2013 Photo: Jean Merle d'Aubigné 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. Any breaches of copyright are unintentional and regretted. CONTENTS CHAIRMAN’S NOTES ........................................................................................5 EDITORIAL...........................................................................................................7 THE DELIUSES’ WAR 1914-1918 ......................................................................8 The Deliuses’ War ............................................................................................8 North Country Sketches (1913-14) ...............................................................27 Violin Sonata No 1 (1914) ..............................................................................29 Double Concerto (1915) .................................................................................31 Requiem (1913-1916) – a work fit for heroes? .............................................36 Cello Sonata (1916) .........................................................................................40 String Quartet (1916-17) ................................................................................42 Eventyr (1917) .................................................................................................45 A Song before Sunrise (1918) ........................................................................47 ANTHONY COLLINS AND HIS LEGACY OF DELIUS RECORDINGS ..51 DELIUS AND ALBERT COATES ....................................................................62 LEIPZIG THEN AND NOW .............................................................................66 OBITUARIES ......................................................................................................69 Richard Kitching.............................................................................................69 Jeff Driggers ....................................................................................................78 Leslie Head ......................................................................................................82 BOOK REVIEWS ................................................................................................86 The Aesthetic Life of Cyril Scott ...................................................................86 Hamilton Harty: Musical Polymath ...........................................................91 Frederick Delius, der vergessene Kosmopolit. Die Rezeption des englischen Komponisten im deutschsprachigen Kulturraum .................94 CD REVIEWS ......................................................................................................97 Delius in Norway ...........................................................................................97 Hallé: Delius and Holst ................................................................................99 Twentieth-century Sonatas for Cello and Piano ...................................... 102 Delius: Orchestral music arranged for two pianos (Vol 2) .................... 104 The Lark Ascending ..................................................................................... 108 CONCERT REVIEWS ...................................................................................... 111 The Walk to the Paradise Garden .............................................................. 111 The Barnard Trio .......................................................................................... 112 DSJ 155 3 Midori Komachi recital in Tokyo .............................................................. 113 DELIUS SOCIETY MEETINGS ...................................................................... 116 The Gardens of Delius’s Double Concerto ............................................... 116 ‘Paris: The Song of a Great City’ – Uncovering some musical secrets . 118 MEMBER SOCIETIES ..................................................................................... 127 Reciprocal Membership .............................................................................. 127 Contact Details ............................................................................................. 127 MISCELLANY ................................................................................................. 128 A Village Romeo and Juliet in Frankfurt 2014 ......................................... 128 A Village Romeo and Juliet in Wexford 2012 .......................................... 128 Ann Sothern ................................................................................................. 129 The Florida Suite DVD ................................................................................ 129 Fact or Fiction? ............................................................................................. 130 A case of mistaken identity ........................................................................ 131 Rough guide to classical music .................................................................. 131 Colours of the Heart .................................................................................... 132 Merchandise ................................................................................................. 132 Delius on US Radio ..................................................................................... 133 1934 Year of Loss – Elgar, Delius and Holst ............................................ 133 EVENTS ............................................................................................................ 134 Delius Society London Branch ................................................................... 134 Other Events ................................................................................................. 135 4 DSJ 155 CHAIRMAN’S NOTES The way in which we celebrated the 150th anniversary of Delius’s birth in 2012 seems to have been greatly appreciated by our Members and generally among those involved in the English musical scene. As Members are already aware, the cost was considerable – but back in 2009, when we started to plan it, the Committee was unanimous in believing that, as few of the present Members were likely to be around to celebrate the 200th, it was appropriate to spend a considerable proportion of our reserves (about half of which represented the bequest from Rodney Meadows in 2002) on the project. One of the major advantages of doing that was that it encouraged the Trust to make us an extremely generous grant. However, the net result is that we are not now as financially secure as we were, and we must take steps to ensure that we can still satisfy our Members’ needs, and continue to press the Delian cause, on slighter resources. At this point, I would like to record the Society’s very grateful thanks for a bequest from Ian McPherson. Ian was a long-standing Member, and rarely missed a London Branch meeting – latterly despite poor health. He was a charming, gentle person who really loved Delius's music, and he is much missed. His obituary appeared in DSJ 150 (Autumn 2011). For a good many years now, Members’ subscriptions have been sufficient to fund the production of the Journal, Newsletter and the associated heavy postage costs. The other expenses of running the Society – for example, the hire of the room at the New Cavendish Club and the Steinway Hall for London Branch meetings, the Committee’s expenses, the annual audit charge and The Delius Prize – have swallowed up our other, much more modest, income such as the profit on the sale of CDs, the Gift Aid tax claim, donations and (until 2010) relatively good interest from our bank, and the balance of the Society’s expenditure has been met from our reserves. We must accordingly tighten the Society’s belt, and try to live within our income. Happily the Trust has agreed to increase its annual grant to us by £2,500 – which, among other things, will enable us to retain the services of Karen Fletcher, who made such a fantastic behind-the-scenes contribution to 2012 – and Members will be relieved to know that we are not contemplating an increase in the subscription. It does not, however, seem unreasonable to invite those who take part in our activities – such as DSJ 155 5 The Delius Prize and the Annual