Winter 1986, Number 92 The Delius Society Journal The Delius Society Journal Winter 1987, Number 92 The Delius Society Full Membership £8.00 per year Students £5.00 Subscription to Libraries (Journal only) £6.00 per year USA and Canada US $17.00 year President Eric Fenby OBE, Hon DMus, Hon DLitt, Hon RAM, FRCM, Hon FfCL Vice Presidents Felix Aprahamian Hon RCO Roland Gibson MSc, PhD (Founder Member) Sir Charles Groves CBE Meredith DaviesCBE, MA, BMus, FRCM, Hon RAM Norman Del Mar CBE, Hon DMus Vernon Handley MA, FRCM,D Univ (Surrey) Chairman RB Meadows 5 Westbourne House, Mount Park Road, Harrow, Middlesex Treasurer Peter Lyons 160 Wishing Tree Road, St. Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex Secretary Miss Diane Eastwood 28 Emscote Street South, BelllIall, Halifax, Yorkshire Tel: (0422) Editor Stephen Lloyd 85a Farley Hill, Luton, Bedfordshire LU15EG Tel: Luton (0582) 20075 2 CONTENTS Thus Spake Zarathustra: Roy Henderson in conversation 3 Roy Henderson’s Delius: a survey of outstanding performances 12 Forthcoming Events 32 Roy Henderson as Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, Glyndebourne 1936 Additional copies of this issue £1.50 each, inclusive of postage ISSN-0306-0373 3 THUSSPAKEZARATHUSTRATHUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA... Roy Henderson in conversation On 18 August 1986 the Editor talked with the distinguished baritone Roy Henderson at his home in London. The following is an edited transcript of that conversation. From 1925 until 1944 Mr Henderson sang the part of Zarathustra in all British performances of A Mass of Life. Born in Edinburgh in 1899, he studied at the RAM from where he leapt to fame in the 1925lV25 Mass under Klenau, and within aayearyear Musical 'Is Opi';'ionOpinion was asking: 'Is he the long looked-for soloist for Delius's Sea Drift?'Drift?'TheThe conversation ranged over many aspects of an outstanding career, but it began with that notable debutd€but inin1925.1925. Can we start at the very beginning when you sang the part of Zarathustra in A 1 Mass of Life at a Royal Philharmonic Society concert in April 192519251,, with Paul Klenau conducting? Were you still a student? Yes. They say I was 24,24,butbut I was 25.25.I'dI'd won some prizes at the Royal Academy and two members of the Philharmonic committee had adjudicated a couple of them. The trouble was the baritone [Percy Hemin~]Heming2] cried off about a month before the concert. Unfortunately all the well-known baritones couldn't do the rehearsals or the concert. Nobody was available, and they were considering sending to America for a replacement when I think probably Percy Pitt said, 'There's 'There's a young baritone at the Academy I gave a prizepize to a month or so ago .... .'-'- and they risked it. I got a telegram from John Tillett (I was singing in Manchester at the time) asking me if I would sing this part for the noble fee of 10 guineas! Fortunately 1I was able to find a copy in the Manchester library and 1I looked through it and sent a wire (six pence in those days) acceptingacceptirtg the engagement. I took the copy out of the library and lived with it for the three-and­three-and- a-half weeks I had left. 1I was singing in a number of concerts during that period so I hadn't got all the time to study it. I took it to bed with me (I was unmarried at the time!) and 1I used to go to sleep looking at it. To me it was quite modemmodern music for its d:J.y.day. I'd never known any Delius before except for the odd song, but 1I was very lucky with Paul Klenau,3 the conductor, who was exceedingly helpful. He took me through the part. We had perhaps three or four rehearsals with piano and he taught me a good deal about the work. When it came to two days before the concert and we rehearsed for the first time with the orchestra,orchcstra,I 1found 1I could sing it without needing the score. I'd always been taught by my professor, Thomas Meux, never to look at the book, always to learn everything from memory. 1I still believe that's the only thing to do. I don't think you know a work unless you can put the book down. Anyway, when it came to the concert 1I put the book down, thinking nothing of it. As a young man you don't have the nerves you have when you are 40. It was only in the middle of the first solo that I felt a tiny bit of nerves, an anxiety. Fortunately I knew it so well that 1I could go on; just for about six bars I felt very awkward. After that I had no trouble whatsoever; I'd finished with nerves and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. 29 ocroBEROCTOBER 1934 ttA Delius's "A Mass ..A"A MASSOF LIFB''LIFE" DELIUS TRIBUTE of Life" BY B.B.C. IN LONDON - AN ADMIRABLE BEI]OIIA^\TnE]~CIIA31 CONDUCTS PERFORMANCE OVATIONFOR MADAIVTEMADAME .UASTDRPIBCE~IASTERPIECE DBLIUSDELIUS Sir T. Beecham's FrcnrFrom cer Music Critic OV.\TIONOVATION FOR FATIIERFATHER Triumph nFLEET EET 8m,EEE,STREET. WednesdsyWednesday OF AIR,AIR TIACERACE IIEROHERO The Bt.C.BB,C, could havchave mrdcmade tutno more flttlfflttlnc chotcechoice for the opmtngopening otof thelrtheir By8y RICHARD CAPELL Sir Thomas Beecham conducted the Sir Thomas Bee&en conducted symphony concert oeasonseason tsntghtto-nlght _ ThoThe rintcrwinter conccri!concerts of tbcthe B.B.C.B.B.C, B.B.C. Orchestra and tbethe Philharmonic tbanthan Dellus'sDeUus's ".. A MaEsMass olof Llfe."Life," The OtchcttsOreheatra wcrcWPre belunbegun laltlast niqhtnight at Choir at the first of the B.B.C. Queen'sQucen'e Hall with aa-tributatribute to FrederiekFrAsick occasionoccaslon W:lSwas not onnc:'-ccd:lnnc~"ccd asgS :la Doliu+- in thc pcr(otzrance, Symphony Concerts in the Queen's DeliU8, in the form of as performance. Hall last night, when the programme memorialmemorlal concert, but,but. Inln effect,efleci, the exemplarycxcmplary in beautybcautv and understandinll'uriderrtanding, 3ffI hishb masterpiece,nrost€rpie!€. ..- A YILlIlI of Life." m consisted of Delius's .." Mass of Life." performancep~rformance could not but be a tribute A IIss of ljfe," iir could not but b€ trlbu0c which CharlesClurlei KennedyKennedv Scott'.Scott'r Philhar­Pbillrar. This was to have been sung inln thethc ruog toio the composer WhosewhoEe masterpiecemasterplece monictrrunic Choir lookrook poUt.rrit. Sir ThowasTlroura^r originalortginal German.German, but oWingowing to the illnessillnesr thisthls musl::nust3 Wl1.lI.was. DIlClCh.lmBoochrrnt conducted.conducted.' of Hermann Nissen and Olga Haley (for 'Irue. )Irr. Deliuc of Hermann Nissen and Olga Haley ·rrue. wo beganbegBu withwtth <Ilaappolntmentdlsappolotment Inln lira. DeIJus h3dhrd cocoecqoc Iromfran FraaceFnoo lor whomrtr'hom Roy Henderson and Astra Desmond tlr ccrrion. Whcn learning that the work.rorE. nfterrfler all, waas8s not to the oce....ion. WheD she tooktmk hhcr..r seatseai shesho acted as substitutes).substitutes), it was a!terafter alldl given teaurtug tbst tlro oll. war chared glven w". cheered by thethc ehoirchoir and fiowenflovcn we."wcm in English-a pity,pity. for the German text bcbp given Intn the originalorlghsl Gcrmnn,Gcrmsn. becausebccnuse pre""ntedprcrentcd to her.h"r. contains some beautiful poetry, whilc atof thelhc Ulnelllnc3r.. of oneona ofo( the soloists.tolotsts. No TheThs hlrull..lI wwre•• soldpld out.out, andgrd at thethc endond :~s\a~f~h:O~~li~~~~iifY~d~:~~~l. while most of the English text is doSgerel. EngllshEngltlh trana1at.1onoltranrlatlon ol Nlotzlchr'tNlotzache's "Also" A160 theretlrerc wer"serc ovovdlioru..tiona farfor Sir ThO<'Dla.Tho<ur andond lorfor This, Delius's most ambitious work, islr Sprachsprrch Zaratbuetra"Zrntbultrr " could conveyooryay morenlore thetho priucil',,1prirciprl ...xrloirt,1".. 1. BooyRoy Hendenon.Hcndonon, The fortunately fairly well knownkno*rr now. There Ul&llthtsr anaa outlineoutlhc otof Italtr superman,6upornaD. or morenore nUlhaudlenec..Dee wouldwoukl Dotnot dlsprrsedisperca unt,luntil Jti! hud as are things in it.it, such as the firstfirEt chorus ch,rrur (ffittnq thantlran ar talnttslnt echoecbo atoJ hl.lhb tJloughl.8.tAoucht!. ThatThsc ch.. ",,,, 01ol lot......t'"\( KenDerlyKennaly -PhilhrmorcS<-ott.|icolt, thth... andsnd some of the earlier writing fortor the forrrrder $hlch\\'hlch wasxrr| uladused at thlathtr concertco[cer! liucceedcej.6uccecdcd I"tlnder "Ddrnd trdlll"rtrarncr 01o[ thetirs PhilhannoUlc baritone, which do notDot quite come off,ofl, but Choir.Choir, atst timestlDes only Inln blurringblurrlng thethc outlineorrtlinc audltld even here there is fine music. And as The .-einl{el1iringeru shoutedsltoutsd in unison, U" \Ve wtlntwrnt for the reflectiverellcctive passages andaDd the pas­pas- ,Uenclngouenclog thetho echO.echo. It cancsD bebo admittedtdmltted thattlut SeolLSeutrl"I" anduDd atst, ....Ii.t t ~Ir.}lr. Scott appeared.rpocarql, sages that describe the heat of noonday thereticrc waswo8 alwaysslwsi'! the quickeningquickenlng IUfluenceltrlluettce In ...a rhorthort .•.rymh~h he ouidurd thatthlt he 'vasiris wellmll or the solitudeEolitude of midnight.midnight, and, forlor the f't thetlrc mualcmullc lteeltlta.lf to maltomtLo allell thing.tlrhgs pln:n;plB:n; awar"awsro thattlut the applaapplaun...... wwar... me"ntmcint a.ar much matter of that, the whole of the second ol matter of that. the whole ol t}le second but.bu!. Inhr aI lIOOroaoolio atot thl.lthl,r kind,ktnd, Wherewhcro thetlre lorfor hi.lris 'OD-e.son-L'. W.\v. A...1. Seotl.sco!t, 01of thetho ~lel­.\lel- part as it appears in the presentprcsent version, comp068rcompo66r deliberatelydGllbcr.tely sUbJecUl.ubJects thought andarrd bournbourno ....rririr rruo-ar..ce- .... himself.hirrrself. theythey are superb,supsrb, ravishing, truly the stuftstufi y<rrrrg aenslbl1ltytcnstlrtltty to t.lleUrc mindElad andaDd languagol4nguogo 'le.)( Rp{flrrin'{Roferrinq to ••" thuttlrst young jl(entlf'IJlan's"gentlnnran's " that dreams are made oL rxpl,,;t,erploit, loaho .aidsord hhe.