Come for the Soloists

There are no two ways about it; A Mass of Life by Delius is a behemoth (100 minutes!). If you can't stand long oratorios, this will not be for you. For the record collector however, this is a must-have recording of Delius' early work.

Its first half is the standout portion. If you can get through the First Part, wait a bit and come back to the Second Part refreshed; taken all at once the final portion can sag, for Delius front-loads the interesting bits.

An Arabesque is the work that grabs my attention here. It is more characterful and musically varied, whereas Songs of Sunset, beautiful though it is, requires patience.

I will never hide my love of Dame Janet Baker and John Shirley-Quirk. They can always be counted on for high-quality vocalizing. This recording was my first introduction to Benjamin Luxon, who became another vocalist to gleefully look forward to when he was attached to a recording.

 

A review from 2020

Sir Charles Groves leads two performances of Frederick Delius’ choral/orchestral works: the 30-minute Songs of Sunset and the 10-minute An Arabesque both from 1968 (both in English) and the 100-minute A Mass of Life (in German) from 1972.

Delius’ large choral works generally lay a bit on the pensive side, music that relies more on mood and textual emotional impact than immediate melodies, structure, and thrills. Songs of Sunset is a perfect example of this: eight movements, each with more or less slow-to-medium tempos that highlight the text while the music meanders in a post-Romantic fashion. I actually appreciate the 3-4 minute movements with breaks in between, each featuring chorus, soloists, or brief combinations, rather than continuous music, for Delius’ musical settings are pretty sombre throughout. The choral work is attractive though, although as in all of these larger works, Delius depends more on the soloists to convey his messages.

‘An Arabesque’ is more immediately delightful, with quick, impactful ebb and flows in the music, but also, Delius’ musical style in Arabesque is much more impressionistically Debussy-an in contrast to Sunset for a refreshing tonal change between works. The orchestral work is excellent in each.

The highlight of these Delius pairings is the combination of Dame Janet Baker and John Shirley-Quirk working together. Both sing beautifully and the flowery English texts couldn’t have finer English portrayals, although Bryn Terfel is perhaps more forthright. The Liverpool forces get a colourful sound from EMI, the stereo sound excellent, although the miking of the soloists seems a bit forward and separated in comparison to the Mass.

After listening to the first 40 minutes of Delius pairings, it becomes immediately apparent that Delius’ A Mass of Life is the masterpiece here, and for me, it thrillingly and easily held my attention for at least the first 50-60 minutes. The scope of his music is much more epically scaled with an athletic start that is never far from returning. Most impressive is how Delius treats the chorus, almost an orchestral voice at times, often with endless non-lexical portions (those quirky La’s) and quick-moving scale runs that make for fascinating musical textures.

Set in two parts, the second part of A Mass of Life sags a bit after the second set of La’s. Again the continuous music making needs a bit of a break or separation, and the relentlessly genial, but easy-going tempos towards the end, plus slow-going instrumental breaks, bear much of the Mass’ runtime. Delius does pick it up for the ending and sends off the music appropriately. I am not crazy about Nietzsche’s Zarathustra poetry either, but it is in German, so I don’t miss much on listening. EMI provides texts and translations for all of these works.

Despite their age, the sound here is quite fine, the 90’s EMI remastering was very good work. The bass line is pretty strong, a skosh better even than Hickox’s Chandos outings in the late 90’s, my main comparison. The chorus is caught well here, occasionally I wanted the tiniest more presence over the orchestra, but the LPO choir acquits well, and the EMI stereo spread gives good balance to the often lost male chorus members, although Hickox’s massed choruses get just a smidge more presence and heft, but not by much.

The soloists are outstanding, with Benjamin Luxon’s large spotlighted role a pleasant surprise. Luxon has a luxurious, tenor-ish romantic quality with an unusually solid high range, much finer than Coleman-Wright’s stentorian, granite portrayal under Hickox. The top-tier Heather Harper, Helen Watts, and Robert Tear (a frequent collaborator with Luxon) fill out their smaller roles in good voice; only Robert Tear seems a smidgeon recessed in comparison to his compatriots, otherwise they are balanced well among the forces.

The London and Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras get unusual heft in these recordings, the tiniest bit balanced forward, but it is all to thrilling effect, for I was often stunned by the orchestral work here. Sir Charles Groves, an early advocate of Delius after Sir Thomas Beecham, sets flowing tempos, but captures the warmly Romantic gestures of the music in grand scope. Not as scrappy as Beecham or Del Mar, but in better sound, Groves gives oodles of character to the music, aided by the older EMI stereo sound, and easily sits at the top of the heap of recorded competition.

I marginally prefer this EMI Groves recording over the recording under Hickox, mostly for the top-shelf solo work and Grove’s lovingly handling of the music Both conceive A Mass of Life similarly, and if Hickox’s orchestra and chorus raise the bar a bit, the differences are largely negligible. If it comes down to pairings, Delius’ 30-minute agnostic Requiem on Chandos bears the same typically meandering slow tempos until its grand conclusion, but uninterrupted by movement breaks. Again, Janet Baker and Shirly-Quirk sway me on this point, and Groves also has a performance of the Requiem again with Heather Harper. More recently, David Hill with the Bach Choir gave a shake of Delius’ Mass, with decent work by baritone Alan Opie, but the 20-minute pairing is less enticing for me, they split the Mass in the midst of Part II which here is split intelligently between Parts I & II, although Naxos oddly uses the same performing forces as Hickox.

Highly Recommended! for excellent EMI sound, despite its age, wonderful soloists, a heaping handful of Delius choral pairings, and excellent musicianship from Groves and his orchestras and chorus. This recording is not a giant leap forward if you already own this work recorded by the others mentioned, but for the rest of us, is an easy recommendation.

Works
Songs of Sunset (29.34)
An Arabesque (11.38)
A Mass of Life (1.39.57)

Soloists
Heather Harper, soprano
Janet Baker, mezzo
Helen Watts, contralto
Robert Tear, tenor
Benjamin Luxon, baritone
John Shirley-Quirk, baritone

Ensembles
London Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus

Conductor: Sir Charles Groves
Label: EMI
Year: 1968-1972; 1992
Total Timing: 1.39.57

 

 This Mass of Life is the one to have, both sonically and for the soloists. If one wanted to get the Hickox for Delius' Requiem, I could hardly argue.

The two orchestrated vocal works are no mere makeweights and hold their own.

Find more Delius recordings HERE!