Youth Regained

I tend to enjoy the early works of composers more than I should. After all, composers really only get interesting once they break from the mold of influences and burst forth into their own. Right?

Yet for me, there is a youth lost. The time of searching and questing is over, replaced by career commitments and survival in employ and life.

These works from Delius are mostly early ones, so I tend to identify with them more. Something about how Delius treats a melody, his excesses are wider, the settings more Romantic.

I have never really wrapped my head around Brigg Fair. Too little too late for my synapses, although Sir Andrew makes it work better for me than others.

 

A review from 2023

A goodly variety of British composer Frederick Delius’ orchestral music, although much of this is his early output. One reviewer laments that this music doesn’t sound like Delius, yet that is just fine for me. Here Delius gives the listener a fair bit more contrast than is usually afforded a recording devoted purely to the composer, and hearing the growth of Delius over time is just as fun for me.

I am completely sold on this earlier three movement version of Delius’ Piano Concerto versus the one-movement final revision. Movements tend to focus Delius’ meandering musical language, an aspect I am not always fond of, and the structure forces his hand to encapsulate his music with purpose. Otherwise, the piano concerto itself isn’t too far removed from the excesses of Rachmaninov, that banger of an ending for example, something I thought I would never say of Delius.

The rest of the program are symphonic poems of sorts. Brigg Fair is Delius’ famous theme and variations, another musical form that puts Delius on a successful path for me. Paris showcases a bit of wit and daring not usually present in Delius’ more atmospheric outings, and the Spring Idyll fully throws itself into the beautiful longueurs of the season with some lovely wind work.

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, led by Sir Andrew Davis, delivers a wonderfully deep and sensuous sound, aided in typical style by Chandos. Much of this music has been trodden by Richard Hickox, David Lloyd-Jones, Charles Mackerras, and Norman Del Mar, and this version of the piano concerto is also available as well.

Otherwise, I like this program on Chandos a whole lot, beautifully played by the Scots.

 

 

Listen on YouTube

Works
Piano Concerto (30.02)
Paris (18.42)
Brigg Fair (16.00)
Idylle de Printemps (10.18)

Performers
Howard Shelley, piano
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Sir Andrew Davis, conductor

Label: Chandos
Year: 2012
Total Timing: 75.35

 

With the loss of Sir Andrew Davis, it is good to be reminded by what a great Delius interpreter he was.

The Piano Concerto may be more Rachmaninov than Delius, but I like this earlier incarnation.

The rest is sauce for the goose!

Find more Delius recordings HERE!