What could happen to a confectioner?

I love incidental music!

There is something about storytelling mixed with music which captivates me. I read again and again how classical music listeners can't stand talking with music, but that is not the case for me.

Luckily for those who may be interested, the narration in Hassan is tracked separately on this recording (aside from one or two instances).

For some reason, James Elroy Flecker's story is hailed as a great work of writing. I don't hear anything of the sort, but I was never a great judge of the written word.

Is it worth it? Well, if you love Delius, obviously so. The music is airy and exotic, and the large chamber orchestrations are most unusual to hear from the composer. There are a couple of choral numbers, a set of ballet sequences, and a long-ish finale, all of which make up the best of this work.

Otherwise, short orchestral sequences evoke the previous spoken words, as is typical for incidental music. It is all beautifully played by the Britten Sinfonia.

 

A review from 2024

Music from Delius’ Hassan has mostly been championed by Sir Thomas Beecham through excerpted arrangements and adaptations, although, Vernon Handley worked Hassan in the 70s. Here, we have an 80-minute production including all of the music, alongside the stage-play narration, which is tracked separately for those who do not enjoy speaking with music.

The story is not breaking any barriers; essentially a Middle Eastern confectioner gets wrapped up in exotic adventures and politics. Hassan is the least interesting, but bears the highest morals amongst colourful characters who come and go.

The storytelling is portrayed by Zeb Soanes. He imbues the characters with slight vocal inflections aside the larger narrator role, and it all seems fairly tastefully done. Only Hassan sounds like John Rhys Davies from Indiana Jones.

The music is the reason to come, however. Delius’ plush orchestral Romanticisms set the scenes of Flecker’s Middle Eastern spice-laden world wonderfully. The exoticisms are light, but definitely permeate some action within the story. The few choral numbers are well done, particularly the affecting 15-minute finale.

The liner notes intimate this is a live recording, but that was completely surprising to me, as I heard nothing to indicate an audience present. The Britten Sinfonia tackles Delius' chamber-sized orchestrations vividly, and the Chandos sonics are great.

A lot of the musical numbers are short, as is typical of incidental music, and aside from the finale and perhaps the ballet sequence, nothing really stands out strongly. Regardless, this is lovely music in splendid performances and recorded sound.

Listen on YouTube

Performers
Zeb Soanes, narrator
Britten Sinfonia & its Voices
Jamie Phillips, conductor

Label: Chandos
Year: 2024
Total Timing: 80.25

 

I can't remember if Vernon Handley's 70's recording had the entire narration attached to his recording. My gut tells me no, so it might be worth a search.

This one would be for lovers of storytelling, or for those who don't mind skipping over all of the spoken characters to get to the music of Delius.

 

 

 

Find more Delius recordings HERE!