John Bridcut's Delius film.
Sat, May 26 2012, 7:14PM
Anyone read Bridcut's comments on the forum and watched the film? It was Ken Russell's film (his masterpiece) which first made me aware of Delius's music many years ago when I knew only The First Cuckoo and I've become more enthusiastic with age and now have recordings of most of his available output. I enjoyed Bridcut's film with very enthusiastic support for the composer from Mark Elder, Andrew Davis and Bo Holten with the latter's Danish orchestra providing the musical excerpts.
Elder described Delius as difficult to conduct and Holten commented that he thought English orchestral players disliked playing Delius! The composer does seem to be very divisive and the programme acknowledged Beecham's promotion without which Delius's music would have been very little known. What I didn't realize was Delius left little in the way of interpretive comments on his scores and much of what we hear today is based on Beecham's annotations.
Enthusiasts or potential converts who didn't see it check out the programme on the I-Player.
Sat, May 26 2012, 8:38PM
#2
RE: John Bridcut's Delius film.
Saw the film and enjoyed it, although my own reactions to his music are mixed.
Sea Drift and Songs of Sunset are wonderful, Brigg Fair is also a piece I love. But e.g. although I feel sure that Tamsin Little has recently been a good advocate for his violin music, it just doesn't quite do it for me.
Sun, May 27 2012, 1:03PM
#3
RE: John Bridcut's Delius film.
Try his opera Koanga. The recording is getting pretty hard to find, but it's top-drawer American-period Delius.
Sun, May 27 2012, 3:11PM
#4
RE: John Bridcut's Delius film.
I thought it was very good too. It was amazing (and amusing) to have David Owen Norris demonstrate how On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring is closely derived from a Norwegian folksong which Delius would have known in the piano version by the Australian Percy Grainger. It raised some good questions about Englishness in 'English' music - probably unanswerable, and not new, but good to rehearse them.
A friend was saying on the back of Bridcut's film that he too had reservations about Delius's tendency not to be structured in a way we usually recognise in the Western canon (something I thought dealt with persuasively by commentators in the film). But Delius can 'do' structure - Appalachia, a substantial theme and variations work, marries impressionism with a clear line of progression. I'm going to head back to the superb BBC SO/Andrew Davis recording of it on Chandos, not least because it's coupled with The Song of the High Hills, with which Davis is shown in the film to be enthralled.
Can we hope for a recording of Sea Drift by Mark Elder without Beecham's editing?
Sun, May 27 2012, 11:24PM
#5
RE: John Bridcut's Delius film.
I recorded it and viewed it today.
It has been a long time since I bought Beecham's 2CD set of his fifties EMI recordings and I haven't added any more Delius since.
However, the commentators on the film and the excerpts were very persuasive and I might explore this music further as it is rarely performed anywhere within easy access.
I, too, hope for Mark Elder to record some Delius.
This is the sort ofstuff the Beeb does so well!
Tue, May 29 2012, 11:33PM
#6
RE: John Bridcut's Delius film.
Try his opera Koanga. The recording is getting pretty hard to find, but it's top-drawer American-period Delius.
Indeed. Koanga surely has some claims to be virtually the first real American opera, with slaves and spirituals, well before Treemonisha and Porgy & Bess. Astonishing that its first USA performance was not until 1970 whilst in UK it was not performed until the year after Delius's death (by of course Beecham), with a revival in the 1970s. I cannot do better than quote the Penguin Guide, "a big red blooded opera which makes a striking impact on record".
I don't know if Charles Groves's double CD (coupled with Song of The High Hills) is still available but I see his Koanga is included in EMI's new 18 CD Delius box. Groves & LSO are on top form with the two lead singers from the American production. The sound is quite spectacular; Kingsway Hall made by EMI's top team of the period Chistopher Bishop & Christopher Parker.
Anyone read Bridcut's comments on the Gramophone website and watched the film? It was Ken Russell's film (his masterpiece) which first made me aware of Delius's music many years ago when I knew only The First Cuckoo and I've become more enthusiastic with age and now have recordings of most of his available output. I enjoyed Bridcut's film with very enthusiastic support for the composer from Mark Elder, Andrew Davis and Bo Holten with the latter's Danish orchestra providing the musical excerpts.
Elder described Delius as difficult to conduct and Holten commented that he thought English orchestral players disliked playing Delius! The composer does seem to be very divisive and the programme acknowledged Beecham's promotion without which Delius's music would have been very little known. What I didn't realize was Delius left little in the way of interpretive comments on his scores and much of what we hear today is based on Beecham's annotations.
Enthusiasts or potential converts who didn't see it check out the programme on the I-Player.
Ignore first post I don't know how to delete it!