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Scan 83
Grove's Dictionary of music and musicians, 1927
75 lines. Read by computer on 4 September 2026. Printed page 45. See the scan on archive.org.
1'Koanga,' a work in which the negro element plays an important part; and to a certain extent in 'Appalachia,' that remarkable work in which the virgin forests and mighty waters of America seem to speak. 'Paris' is a musical picture of the composer's impressions of the great city by night. It is no mere exercise in musical realism, though it displays a keen sense of pictorial effect. Rather is it a personal record of the feelings engendered by the contemplation of the sleeping city. It is a study of effects rather than of causes, and is thus a peculiarly characteristic example of Delius's attitude towards music, and of his employment of its resources.
3His attitude towards questions of pure musical form is best studied through the concertos. The early pianoforte concerto (in the form in which it is now known) shows him adopting more or less the standpoint of Liszt, that is a standpoint relying on contrasts, though the contrasts are drawn more nearly together than in the classical concerto form of separated movements. In the three later concertos, i.e. the double concerto, the violin and the violoncello concerto contrasts are less essential to the design; indeed in the violin concerto, the finest of the three, the whole design seems to grow out of an expansion of the initial idea. Though the features of traditional form are discoverable by analysis, the hearer gains an impression of continuous evolution in which direct contrast is little considered.
5Like most modern composers, Delius is happier with the orchestra than with the human voice, which in some of his works he is apt to treat in what may be called too instrumental a fashion. 'A Mass of Life,' his most ambitious choral work, suffers from a disconnected libretto; the author thereof, Herr Cassirer, seems to have abandoned as impossible the idea of reducing Nietzsche's famous book into manageable limits, and to have contented himself with choosing those passages that seemed to lend themselves most readily to musical treatment without paying much attention to philosophical development. 'A Mass of Life' contains much striking and impressive music, but the general effect of the work, at any rate at a first hearing, is somewhat indefinite. In 'Sea-Drift,' on the other hand, Delius is at his best and strongest. The same may be said of the 'Song of the High Hills,' in which the wordless choir is treated as a second and more spiritualised orchestra. The voices, as it were, carry the development of the melodic material up above the snow line.
7Two monographs must be mentioned. Frederick Delius by Max Chop was published in Germany (1907) in the series Moderne Musiker; Delius by Philip Heseltine, published London (1923), is a keenly appreciative study of his work as a whole, and of major compositions in particular. It also contains full lists of works with dates of composition and of first performances.
9The following summarises Delius's principal works:
11OPERAS
12'Irmelin.' 3 acts. MS.
13'The Magic Fountain.' 3 acts. MS.
14'Koanga.' 3 acts. MS.
15'A Village Romeo and Juliet.'
16'Margot la Rouge.' 1 act. MS.
17'Fennimore and Gerda.'
18Incidental music to 'Hassan.'
20ORCHESTRAL
21'Sur les cimes.' Tone poem. MS.
22'Légende' for vln. and orchestra.
23'Over the Hills and Far Away.' Tone poem. MS.
24'Appalachia.' Variations (with chorus).
25'Paris: the Song of a Great City.'
26'Life's Dance.' Tone poem.
27'Brigg Fair.' An English Rhapsody.
28'In a Summer Garden.'
29'A Dance Rhapsody.' No. 1.
30'Summer Night on the River.'
31'On hearing the first Cuckoo in Spring.' For small orchestra.
32'North Country Sketches: (a) 'Autumn,' (b) 'Winter Landscape,' (c) 'Dance,' (d) 'The March of Spring.'
33'A Dance Rhapsody.' No. 2.
34'Eventyr.' Ballad.
35'A Song before Sunrise.' For small orchestra.
37CONCERTOS
38For PF. and orchestra.
39For vln. and v'cl.
40For vln.
41For v'cl.
43CHORAL WORKS
44'Sea-Drift.' Baritone solo, chorus and orchestra.
45'A Mass of Life.' Soli, chorus and orchestra.
46'Songs of Sunset.' Soli, chorus and orchestra.
47'On Craig Dhu.' Unaccompanied chorus.
48'Midsummer Song.' Unaccompanied chorus.
49'Wanderers' Song.' Male voice chorus.
50'Arabesks.' Baritone solo, chorus and orchestra.
51'A Song of the High Hills.' Chorus and orchestra.
52'Requiem.' Soli, chorus and orchestra.
53Two unaccompanied choruses. 'To be sung of a summer night on the water.'
55SONGS
56Three English songs.
57Two songs. Verlaine.
58Seven Danish songs (with orchestra).
59Five German songs. Nietzsche and others.
60Various songs published separately.
62CHAMBER MUSIC
63String Quartet. No. 1. MS.
64String Quartet. No. 2. (1916-17.)
653 Sonatas, vln. and PF. (1892, 1915, 1924.)
66Sonata, v'cl. and PF. (1 movement. 1917.)
68R. A. S.; addns. c.
70DELLER, FLORIAN JOHANN (b. Drosendorf, Austria, June 1729; d. Munich, Apr. 19, 1773), educated at the Karlsschule, Stuttgart, was violinist in the court orchestra, 1751; also singer and afterwards Konzertmeister and court composer. In 1771 he went to Vienna, where his opera 'Il maestro di cappella' was performed; thence he went to Munich. He achieved his greatest successes with the composition of ballets by Noverre, but composed also a number of operas, symphonies, trio sonatas, including 6 sonatas for 2 violins and violoncello, with bass for harpsichord (Welcker, London), arias, vocal duets, etc. (See Q.-L.)
72E. v. d. S.
74DELMAS, JEAN FRANÇOIS (FRANCISQUE) (b. Lyons, Rhône, Apr. 14, 1861), dramatic bass singer, studied at the Conservatoire of his native town; then at that of Paris under Bussine (singing) and Obin (lyrical declamation), obtaining first prizes in both branches (1886). His débuts at the Opéra took place on Sept. 13 and 22, 1886, in 'Freischütz' and 'Les Huguenots.' Subsequently, until 1911, he sang and created 50 parts there. In the prologue to Leoncavallo's 'Pagliacci' (1903) he was unprecedentedly successful.
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