Scan 75
Groves Dictionary Of Music And Musicians,vol.2, 1906
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1Griffard' (1857), 'Le Jardinier et son seigneur' (1863); and a number of operettas for the Folies Nouvelles, the Bouffes Parisiens and the Variétés, of which some were very successful—'Deux vieilles gardes' (1856), 'L'Omelette à la Follembûche' (1859), 'Le Serpent à plumes' (1864), 'L'Écossais de Chatou' (1869), etc. He also wrote a number of choruses for male voices, a Mass and some choruses for the school children of St. Denis and Sceaux, where he was inspector. In 1863 Delibes became accompanist at the Opéra, and in 1865 second chorus-master (under Victor Massé): he kept this appointment until 1872, when he gave it up on the occasion of his marriage with the daughter of Mlle. Denain, a former actress at the Comédie-Française. In 1865 a cantata, 'Alger,' was performed. By his appointment at the Opéra a new career was opened out to him. Having been commissioned to compose the ballet of 'La Source' (Nov. 12, 1866) in collaboration with the Polish musician Minkous, he displayed such a wealth of melody as a composer of ballet music, and so completely eclipsed the composer with whom he had as a favour been associated, that he was at once asked to write a divertissement called 'Le Pas de fleurs' to be introduced into the ballet of his old master, Adolphe Adam, 'Le Corsaire,' for its revival (Oct. 21, 1867). He was finally entrusted with the setting of an entire ballet, on the pretty comedy 'Coppélia' (May 25, 1870), which is rightly considered his most charming production. In 1872 he published a collection of charming melodies, 'Myrto,' 'Les Filles de Cadiz,' 'Bonjour, Suzon,' etc., and on May 24, 1873, he produced at the Opéra-Comique a work in 3 acts, 'Le Roi l'a dit.' After this Delibes returned to the Opéra, where he produced a grand mythological ballet, 'Sylvia' (June 14, 1876), which confirmed his superiority in dance music. In spite of this fresh success Delibes was still anxious to write a serious vocal work, and produced a grand scena, 'La Mort d'Orphée,' at the Trocadéro Concerts in 1878. He then composed two dramatic works for the Opéra-Comique, 'Jean de Nivelle' (Mar. 8, 1880) and 'Lakmé' (Apr. 14, 1883). A 5-act opera, 'Kassya' (completed by Massé…et after the composer's death), was given at the Opéra-Comique, Mar. 21, 1893. Some other dramatic pieces ('Le Don Juan suisse' and La Princesse Ravigotte') remain in MS. In addition to the above works he composed incidental music for 'Le Roi s'amuse,' on its revival at the Comédie-Française, Nov. 22, 1882, and published several songs, almost all intended for representations at the last-named theatre. In 1877 Delibes was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour; in Jan. 1881 he succeeded Reber, who had just died, as professor of advanced composition at the Conservatoire: and in Dec. 1884 he was elected a member of the Institut in the place of Victor Massé.
3BIBL.—E. Guiraud, Léo Delibes (Paris, 1892); Octave Sénè, Musiciens français d'aujourd'hui; Joseph Loibel, Lakmé de Léo Delibes: Étude historique et critique. Analyse musicale (Collection des chefs-d'œuvre de la musique, Paris, 1924).
5DELIUS, FREDERICK (b. Bradford, Jan. 29, 1863), one of the most remarkable composers of his time, came of German parents who had settled in England
7His musical temperament developed early, and as a boy he became tolerably proficient upon the violin; but his parents destined him for a mercantile career, and refused to allow him to devote himself to music. His distaste for a business life, however, was so profound that in his 20th year he left home and established himself as an orange-planter in Florida. In this remote seclusion he devoted his leisure time to the study of music. He had no means of instruction save books on the theory and history of music, and the scores of the great masters. The friendship of an American organist, Thomas F. Ward, helped him considerably in the pursuance of his studies. After a sojourn of several years in Florida he returned to Europe, and entered the Conservatorium at Leipzig, where he studied under Jadassohn and Reinecke, and came under the influence of Grieg, who was at that time residing at Leipzig. From 1890 Delius has lived principally in France, either in Paris or in the country town of Grez-sur-Loing (Seine-et-Loire). Delius's first published work, a 'Légende' for violin solo with orchestral accompaniment, dates from 1892. It was first performed at a concert of Delius's works given in London in 1899. This was followed by a fantasia-overture, 'Over the Hills and Far Away' (1893), first performed under Dr. Haym at Elberfeld in 1897, and a pianoforte concerto in C minor (1897). The latter was first played at Elberfeld in 1904 by Professor Julius Butts, under the conductorship of Haym, and repeated at Düsseldorf. The composer then subjected it to a drastic revision, and in its remodelled form it was played at a Promenade Concert in London in Oct. 1907 by Theodor Szanto. In 1897 Delius was invited by the Norwegian dramatist, Gunnar Heiberg, to write incidental music for his political play, 'Folkeraadet,' which was produced during the same year in Christiania amidst stormy scenes of protest and disapproval. Delius's satirical use of the Norwegian national anthem was ill taken by critics and public alike, and popular feeling was roused to such a point that at one performance a member of the audience actually fired several revolver shots at the composer,1 who was surveying the house from the proscenium curtain, happily without any result save that of terrifying a portion of the audience into hysterics. An orchestral suite drawn from the 'Folkeraadet' music was performed at
91 Heweltine s.a.v.a, p. 38. 'One outraged patriot even went so far as to fire off a blank cartridge at the conductor of the orchestra.'
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