List of compositions by Frederick Delius explained
The musical compositions of Frederick Delius (1862–1934) cover numerous genres, in a style that developed from the early influences of composers such as Edvard Grieg and Richard Wagner into a voice that was uniquely Delius's. He began serious composition at a relatively advanced age (his earliest songs date to his early twenties), and his music was largely unknown and unperformed until the early 20th century. It was a further ten years before his work was generally accepted in concert halls, and then more often in Europe than in his home country, England. Ill-health caused him to give up composition in the early 1920s and he was silent for several years, before the services of a devoted amanuensis, Eric Fenby, enabled Delius to resume composing in 1928. The Delius-Fenby combination led to several notable late works.
Chronological list of principal works
The "principal" works are those identified as such by Eric Fenby.[1] A division of Delius's work into phases such as "apprentice" and "middle period" has been suggested by many commentators, notably Anthony Payne in "Delius's Stylistic Development" (1962).[2]
Apprentice works, 1887–1899
"Middle period" works, 1900–06
- 1900–01: (Opera) A Village Romeo and Juliet
- (Orchestral interlude between Scenes 5 and 6) "The Walk to the Paradise Garden"
- 1902: (Opera) Margot-la-Rouge
- 1903: Appalachia: Variations on a Slave Song
- 1903–04: Sea Drift (setting of a poem by Walt Whitman)
- 1904–05: A Mass of Life (text by Friedrich Nietzsche)
- 1906: Concerto for piano and orchestra (with revised first movement)
- 1906–07: Songs of Sunset (poems by Ernest Dowson)
Mature works, 1907–24
Late works
- 1929–30: A Song of Summer
- 1930: Sonata for violin and piano No. 3
- 1930: Songs of Farewell (setting of poems by Walt Whitman)
List of works by genre
A definitive catalogue of the works of Delius was produced by Robert Threlfall in 1977, and a supplement to it in 1986. It is abbreviated as RT. The Threlfall sectioning is a categorization where works are assigned nominal numbers according to a roman-numeric genre numbering scheme. For example, A Village Romeo and Juliet is, according to Threlfall's counting, the sixth piece of dramatic work Delius composed. Thus, the piece is in Section I, number 6, so is designated RT I/6.
Dramatic works
| Year(s) composed | RT | Title | Genre | First performance | Comments | Ref. |
|---|
| 1888 | I/1 | Zanoni | Incidental music | | | [3] |
| 1890–92 | I/2 | Irmelin | Opera | Oxford, 4 May 1953 | Libretto: E. Graham, T. Round | [4] |
| 1893–95 | I/3 | The Magic Fountain | Lyric drama | Broadcast performance, BBC 1977 | Libretto: Delius | |
| 1895 | I/4 | Koanga | Lyric drama | Elberfeld, 30 March 1904 | Libretto: Charles Francis Keary, after George Washington Cable | |
| 1897 | I/5 | Folkeraadet | Incidental music | Christiania, October 1897 | Play by Gunnar Heiberg | |
| 1900–01 | I/6 | A Village Romeo and Juliet | Lyric drama | Berlin, 21 October 1907 | Libretto: Delius, after Gottfried Keller. The orchestral interlude between Scenes 5 and 6, "The Walk to the Paradise Garden", is often performed and recorded separately. | |
| 1902 | I/7 | Margot la rouge | Lyric drama | | Libretto: I. Rosenval | |
| 1909–10 | I/8 | Fennimore and Gerda | Opera | Frankfurt am Main, October 1919 | Libretto: Delius, after J.P. Jacobsen | |
| 1920–23 | I/9 | Hassan | Incidental music | Darmstadt, 1 June 1923
Full version first performed in London, 30 September 1923 | Play by James Elroy Flecker | | |
Works for voices and orchestra
| Year(s) composed | RT | Title | Vocal forces | First performance | Comments | Ref. |
|---|
| 1898 | II/1 | Mitternachtslied Zarathustras (The Midnight Song of Zarathustra) | Male chorus | | | |
| 1903 | II/2 | Appalachia: Variations on a slave song | Choir, baritone solo | Elberfeld, 1904 | | |
| 1903–04 | II/3 | Sea Drift | Choir, baritone solo | Essen, 24 May 1906 | | [5] |
| 1904–05 | II/4 | A Mass of Life | Double choir, SATB soloists | London, 7 June 1909 | Part II was performed in Munich, in 1908 | |
| 1906–07 | II/5 | Songs of Sunset | Choir, Mezzo-soprano & baritone soloists | London, 16 June 1911 | | |
| 1911 | II/6 | A Song of the High Hills | Choir, tenor & soprano soloists | London, 26 February 1920 | Textless chorus | |
| 1911 | II/7 | An Arabesque | Choir and baritone soloist | Newport, 1920 | | |
| 1914–16 | II/8 | Requiem | Choir, soprano & baritone soloists | London, 23 March 1922 | | |
| 1930 | II/9 | Songs of Farewell | Choir | London, 21 March 1932 | | |
| 1930–32 | II/10 | Idyll: Once I passed through a populous city | Soprano & baritone soloists | London, 3 October 1933 | Music adapted from Margot la rouge; words from Walt Whitman; after the first performance, Delius expanded the work and renamed it Prelude and Idyll | [6] | |
Works for solo voice and orchestra
| Year(s) composed | RT | Title | Vocal forces | First performance | Comments | Ref. |
|---|
| 1888 | III/1 | Paa Vidderne (Melodrama) | Recitation | | Revised (1891) as orchestral suite | |
| 1889 | III/2 | Sakuntala | Tenor soloist | | | |
| 1891 | III/3 | Maud (from Tennyson) | Tenor soloist | | | |
| 1897 | III/4 | Seven Danish Songs: 1. "Summer Nights (On the Sea Shore)"; 2. "Red Roses (Through Long, Long Years)"; 3. "Wine Roses"; 4. "Let Springtime Come, Then" (Den Lenz laβ kommen); 5. "Irmelin Rose"; 6. "In the Seraglio Garden"; 7. "Silken Shoes" | Solo voice (unspecified) | Paris, 1901 | | |
| 1907 | III/5 | Cynara | Choir, Baritone soloist | London, 18 October 1929 | Left incomplete, finished in 1929 | |
| 1925 | III/6 | A Late Lark | Solo voice (unspecified) | | | | |
Works for unaccompanied voices
| Year(s) composed | RT | Title | Vocal forces/accompaniment | First performance | Comments | Ref. |
|---|
| before 1887 | IV/1 | Six German part-songs: 1. "Lorelei" (H. Heine); 2. "Oh! Sonnenschein" (Oh | Sunshine); 3. "Durch den Wald" (By the Forest) [von Schreck]; 4. "Ave Maria"; 5. "Sonnenscheinlied" (Sunshine Song) [Bjornsen]; 6. "Fruhlingsanbruch" [Bjornsen] | Choir, unaccompanied | | | |
|---|
| 1907 | IV/2 | On Craig Ddu | Soprano, alto, 2 tenor, 2 bass, piano | Blackpool, 1907 | | |
| 1908 | IV/3 | Wanderer's Song | 2 tenor, 2 bass, piano | | | |
| 1908 | IV/4 | Midsummer Song | 2 soprano, 2 alto, 2 tenor, 2 bass, piano | Whitley Bay, December 1910 | | |
| 1917 | IV/5 | Two Songs to be sung of a summer night on the water | Soprano, alto, 2 tenor, 2 basses, unaccompanied | London, 28 June 1920 | Also arranged for string orchestra by Eric Fenby in 1932, titled Two Aquarelles. | |
| 1923 | IV/6 | The splendour falls on castle walls (from Tennyson) | Chorus, unaccompanied | London, 17 June 1924 | | | |
Songs with piano accompaniment
| Year(s) composed | RT | Title | Comments | Ref. |
|---|
| undated | V/1 | "When other lips shall speak" | Unpublished | |
| undated | V/4 | "Der Fichtenbaum" (The Spruce Tree) | Unpublished | |
| 1885 | V/2 | "Over the mountains high" | Unpublished | |
| 1885 | V/3 | "Zwei braune Augen" (Two Brown Eyes) | Unpublished | |
| 1888 | V/5 | Five Songs from the Norwegian: 1. "Slumber Song" (Bjørnsen); 2. "The Nightingale" (Wellhaven); 3. "Summer's Eve" (Paulsen); 4. "Longing" (Kjerulf); 5. "Sunset" (Munck) | | |
| 1888 | V/6 | "Hochgebirgsleben" (High Mountain Life) | Unpublished | |
| 1888 | V/7 | "O schneller mein Ross" (O faster, my Ross) | Unpublished | |
| 1889 | V/8 | "Chanson (de) Fortunio" | Unpublished | |
| 1889–90 | V/9 | Seven Songs from the Norwegian: 1. "Cradle Song" (Ibsen); 2. "The Homeward Journey" (Vinje); 3. "Twilight Fancies" (Bjørnsen); 4. "Sweet Venevil" (Bjørnsen); 5. "Minstrel" (Ibsen); 6. "Love concealed" (Bjørnsen); 7. "The Birds Story" (Ibsen) | | |
| 1890 | V/10 | "Skogen gir susende langsom besked" (Softly the Forest) | Unpublished | |
| 1890–91 | V/11 | Songs to words by Heine: 1. "Mit deinen blauen Augen" (With your blue eyes); 2. "Ein schöner Stern geht auf in meiner Nacht" (A shining star appears in my night); 3. "Hör' ich das Liedchen klingen" (I hear the sound of singing); 4. "Aus deinen Augen fliessen meine Leider" (From your eyes flows my song) | Unpublished | |
| 1891 | V/12 | Three English songs [Shelley]: 1. "Indian Love Song"; 2. "Love's Philosophy" 3. "To the Queen of my Heart" | | |
| 1891 | V/13 | "Lyse Naetter" | Unpublished | |
| 1893 | V/14 | "Jeg horde en nyskaaren Seljeflojte" (I once had a newly cut willow pipe) | Unpublished | |
| 1893 | V/15 | "Nuages" (Clouds) | Unpublished | |
| 1895 | V/16 | Deux Melodies [Verlaine]: 1. "Il pleure dans mon coeur" (It cries in my heart); 2. "Le ciel est, par-dessus le toit" (The sky is over the roof) | Accompaniment later orchestrated | |
| 1895 | V/17 | "Pagen hojt paa Taarnet sad" (The page sat in the lofty tower) | Unpublished | |
| 1898 | V/18 | "Traum Rosen" (Dream Roses) | Unpublished | |
| 1898 | V/19 | Lieder nach Gedichten von Friedrich Nietzsche (Songs after poems by Fredrich Nietzsche): 1. "Nach neuen Meeren" (By New Seas); 2. "Der Wanderer" (The Wanderer); 3. "Der Einsame" (The Lonely One); 4. "Der Wanderer und sein Schatten" (The Wanderer and his Shadow) | | |
| 1898 | V/20 | "Im Glück wir lachend gingen" (In bliss we walked with laughter) | | |
| 1900 | V/21 | Two songs from the Danish: 1. "The Violet"; 2. "Autumn" | "The Violet" accompaniment orchestrated, 1908 | |
| 1900 | V/22 | "Black Roses" | | |
| 1901 | V/23 | "Jeg horer i Natten" (I hear in the night) | Unpublished | |
| 1902 | V/24 | "Summer Landscape" | Orchestral accompaniment 1903 | |
| 1910 | V/25 | "The Nightingale has a Lyre of Gold" | | |
| 1911 | V/26 | "La Lune blanche" (The white moon) (Verlaine poem) | Orchestral accompaniment 1911 | |
| 1911 | V/27 | "Chanson d'Automne" (Song of Autumn) (Verlaine poem) | | |
| 1913 | V/28 | "I-Brasil" | | |
| 1913 | V/29 | Two songs for children: 1. "Little Birdie"; 2. "The Streamlet's Slumber Song" | | |
| 1915–16 | V/30 | Four old English lyrics: 1. "It was a lover and his lass"; 2. "So white, so soft, so sweet is she"; 3. "Spring, the sweet Spring"; 4. "To Daffodils" | | |
| 1919 | V/31 | "Avant que tu ne t'en ailles" (Morning Star) | | | |
Works for orchestra alone
| Year(s) composed | RT | Title | First performance | Comments | Ref. |
|---|
| 1887 | VI/1 | Florida Suite | Leipzig, 1888 | Revised 1889 | |
| 1888 | VI/2 | Hiawatha (tone poem) | | | |
| 1888 | VI/3 | Rhapsodic Variations | | Incomplete | |
| 1888 | VI/4 | Three pieces for string orchestra | | | [7] |
| 1889 | VI/5 | Idylle de Printemps | | | |
| 1889–90 | VI/6 | Orchestral suite (Petite Suite No. 1)- Marche
- Berceuse
- Scherzo
- Duo
- Theme with variations
| London, 18 November 1946 | | |
| 1889 (approx.) | VI/6a | Suite of 3 Characteristic pieces- La Quadroöne (Rhadsodie Floridienne)
- Scherzo
- Marche Caprice
| | | |
| 1889 (approx) | VI/6b | Marche Française | | | |
| 1890 | VI/7 | Three small tone-poems: - Summer Evening
- Winter Night (Sleigh Ride)
- Spring Morning
| London, 2 January 1949 | | |
| 1890 (approx.) | VI/8 | A l'Amore | | | |
| 1890 | VI/9 | Orchestral Suite (Petite Suite No. 2)- Allegro ma non troppo
- Con moto
- Allegretto
| | | |
| 1890–92 | VI/10 | Paa Vidderne (On the Mountains) - symphonic poem | Christiania, Norway, 10 October 1891 | | |
| c. 1891 | | Mazurka | | Incomplete sketch | |
| 1895–97 | VI/11 | Over the hills and far away (fantasy overture) | London, 30 May 1899 | | |
| 1896 | VI/12 | Appalachia: an American rhapsody | | Orchestral version, later adapted for solo and chorus | |
| 1899 | VI/13 | La Ronde se déroule (The Dance Goes On) | London, 30 May 1899 | Revised, 1901, as "Lebenstanz" (Life's Dance) | |
| 1899 | VI/14 | | Elberfeld, 1901 | | |
| 1901 | VI/15 | Lebenstanz (Life's Dance) | Düsseldorf, February 1904 | Further revised, 1912 | |
| 1907 | VI/16 | Brigg Fair | Basel, 1907 | | |
| 1908 | VI/17 | In a Summer Garden | London, 11 December 1909 | Delius conducted the first performance | |
| 1908 | VI/18 | Dance Rhapsody (No. 1) | Hereford (Three Choirs Festival) 8 September 1909 | Delius conducted the first performance | |
| 1911–12 | VI/19 | Two pieces for small orchestra:- On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
- Summer Night on the River
| Leipzig, 2 October 1913 | | |
| 1912 | VI/15 | Life's Dance (final version) | Berlin, 15 November 1912. | Revised from 1901 | |
| 1913–14 | VI/20 | North Country Sketches | London, 10 May 1915 | | |
| 1915 | VI/21 | Air and Dance | London, Aeolian Hall, 16 October 1929[8] | | |
| 1916 | VI/22 | Dance Rhapsody (No. 2) | | | |
| 1917 | VI/23 | Eventyr (Once Upon a Time) | London. 11 January 1919 | | |
| 1918 | VI/24 | A Song before Sunrise | | | |
| 1918 | VI/25 | Poem of Life and Love | | Incomplete, lost | |
| 1929-30 | VI/26 | A Song of Summer | London, 17 September 1932 | | |
| 1931 | VI/27 | Irmelin prelude | | | |
| 1931 | VI/28 | Fantastic Dance | London, 12 January 1934 | | |
| undated | | On the moors (Impressions of Nature) | | Incomplete sketch | |
| undated | | Sunday morning on the moors | | Incomplete sketch | |
| undated | | Mountain poem | | Incomplete sketch | | |
Works for solo instrument(s) and orchestra
| Year(s) composed | RT | Title | First performance | Comments | Ref. |
|---|
| 1888 | VII/1 | Suite for violin and orchestra | | | |
| 1890 | VII/2 | Legendes (Sagen) for piano and orchestra | | | |
| 1895 | VII/3 | Legende for violin and orchestra | | Later revised for violin and piano | |
| 1897 | VII/4 | Piano Concerto in C minor | Elberfeld, 1904 | 1st movement revised 1906 | |
| VII/4a | Rhapsody for piano and orchestra | | | |
| 1915 | VII/5 | Double Concerto for violin and violoncello | London, 21 February 1920 | | |
| 1916 | VII/6 | Violin Concerto | London, 30 January 1919 | | |
| 1921 | VII/7 | Cello Concerto | Vienna, 30 January 1923 | | |
| 1930 | VII/8 | Caprice and Elegy for cello and chamber orchestra | | | |
| undated | | Second Piano Concerto | | Incomplete sketch | |
| undated | | Fantaisie for piano and orchestra | | Incomplete sketch | | |
Chamber music
| Year(s) composed | RT | Title | Instrumental forces | First performance | Comments | Ref. |
|---|
| 1888 | VIII/1 | First string quartet | | | | |
| 1889 | VIII/2 | Romance | Violin, piano | | | |
| c. 1890 | | Vasantasena for violin and piano | Violin and piano | | Incomplete sketch | |
| 1892 | VIII/3 | Violin Sonata in B major | Violin, piano | Achille Rivarde with Harold Bauer, Paris 1893 (private performance)
| | [9] [10] |
| 1893 | VIII/4 | Second string quartet | | | | |
| 1896 | VIII/5 | Romance | Cello, piano | | | |
| 1905–14 | VIII/6 | Violin Sonata No. 1 | Violin, piano | Manchester, 1915 | | |
| 1916 | VIII/7 | Cello Sonata | Cello, piano | London, 11 January 1919 | | |
| 1916 | VIII/8 | String quartet (1916) | | London, 1 February 1919 | | |
| 1923 | VIII/9 | Violin Sonata No. 2 | Violin and piano | London, 7 October 1924 | | |
| c. 1923 | | Sonata for violin and piano in C | Violin and piano | | Incomplete sketch | |
| 1930 | VIII/10 | Violin Sonata No. 3 | Violin and piano | London, 6 November 1930 | | | |
Piano solos
| Year(s) composed | RT | Title | First performance | Comments | Ref. |
|---|
| 1885 | IX/1 | Zum Carnival | | written before first departure from Florida | |
| undated | IX/2 | Pensees mélodieuses (Melodious thoughts) | | | |
| undated | IX/3 | Norwegian Sleigh Ride | | | |
| undated | IX/4 | Badinage (Danse lente) | | | |
| undated | IX/5 | Two piano pieces: 1. Valse; 2. Reverie | | | |
| 1919 | IX/6 | Dance for Harpsichord | | | |
| 1922–23 | IX/7 | Five piano pieces: 1–2. Mazurka and Waltz for a Little Girl; 3. Waltz; 4. Lullaby for a Modern Baby; 5. Toccata | | | |
| 1923 | IX/8 | Three piano preludes: 1. Scherzando; 2. Quick; 3. Con moto | London 4 September 1924 | | |
| undated | | Presto leggiero for piano | | Unpublished piano solo | | |
Notes and References
- Book: Fenby, Eric . Eric Fenby . The Great Composers: Delius . Faber and Faber . London . 1971 . 978-0-571-09296-3.
- Anthony Payne . Payne . Anthony . Delius's Stylistic Development . Tempo . Cambridge University Press . 60 . Winter 1961–62 . 6–16. 10.1017/S0040298200055662 . 145521419 .
- Book: Stanley Sadie . Sadie . Stanley . New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Volume 5 . 342 . Macmillan . London . 1980 . 978-0-333-23111-1.
- Peter Warlock . Heseltine . Philip . Some Notes on Delius and his Music . The Musical Times . 56 . 865 . March 1915 . 137–42 . 10.2307/909510. 909510 .
- Book: Stanley Sadie . Sadie . Stanley . New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Volume 5 . 343 . Macmillan . London . 1980 . 978-0-333-23111-1.
- Liner notes from A Mass of Life & Prelude and Idyll Naxos 8.572861-62
- Web site: Threlfall. Robert. A Catalogue of the Works of Frederick Delius. The Thompsonian Institution. 1977. 14 January 2011.
- Web site: Naxos . 3 February 2013 . 25 October 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131025084530/http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.555068&catNum=555068&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English . dead .
- http://www.tamino-klassikforum.de/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=8248 Tamino Classic Forum
- The Delius Society Journal . 87 . Autumn 1985 . The Music of Delius . March 1945 . Harrison . May . May Harrison . Lloyd . Stephen . 37. (originally appeared in the Journal of the Royal Musical Association, vol. 71, 1944, pp. 43-48)
