FREDERICK DELIUS : Music, Art and Literature

This collection of twelve essays by an international group of contributors, reflects the truly cosmopolitan nature of Delius’s life and music. They reveal the manner in which he absorbed the culture of the nations he came to know, their music, art and literature, and the influence they brought to bear on his own work. Also discussed are some of the mixed, but rarely equivocal reactions that performances of his music have received over the years, with Lionel Carley’s in-depth study of the first production of Folkeraadet in 1897, and a wide-ranging analysis by Don Gillespie and Robert Beckhard of the critical reception of Delius’s music in the United States between 1909 and 1920.Delius’s travels brought him into contact with a large number of international artists, musicians and writers. The significance of these personal relationships to him is evident in the essays here, with examinations of his associations with the composers, Christian Sinding and Florent Schmitt, the close friendship which he and his wife had with the artist Ida Gerhardi, and their contacts with the artistic community in general at Grez-sur-Loing.The fresh perspectives on both Delius and his music offered in this collection is enhanced by a wealth of illustrations, a number of which have never before been published.