Beecham on Delius

 Sir Thomas Beecham was the greatest champion of Delius' music.  He first heard Delius' music in 1907 and his reaction was immediate.  Beecham became a close friend of the composer and conducted many British premieres and world premieres of Delius works.  He conducted the orchestral concerts of the momentous 1929 Delius Festival with Delius himself in the audience. Beecham's recordings of Delius' music became the standard to which all others are compared.  In 1959 Beecham's book-length biography of Delius was published.

Here are two RealAudio sound files of Beecham speaking about Delius' music.  These recordings were included on EMI's Delius LP Box Set Volume 1, now out of print.  These recordings are no longer commercially available, and are provided here because of their historical interest to students of Delius' music.

You must have the free RealAudio Player (Version 3.0) to hear these files.


Beecham on Delius' "A Mass of Life" (1951)
beechmas.zip         beechmas.ra         beechmas.mp3
Duration 16:29
Sir Thomas gives an overview of this Delius masterwork, plays examples on the piano, and conducts an excerpt.
Download the file and play it locally with RealPlayer.

Liner notes and a review of the 1972 recording of A MASS OF LIFE


BBC Interview:  Beecham's Delius Biography (1959)
beechbbc.zip        beechbbc.ra           beechbbc.mp3
Duration 10:53 
Sir Thomas is interviewed by Edmund Tracy and gives the background for his writing his Delius biography, as well as general observations about Delius and his music.
Download the file and play it locally with RealPlayer.



 
 
 

Back to the Delius Page