The
1929 Delius Festival
In the fall of 1929, Sir Thomas Beecham (assisted by Philip
Heseltine/Peter
Warlock) organized a monumental series of six concerts of the music of
Frederick Delius. Four of the concerts presented Delius' major
orchestral
and choral works, conducted by Beecham; the other two concerts featured
chamber music and part-songs.
Frederick Delius, now aged 67 and infirm, traveled to London from
France
with his wife Jelka to attend the Festival concerts. He was able to
hear
his great works performed in the concert hall one last time. The
Festival
was a triumph, and Delius was acclaimed as a true genius of music.
Scans
of the entire program for the first concert of the Festival (October
12,
1929)
Ernest Newman's article
written after the 1929 Festival (from the New York Times Magazine
3-16-1930)
Read a poem authored by Bruce Blunt after
he attended the 1929 Delius Festival Concerts
Ernest
Procter's painting of Delius at the 1929 Delius Festival concerts
Although I'd love to tell you that recordings of the 1929 Delius
Festival have recently been discovered in the BBC Archives and are
being
restored by Dutton Laboratories in pristine digital sound for release
on
a deluxe CD Box Set .......BUT that's just wishful thinking!
However,
modern recordings of most of these works are accessible to the Delius
collector,
and so it is possible for you to "re-enact" the 1929 Delius Festival
concerts
on your own stereo.
Here are the complete programs for the 1929 Delius Festival.
CONCERT 1: Saturday, October 12 at 3 PM at the Queen's Hall
Orchestra of the Columbia Gramophone Company conducted by Sir Thomas
Beecham
- Brigg Fair.
- A Late Lark (First Performance).
- Dance Rhapsody No. 2.
- Sea Drift.
- In a Summer Garden.
- A Village Romeo and Juliet (excerpt).
See
scans
of the entire program for this concert (October 12, 1929)
CONCERT 2: Wednesday, October 16 at 8:30 PM at the Aeolian Hall
- A Song Before Sunrise. (Charles Woodhouse, leader)
- Seven Norwegian Songs for voice and pianoforte.
- Cello Sonata.
- Summer Night on the River.
- Air and Dance for String Orchestra (First Performance).
- Six Songs for voice and pianoforte:
- Black Roses.
- Chanson d'automne.
- Silken Shoes.
- Y-Brasil.
- Das Veilchen.
- Spielmann.
- Three Preludes.
- Dance for Harpsichord.
- Five Pieces (Mazurka and Waltz, Waltz, Lullaby, Toccata).
- Six songs for voice and pianoforte:
- Irmelin.
- To Daffodils.
- The Nightingale has a Lyre of Gold.
- Il pleure dans mon coeur.
- So white, so soft, so sweet is she.
- Let springtime come then.
- On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring.
CONCERT 3: Friday, October 18 at 8:00 PM at the Queen's Hall
BBC Orchestra conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham (Arthur Catteral, leader)
- Eventyr: Ballad for Orchestra.
- Cynara: a poem by Dowson, set for baritone and orchestra (First
Performance).
- Concerto for Pianoforte and Orchestra (Revised Version 1906).
- Arabesk: a poem by Jacobsen, set for baritone solo, chorus and
orchestra.
- Appalachia: Variations on an old Negro Song for orchestra and
chorus.
CONCERT 4: Wednesday, October 23 at 8:30 PM at the Aeolian Hall
- Three Unaccompanied Choruses:
- The Splendour Falls (Tennyson).
- On Craig Dhu (Symons).
- Midsummer Song.
- Four songs for voice and pianoforte:
- The Nightingale.
- Autumn.
- La Lune Blanche.
- Klein Venevil.
- Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Pianoforte.
- Three songs for voice and pianoforte:
- Indian Love Song.
- Love's Philosophy.
- To the Queen of my Heart.
- Two Unaccompanied Choruses (to be sung of a summer night on the
water).
- Four songs for voice and pianoforte:
- Twilight Fancies.
- Am schonsten Sommerabend war's.
- Margaret's Lullaby.
- Spring, the sweet Spring.
CONCERT 5: Thursday, October 24 at 8:00 PM at the Queens' Hall
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and London Select Choir conducted by Sir
Thomas
Beecham
- North Country Sketches.
- Songs of Sunset.
- Violin Concerto.
- Dance Rhapsody No. 1.
- Gerda. (Note: This is the final section of the music drama
"Fennimore
and
Gerda")
CONCERT 6: Friday, November 1 at 8:00 PM at the Queens's Hall
BBC Orchestra conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham (Charles Woodhouse,
leader)
Philharmonic Choir with soloists conducted by Charles Kennedy Scott
Well, there you have it. May the conductors, choirs and orchestras
of
the world review these program listings and emulate them often!
The 1899 Concert
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