The Compositions of ERIC FENBY

(as listed or described in "FENBY ON DELIUS", Stephen Lloyd, editor)

PUBLISHED WORKS:

(with British Library catalogue reference)

FOR MUSIC ON THE EVE OF PALM SUNDAY
unacc. chorus, SATB, poem by R. Nichols, B&H 1933
(in the Winthrop Rogers Edition of Choral Music for Festivals) E.602.ss(7.)

FOR MUSIC ON THE EVE OF PALM SUNDAY
unacc. chorus, SATB, B&H 1938
(Winthrop Rogers Church Choral Series No. 11) F.1147

MAGNIFICAT AND NUNC DIMITTIS
B&H 1937
(Winthrop Rogers Church Choral Series No. 15) F.1147

ROSSINI ON ILKLA MOOR: Overture for Orchestra (1938)
Hawkes 1941 g.727.m.(4.)
Sound files for this work

ROSSINI ON ILKLA MOOR (arr. for military band by Norman Richardson)
B&H 1948 h.3211.b.

THE ABCA (ARMY BUREAU OF CURRENT AFFAIRS) SONG BOOK
(with C. Hassall, musical arrangements by Lieut. E. Fenby), 1944 B.934.

John Ireland THESE THINGS SHALL BE, piano reduction by Eric Fenby, 1937
(Winthrop Rogers Edition, B&H 8003) F.1267.t.(5.)

UNPUBLISHED WORKS (based on mentions in S. Lloyd's book):

(NOTE: Fenby destroyed most of these manuscripts. "As (Fenby) has remarked, with the humility that is one of his most endearing characteristics: 'I came to the conclusion that I had not the talent for really original composition. It is a very salutary thing for a young man to come into contact with genius, and as far as composition is concerned, only genius matters.'")

STRING QUARTET
SYMPHONY
PIECE FOR SMALL ORCHESTRA (c. 1921)
several ORCHESTRAL WORKS (c. 1923 - 28)
CELLO CONCERTO (1931)
CHORAL SETTING OF "THE HOUND OF HEAVEN" (Francis Thompson)
MILITARY MARCH (c. 1939-1940)

FILM SCORE: "JAMAICA INN" (1939)
Sound file for this work
Fenby composed a complete score for the Hitchcock film, but only the title and opening sequence (3 minutes) and the end title music (15 sec.) were used. "My problem with Hitchcock at the time was that he was going through an anti-music phase with strong preference for realism. For instance, in the cave scenes by the shore, he cut all the music in favour of the sound of wet bare feet walking on straw! ....Hitchcock, however, knew what he wanted, hence the slightly Wagnerian sea-music at the beginning, which was his idea. Happily I was paid for my complete score and I was offered two lucrative contracts in Hollywood, but the authorities refused me a permit, and I was called up for national service..." (Thus, another casualty of the war: Eric Fenby's career as a Hollywood composer. He would have been a great one!)

Hopefully, the complete score for JAMAICA INN will be restored, recorded and released on CD at some future date.

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