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Delius Symphony
Posted by Jeffrey Lague on June 11, 2023, 12:30 pm
In "Harold Bauer - His Book" Bauer writes, "When I came to the United States in 1900, I brought the score of his (i.e. Delius') symphony "Leaves of Grass" to submit to Mr. Gericke, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, who did not like the work. I do not know if it has ever been played in America."
Now, for around sixty years, I've had a love for Delius' music and an interest in the details of his life - I even had Eric Fenby as one of the examiners at my final Viva Voce exam, although not by choice ! - but before I read this passage I had never heard of a symphony written by Delius. At first, considering the subtitle, I thought Bauer might have thought of "Sea Drift" as some sort of choral symphony but it didn't take long to ascertain that that particular work was completed several years later. If Bauer took the score to America did it remain there? Might there be some library that contains the score of a symphony written by Delius?
I'd be interested to know if anybody else has ever heard of a symphony by Delius.
Re: Delius Symphony
Posted by Rob Barnett on June 13, 2023, 7:10 pm, in reply to "Delius Symphony"
I thought I would show this to Stephen Lloyd who has been associated with the Delius Society for quite some time. Here is Stephen's observation:-
"It seems likely that Harold Bauer has got his dates wrong. He must surely be referring to Sea Drift in which Delius memorably set words from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. But that was first performed, in Germany, in 1906, so 1900 cannot be correct. The term ‘symphony’ has loosely been used to describe certain other works of Delius’s: The Song of the High Hills has been referred to by one or two commentators as a choral symphony, and we find Jelka Delius in 1918 writing ‘Fred has quite finished his Symphony’ when referring to A Poem of Life and Love which is far from being a symphony. Delius certainly wrote no symphony as such and I feel fairly sure that Bauer must have been referring to Sea Drift." Stephen Lloyd
Re: Delius Symphony
Posted by Jeffrey Lague on June 14, 2023, 5:01 pm, in reply to "Re: Delius Symphony"
Thanks for that Rob. In fact, I e-mailed the Delius Society only yesterday but, understandably, have received no reply just yet.
The Bauer memoirs are certainly rather randomly put together in a rather casual, chatty style and I certainly wouldn't rely on them for absolute accuracy. However, certain aspects of this "Delius Symphony" question still pose a puzzle. Bauer , who had been living in Paris and knew Delius well, had been invited to the USA to perform with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; the archives of the Boston orchestra show that he first performed with them (Brahms D minor Concerto) on 30 November 1900 with Gericke conducting , so that part of the tale adds up. At another point in the memoirs Bauer tells how he had sailed to the USA in order to make his debut on the "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" and encountered some terribly stormy during which "A wave burst into the cabin...and I was greatly concerned for the manuscript of Fritz Delius' symphony which, as related elsewhere, I had promised to submit to the conductor of the Boston Symphony. Fortunately no damage was done to the music." This incident certainly appears to date the "Symphony" as having existed in 1900. The fact that Bauer refers to a "Manuscript" makes me wonder if the piece might have been an early draft of "Sea Drift" or , indeed, another Whitman-inspired work of symphonic proportions which has subsequently been lost or mislaid.
I thought I would show this to Stephen Lloyd who has been associated with the Delius Society for quite some time. Here is Stephen's observation:-
"It seems likely that Harold Bauer has got his dates wrong. He must surely be referring to Sea Drift in which Delius memorably set words from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. But that was first performed, in Germany, in 1906, so 1900 cannot be correct. The term ‘symphony’ has loosely been used to describe certain other works of Delius’s: The Song of the High Hills has been referred to by one or two commentators as a choral symphony, and we find Jelka Delius in 1918 writing ‘Fred has quite finished his Symphony’ when referring to A Poem of Life and Love which is far from being a symphony. Delius certainly wrote no symphony as such and I feel fairly sure that Bauer must have been referring to Sea Drift." Stephen Lloyd
Re: Delius Symphony
Posted by Jeffrey Lague on June 15, 2023, 10:57 am, in reply to "Re: Delius Symphony"
Just a few further thoughts to add to my previous observations: Bauer's book was written towards the end of his life, in 1948, as a result of pressure from his wife to do so; he doesn't appear to have kept any diaries and so was re-constructing events from memory and I know full well how memory plays tricks and makes distortions of facts over the years. However there is interesting evidence of Bauer's performances with the Boston Orchestra and the conductor Wilhelm Gericke to be found at the archives of the orchestra which can be consulted online.
It's been suggested that the "Symphony" in question was in fact "Sea Drift" and that Bauer had got both the title and the date when he showed it to Gericke wrong. I find that Sea Drift was completed in 1903-1904 ( does that mean that it's not known exactly when Delius completed the work?) and first performed in May1906 in Essen and also published in that year by Harmonie Verlag, Berlin. Tying these dates up with Bauer's performances with the Boston Orchestra we find that he performed four times in 1903 in the months of October and November and then not again until February 1906, when he played six concerts, the last of them on the 20th of the month.
If Sea Drift was not completed until 1904 , 1903 is ruled out for the occasion of Bauer's submitting the manuscript to Gericke for approval and possible performance. If 1906 is assumed to be the occasion in question we are presented with the scenario of Bauer being entrusted to take the autograph manuscript of a work to the USA which was to receive its first performance in Germany only three months later and was to be printed for the first time later in the same year. Both of the above possibilities therefore seem unlikely. Indeed, in Bauer's book the taking of the "Symphony" to the USA seems to be firmly linked in his mind with his American debut and the rough weather experienced on the crossing in 1900. I'm inclined to believe that Bauer didn't get his dates wrong but that still leaves the question, "What exactly was the Delius Symphony that he writes about?"
Previous Message
Thanks for that Rob. In fact, I e-mailed the Delius Society only yesterday but, understandably, have received no reply just yet.
The Bauer memoirs are certainly rather randomly put together in a rather casual, chatty style and I certainly wouldn't rely on them for absolute accuracy. However, certain aspects of this "Delius Symphony" question still pose a puzzle. Bauer , who had been living in Paris and knew Delius well, had been invited to the USA to perform with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; the archives of the Boston orchestra show that he first performed with them (Brahms D minor Concerto) on 30 November 1900 with Gericke conducting , so that part of the tale adds up. At another point in the memoirs Bauer tells how he had sailed to the USA in order to make his debut on the "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" and encountered some terribly stormy during which "A wave burst into the cabin...and I was greatly concerned for the manuscript of Fritz Delius' symphony which, as related elsewhere, I had promised to submit to the conductor of the Boston Symphony. Fortunately no damage was done to the music." This incident certainly appears to date the "Symphony" as having existed in 1900. The fact that Bauer refers to a "Manuscript" makes me wonder if the piece might have been an early draft of "Sea Drift" or , indeed, another Whitman-inspired work of symphonic proportions which has subsequently been lost or mislaid.
I thought I would show this to Stephen Lloyd who has been associated with the Delius Society for quite some time. Here is Stephen's observation:-
"It seems likely that Harold Bauer has got his dates wrong. He must surely be referring to Sea Drift in which Delius memorably set words from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. But that was first performed, in Germany, in 1906, so 1900 cannot be correct. The term ‘symphony’ has loosely been used to describe certain other works of Delius’s: The Song of the High Hills has been referred to by one or two commentators as a choral symphony, and we find Jelka Delius in 1918 writing ‘Fred has quite finished his Symphony’ when referring to A Poem of Life and Love which is far from being a symphony. Delius certainly wrote no symphony as such and I feel fairly sure that Bauer must have been referring to Sea Drift." Stephen Lloyd
Re: Delius Symphony
Posted by Jeffrey Lague on June 27, 2023, 2:12 pm, in reply to "Delius Symphony" Edited by board administrator June 27, 2023, 9:49 pm
I found the following passage in a chapter on Delius by Cecil Gray that might be relevant in the present context. Bearing in mind that Gray calls "Paris" (1899) "a comparatively late work" he writes,
"I myself have seen the manuscripts of quite twenty early works, all in the larger forms, and including several operas, written in the course of a very few years. In them Delius reveals as sound a technical training and as complete a mastery of conventional conservatoire musicianship as any academy professor could desire."
Not discounting the operas, the early violin sonata, the first version of the piano concerto, the Florida suite, Over the Hills and Far away, and several other things of larger proportions written prior to 1899 it's still difficult to reach a tally of "quite twenty early works" in the larger forms known to have been written by Delius. Of course, like Bauer's mention of a "Symphony" it's all too vague and generalised to draw any conclusions, but it makes me wonder if there are some larger Delius works, perhaps including a "Leaves of Grass symphony" awaiting re-discovery.