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Beecham Conducts Delius: The Complete Stereo Recordings

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This set has the power to bring back a sense of wonder to even the most jaded of today's listeners. Something of the magic of the early stereo era is conveyed. If the LP equivalents sounded half as good as this, they must have been some kind of landmark in the history of recording. I would love to have been there to experience the sense of revelation that these recordings brought to their first listeners.

Beecham was and is the undisputed master of this music. Following along with the score of "Brigg Fair", "A Dance Rhapsody" and "Two Pieces for Small Orchestra" as I listen to Beecham conduct them, I fully appreciate how complete Beecham's seduction of his players was. There is no feeling that an interpreter is imposing his will but rather of complete identification with the spirit of the music, a sense of fantasy and, again, wonder. It's as if Delius is speaking directly to us and surely that is the mark of a great performance!

Here you've got probably the most essential set of Delius recordings ever made. Thomas Beecham, the composer's ardent champion of many decades, made the most of this opportunity to record (and re-record) many key works in stereo. The playing of his Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is exemplary, with some gorgeous woodwind soloing.

Delius is an elusive but highly original composer with a rhapsodic style; an acquired taste, he can definitely grow on one with repeated listenings. A kind of English impressionist (born the same year as Debussy), he was also a major inspiration to Duke Ellington. Here you'll find some of the finest short tone poems ever composed, such as "Summer Evening," "On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring," "Summer Night on the River," and "A Song before Sunset"--all gloriously poetic evocations of the natural world and presented here in definitive interpretations. The early four-movement "Florida Suite" is another favorite, and it's recorded here, as are several other works, in Beecham's own editions.

The highlight, however, is the final and longest piece on this set, "Songs of Sunset," a choral work with baritone and contralto soloists that sets passages by Ernest Dowson (a short-lived and largely forgotten nineteenth-century English poet who contributed several immortal phrases to the language, including "days of wine and roses" and "gone with the wind"). Australian baritone John Cameron is wonderful with his rich, mahogany voice, and Canadian contralto Maureen Forrester is simply transcendent, as she is also in the classic Bruno Walter recording of Mahler's 2nd. The passage "and dream we shall lie,/ Red mouth to mouth, entwined" is ecstatic--pure aural magic.

As an introduction to Delius's music, this can't be topped. And for the true Delian, it's desert island material.

Sir Thomas Beecham's tireless championing of his friend, Frederick Delius, is preserved in a series of recordings, made over a thirty year period (1927 to 1957). The endless fascination of this body of work lies in its marriage of old-world musical craftsmanship to a sheer poetic intuition which only the crustiest of curmudgeons could dismiss.

Beecham's commercially released Delius can be divided into three broad categories: the pre-war 78s (1927-38); the post-war mono 78s & LPs (1945-56, including several 1945-46 efforts which Beecham rejected, a few of which I will mention); and these stereo sessions of 1956-57. (You COULD divide the first category into "pre-London Phil" and "London Phil", but skip it.) Some of these works were recorded up to three times, i.e., in all three "eras".

Delius's "amanuensis", the late Eric Fenby, always preferred Beecham's pre-war 78s for their greater freshness of feeling, and, often enough, it is true that "earlier is better". But with Beecham's Delius, the question is "HOW MUCH earlier?"

Now, there is no denying the unique qualities of the pre-war discs. (For instance, the 1934 PARIS and the 1927 FIRST CUKOO IN SPRING blow the post-war mono versions out of the water, in every way but recorded sound. And the concert arrangement of THE WALK TO THE PARADISE GARDEN qualifies as the most unique of these 78s: Beecham recorded it just this once, during his entire career - in 1927 !) Still, yours truly finds most of the post-war "monos" as fresh in feeling as the pre-war 78s - with the added advantages of superior sound AND an often greater understanding of pacing. In ten instances, I actually prefer them:

(1) The 1946 (vs. the 1929) BRIGG FAIR. Admittedly, Delius himself knew and loved the earlier record (which must make it "authoritative"), and in his benchmark review of Beecham's Delius recordings in WHILE SPRING AND SUMMER SANG, Lyndon Jenkins also prefers the 1929, hands down. Indeed, the 1929 is a more overtly Romantic - even "perfumed" - performance. And SOMM's amazing transfer proves this recording to be far more, sonically speaking, than the "mere relic" described by Jenkins (who almost certainly referred to another transfer). But with all due respect to Mr. Jenkins, the 1946 coalesces even better; it makes the same emotional points, while seeming to emerge from a more contemplative "quiet". I dare to think I am on solid Delian ground, here: Eric Fenby, more than once, described the music of Delius as emerging from, and fading back into, silence. The stereo BRIGG FAIR attempts to replicate this approach, but with less energy. A new listener would find it superb, but once the earlier ones are experienced, there is no going back (er, um, "forward").

2) The 1950 (vs. the 1936) OVER THE HILLS & FAR AWAY. Aside from better recorded sound, its slightly more leisurely pace and superior wind playing seem to better convey the Griegian, "misterioso" spiritual state to which this work aspires. The stereo version not only radiates less energy than its mono antecedants; it is not even played as well.

(3) The 1951 (vs. the 1936) IN A SUMMER GARDEN. About 30 seconds longer, the 1951 runs deeper and wanders a bit further into the "garden", although the '36 has an air of contemplative nonchalance and "emerging from silence" - similar to the '46 BRIGG FAIR - which is just as effective in its own right. (Fenby decidedly preferred the '36. And there is no stereo version.)

(4) The 1949 (vs. the 1928 & 1935) SUMMER NIGHT ON THE RIVER. This not only has more vivid sound, but more intense feeling; the woodwind execution is also superior. This is paramount, near the end, in those off-beat, pointillistic chords which, when more smoothly meshed into the overall texture, enhance this work's intended langorous, nocturnal ambiance. To my ears, the stereo version (yes, Beecham actually recorded this FOUR times) lacks the potent atmosphere of the mono 1949.

(5) The 1954 (vs. the 1936) SEA DRIFT. Better recording, better playing and choral backdrop, more intense feeling, and Delius's occasionally awkward text-setting is "finessed" far more successfully by Beecham and baritone Bruce Boyce. Other than that...

(6) The 1952 (vs. the 1938) APPALACHIA. As with SEA DRIFT: better sound, playing, singing, AND more atmosphere - especially toward the end, in the passage for muted strings, which Fenby cited as the first truly contemplative or "visionary" music in Delius.

(7) The 1951 (vs. the 1934) EVENTYR. True, the two vocal cries of "Aye !" are more lusty in 1934, and there is no denying the unique sound of the earlier, LPO strings. Each performance offers its own set of shadings and beauties; both positively REEK of childhood fantasy and pixie-dust. But the last offers better recorded sound and clarity of texture, more finely judged pacing (the opening tempo sounds even more "right"), better overall playing (the woodwinds, especially, outdo themselves), and even greater freshness of feeling.

(8) The 1946 IRMELIN Prelude inhabits a perfect median between what Jenkins rightly calls the "swiftness" of the 1938 and the "more leisurely" pace of the 1956 stereo. This little Prelude, dictated to Fenby by the blind and paralyzed Delius, is based on themes from Acts I & III of the composer's youthful opera. (After Beecham's 1953 staging of IRMELIN, he tapped into Act II and fashioned the enchanting orchestral 'Scenes from Irmelin'. About 17 minutes long, and never commercially recorded, its only surviving Beecham performance is a 1954 air check, now available on a BBC disc. Should you encounter this, DO NOT PASS IT UP. "Slight" and youthful as it may be, no music captures lost innocence as powerfully as this.)

(9) The 1951 (vs. the 1934) KOANGA Closing Scene. Again, better sound and playing, with 29 measures of music which were cut from the 1934. What more could you want?

(10) With the HASSAN Incidental Music : the 1952 (vs. the 1934) "Intermezzo & Serenade", and the 1955 (vs. the 1938) "Road to Samarkand".

Yes, the 1934 "Serenade" has the solo violin of Paul Beard; once you hear his shot-silk tone, you will never forget it. But Beecham's 1952 tempo enhances the lyrical flow of this little gem, even better.

In 1955-56, in mono, Beecham taped 11 pieces of the HASSAN Incidental Music : this included his third recorded version of the "Intermezzo & Serenade", the second of "Road to Samarkand", and 8 others which are commercial "once-only"s for Beecham. The new "Samarkand" is more convincing than the '38, in every way: tempo, choral backdrop, sound. But the 1955-56 orchestra sounds larger than in 1952; with the "Intermezzo & Serenade", this results in a distinct loss of chamber-music intimacy.

(The PRISTINE, SOMM and DUTTON transfers of the pre-war Columbia 78s are mostly superior to those on NAXOS; the DUTTON and SONY transfers of the post-war mono HMVs & Columbias, respectively, are also excellent.)

Before concluding with the remaining stereo recordings, and for the sake of "completeness" :
(a) Beecham, as pianist and/or conductor, recorded 10 individual songs of Delius, from 1929 to 1951.
(b) In terms of the remaining large-scale works : Beecham, from 1946 to 1953, made his only commercial recordings of the PIANO & VIOLIN CONCERTOS; ON THE MOUNTAINS (unreleased until the Beecham Centennial of 1979); AN ARABESQUE; THE SONG OF THE HIGH HILLS; A VILLAGE ROMEO & JULIET (although the BBC broadcast version has been released on SOMM, many Delians finding it superior to the commercial set); NORTH COUNTRY SKETCHES; DANCE RHAPSODY NO. 1; and A MASS OF LIFE. (IMHO, the last three are among Beecham's greatest recordings of ANYTHING.)

Apart from the exquisite FIRST CUKOO, the tart MARCHE CAPRICE, and the stunning DANCE RHAPSODY NO. 2, the stereo re-makes of the post-war "monos" tend to prove Fenby right: they come off as less convincing and "freshly feelinged". (Compare the stereo and the 1949 "monos" of both SUMMER EVENING and A SONG BEFORE SUNRISE.) However, Beecham recorded no complete commercial post-war "monos" of the FLORIDA Suite, SLEIGH RIDE, the FENNIMORE & GERDA Intermezzo, or SONGS OF SUNSET (although an incomplete 1946 SUNSET, rejected by Beecham, was released in 1979).

There are three Beecham recordings of the sultry DANCE RHAPSODY NO. 2, the first two of which he rejected: 1945 with the LPO; 1946 with the newly formed RPO (in fact, their very first recording together); and the 1956 RPO stereo. The 1946 was released in 1979, and Jenkins finds it "more spirited." It IS a winner, and quicker on its feet. Why Beecham rejected it is unclear : he may have felt that his new ensemble needed further time to "coalesce." But yours truly prefers the stereo for its deeper sensual "musk" - for lack of a better term - to say nothing of sound quality.

The FLORIDA SUITE is a once-only recording for Sir Tommy (apart from his 1938 "La Calinda", the dance which forms the second half of FLORIDA's first movement and which also pops up in the opera KOANGA). Yes, FLORIDA is an early work; it lacks the contemplative content of, say, APPALACHIA and SEA DRIFT; and, at first, it may sound like Grieg-Goes-To-The-Tropics. Still, it IS the first major orchestral work of Delius, its tunes are memorable, and its orchestration translates into pure musical 'sunlight'. That is to say, this was Delius's first (and successful) attempt to capture the exotic and "far way", and you will almost certainly ENJOY it.

SONGS OF SUNSET : This is perfectly paced and exquisitely recorded - even if Sir Tommy himself was dissatisfied with it. (It was posthumously released in 1963, in a legendarily bad mono mix; not until 1980 was it released in its true stereo format.) But under Beecham's firm hand, an aching sense of twilight and regret - amidst thoughts of autumn, spring, life, sex and death - is caught, and held, in a strict artistic discipline which never steps over the line into mawkishness. This is particlularly affecting in "I was not sorrowful", where (as in the later ARABESK) "soft", pentatonic harmonies anticipate passages in Mahler's DAS LIED VON DER ERDE and Puccini's TURNADOT - without the intended "orientalism" or "chinoiserie" of those works.

With the FENNIMORE & GERDA Intermezzo, Jenkins prefers the 1936 for the improvisation-tinged solo oboe of Leon Goosens (which IS extraordinary), as well as Beecham's deft accompaniment (also extraordinary). But sonically and atmospherically, the stereo version is even more of an unfolding slice of Northern Twilight.

There is a definite Celtic tang to the MARCHE CAPRICE, even if its contrasting, cello/oboe tune seems Slavic enough to have wandered off the stage from PRINCE IGOR. And leave it to Beecham to point out the connective, Scandinavian reason for the "remarkable resemblance between Russian and Irish melodies," which is that "The Vikings invaded and left their stamp on Russia in the eighth [century], and Ireland in the tenth...Some of the music of PRINCE IGOR can be found note for note, cadence for cadence in Irish tunes." (THE OBSERVER, May 26, 1935) This stereo version is played better than the more brisk 1946 mono, and accomodates this work's A-B-A-B contrasts more successfully. (Sometimes, later IS better.)

Finally, to end an admittedly lengthy review: SLEIGH RIDE (a/k/a "Winter Night"), originally a piano piece, was composed for a Christmas Eve party at which Delius and Grieg were present and must have truly 'made merry'. By all means, enjoy it : here is Beecham's only recording of this little "spirit lifter" which, incidentally, was the very last piece of music he conducted (as the encore to his final concert, in Portsmouth, on May 7, 1960)...And by now, I would hope that you, the gentle reader, have ALREADY stopped reading, and started listening.

Delius was an eminent landscape painter musician if I may; he might be catalogued as late Impressionist. Temperament and lyric refinement are basically the most relevant features of his artistic profile.

To my mind there just have been three eminent conductors who have been able to capture with all fervor and slender elegance the magic of his compositions: Thomas Beecham, John Barbirolli and Anthony Collins.

The eulogizing devotion of Beecham to play the most of his compositions is worthy to admire, and in this sense he must be considered as the most genuine herald, pioneer and defender of his music, especially when Sir Edward Elgar seemed to cover practically all the spectral universe in the early decades of the XX Century.

Don't miss this album that will always keep for us the minim facets of that illuminated and talented composer.

This is a wonderful set of recordings for anyone looking to explore the work of Frederick Delius. If any set can be called definitive Delius, I think this must be it, for two reasons: 1) Beecham and Delius had a higher level of symbiosis than perhaps any other composer/conductor duo in history, and 2) these early, rich stereo recordings have far superior sound than any of the other Delius Beecham ever recorded, even if some of his earlier mono recordings might have featured somewhat better performances.

And I certainly feel strange calling these recordings definitive Delius since, as a glance at the track listing will show, many of them were actually edited (and in one case arranged) by Beecham, and are thus not even Delius's unaltered works. But such was the unusual relationship between Delius and Beecham that Delius would often grant that Beecham's edits actually conveyed his original intentions better than his original scores.

I have heard Delius called an "acquired taste" and that has certainly been my experience. His compositions can meander a bit, and I often wonder where this journey is taking us. But that's really kind of the point with Delius -- it's not the destination, but the journey that matters.

None are better than Delius at calling up the kind of imagery featured on the album cover -- rolling green hills and pastoral landscapes, often with the sound of birds thrown in. But these are not Olivier Messiaen birds, naturalistic in detail but in a modern, angular-sounding context. These are birds in a soft, English pastoral soundscape -- a pre-modern naturalism.

I could quibble with some of the selections -- I much prefer "Song of the High Hills" to "Songs of Sunset", for example. And I didn't hear much that was particularly Floridian-sounding in the Florida Suite -- indeed, one sequence recalled Russian dancing more than anything in Florida (outside Epcot, of course).

But no matter. This is the best-sounding collection of Delius by the all-time great Delius conductor. It gives a great overview selection of the composer's style and work, and features "On Hearing the First Cuckoo of Spring", which for many listeners is where Delius starts and ends. This collection takes you further, and leaves you wanting more -- once you have acquired the taste, at least.

Want to check out Delius? Start here. Ah, the days when conductors like Sir Thomas Beecham roamed the earth... Highly recommended.