List of compositions by Frederick Delius
![](../I/m/Fritz_Delius_(1907).jpg)
Frederick Delius, photographed in 1907
The musical compositions of Frederick Delius (1862–1934) cover numerous genres, in a style that developed from the early influences of composers such as Edvard Grieg and Richard Wagner into a voice that was uniquely Delius's. He began serious composition at a relatively advanced age (his earliest songs date to his early twenties), and his music was largely unknown and unperformed until the early 20th century. It was a further ten years before his work was generally accepted in concert halls, and then more often in Europe than in his home country, England. Ill health caused him to give up composition in the early 1920s and he was silent for several years, before the services of a devoted amanuensis, Eric Fenby, enabled Delius to resume composing in 1928. The Delius-Fenby combination led to several notable late works.[1]
Chronological list of principal works
The "principal" works are those identified as such by Eric Fenby.[2] The division of Delius's work into phases – "apprentice", "middle period" has been suggested by many commentators, notably Anthony Payne in "Delius's Stylistic Development" (1962).[1]
Apprentice works, 1887–1899
"Middle period" works, 1900–06
Mature works, 1907–24
Late works
- 1929–30: A Song of Summer
- 1930: Sonata for violin and piano No. 3
- 1930: Songs of Farewell (setting of poems by Walt Whitman)
List of works by genre
A definitive catalogue of the works of Fredrick Delius was produced by Robert Threlfall in 1977, and a Supplement to it in 1986.[4] It is abbreviated as RT. The Robert Threlfall sectioning is a categorization where works are assigned nominal numbers according to a roman-numeric genre numbering scheme. For example, A Village Romeo and Juliet was, according to Threlfall counting, the 6th piece of dramatic work Delius composed. Thus, the piece is in Section I, number 6, so is designated RT I/6.[5]
Dramatic works
Year(s) composed |
RT |
Title |
Genre |
First performance |
Comments |
Ref. |
1888 |
I/1 |
Zanoni |
Incidental music |
|
|
[3] |
1890–92 |
I/2 |
Irmelin |
Opera |
Oxford, 4 May 1953 |
Libretto: E. Graham, T. Round |
[3][6] |
1893–95 |
I/3 |
The Magic Fountain |
Lyric drama |
Broadcast performance, BBC 1977 |
Libretto: Delius |
[3][6] |
1895 |
I/4 |
Koanga |
Lyric drama |
Elberfeld, 30 March 1904 |
Libretto: C.F. Keary, after G.W. Cable |
[3][6] |
1897 |
I/5 |
Folkeraadet |
Incidental music |
Christiania, October 1897 |
Play by Gunnar Heiberg |
[3][6] |
1900–01 |
I/6 |
A Village Romeo and Juliet |
Lyric drama |
Berlin, 21 October 1907 |
Libretto: C.F. Keary, after G.W. Cable. The orchestral interlude between Scenes 5 and 6, "The Walk to the Paradise Garden", is often performed and recorded separately. |
[3][6] |
1902 |
I/7 |
Margot la rouge |
Lyric drama |
|
Libretto: I. Rosenval |
[3][6] |
1909–10 |
I/8 |
Fennimore and Gerda |
Opera |
Frankfurt am Main, October 1919 |
Libretto: Delius, after J.P. Jacobsen |
[3][6] |
1920–23 |
I/9 |
Hassan |
Incidental music |
Darmstadt, 1 June 1923 Full version first performed London, 30 September 1923 |
Play by James Elroy Flecker |
[3] |
Works for voices and orchestra
Year(s) composed |
RT |
Title |
Vocal forces |
First performance |
Comments |
Ref. |
1898 |
II/1 |
Mitternachtslied Zarathustras (The Midnight Song of Zarathustra) |
Male chorus |
|
|
[3] |
1903 |
II/2 |
Appalachia: Variations on a slave song |
Choir, baritone solo |
Elberfeld, 1904 |
|
[3][6] |
1903–04 |
II/3 |
Sea Drift |
Choir, baritone solo |
Essen, 24 May 1906 |
|
[6][7] |
1904–05 |
II/4 |
A Mass of Life |
Double choir, SATB soloists |
London, 7 June 1909 |
Part II was performed in Munich, in 1908 |
[6][7] |
1906–07 |
II/5 |
Songs of Sunset |
Choir, Mezzo-soprano & baritone soloists |
London, 16 June 1911 |
|
[6][7] |
1911 |
II/6 |
A Song of the High Hills |
Choir, tenor & soprano soloists |
London, 26 February 1920 |
Textless chorus |
[6][7] |
1911 |
II/7 |
An Arabesque |
Choir and baritone soloist |
Newport, 1920 |
|
[6][7] |
1914–16 |
II/8 |
Requiem |
Choir, soprano & baritone soloists |
London, 23 March 1922 |
|
[6][7] |
1930 |
II/9 |
Songs of Farewell |
Choir |
London, 21 March 1932 |
|
[7] |
1930–32 |
II/10 |
Idyll: Once I passed through a populous city |
Soprano & baritone soloists |
London, 3 October 1933 |
Music adapted from Margot la rouge; words from Walt Whitman; after the first performance, Delius expanded the work and renamed it Prelude and Idyll |
[7][8] |
Works for solo voice and orchestra
Year(s) composed |
RT |
Title |
Vocal forces |
First performance |
Comments |
Ref. |
1888 |
III/1 |
Paa Vidderne (Melodrama) |
Recitation |
|
Revised (1891) as orchestral suite |
[3] |
1889 |
III/2 |
Sakuntala |
Tenor soloist |
|
|
[3] |
1891 |
III/3 |
Maud (from Tennyson) |
Tenor soloist |
|
|
[3] |
1897 |
III/4 |
Seven Danish Songs: 1. ″Summer Nights (On the Sea Shore)″; 2. ″Red Roses (Through Long, Long Years)″; 3. ″Wine Roses″; 4. ″Let Springtime Come, Then″ (Den Lenz laβ kommen); 5. ″Irmelin Rose″; 6. ″In the Seraglio Garden″; 7. ″Silken Shoes″ |
Solo voice (unspecified) |
Paris, 1901 |
|
[3][5][9] |
1907 |
III/5 |
Cynara |
Choir, Baritone soloist |
London, 18 October 1929 |
Left incomplete, finished in 1929 |
[7] |
1925 |
III/6 |
A Late Lark |
Solo voice (unspecified) |
|
|
[7] |
Works for unaccompanied voices
Year(s) composed |
RT |
Title |
Vocal forces/accompaniment |
First performance |
Comments |
Ref. |
before 1887 |
IV/1 |
Six German part-songs: 1. Lorelei (H. Heine); 2. Oh! Sonnenschein (Oh! Sunshine); 3. Durch den Wald (By the Forest) [von Schreck]; 4. Ave Maria; 5. Sonnenscheinlied (Sunshine Song) [Bjornsen]; 6. Fruhlingsanbruch [Bjornsen] |
Choir, unaccompanied |
|
|
[3][5] |
1907 |
IV/2 |
On Craig Dhu |
Soprano, alto, 2 tenor, 2 bass, piano |
Blackpool, 1907 |
|
[6][7] |
1908 |
IV/3 |
Wanderer's Song |
2 tenor, 2 bass, piano |
|
|
[6][7] |
1908 |
IV/4 |
Midsummer Song |
2 soprano, 2 alto, 2 tenor, 2 bass, piano |
Whitley Bay, December 1910 |
|
[6][7] |
1917 |
IV/5 |
Two songs to be sung of a summer night on the water |
Soprano, alto, 2 tenor, 2 basses, unaccompanied |
London, 28 June 1920 |
|
[7] |
1923 |
IV/6 |
The splendour falls on castle walls (from Tennyson) |
Chorus, unaccompanied |
London, 17 June 1924 |
|
[7] |
Songs with pianoforte accompaniment
Year(s) composed |
RT |
Title |
Comments |
Ref. |
undated |
V/1 |
"When other lips shall speak" |
Unpublished |
[5] |
undated |
V/4 |
"Der Fichtenbaum" (The Spruce Tree) |
Unpublished |
[5] |
1885 |
V/2 |
"Over the mountains high" |
Unpublished |
[5] |
1885 |
V/3 |
"Zwei braune Augen" (Two Brown Eyes) |
Unpublished |
[5] |
1888 |
V/5 |
Five Songs from the Norwegian: 1. "Slumber Song" (Bjørnsen); 2. "The Nightingale" (Wellhaven); 3. "Summer's Eve" (Paulsen); 4. "Longing" (Kjerulf); 5. "Sunset" (Munck) |
|
[6][7] |
1888 |
V/6 |
"Hochgebirgsleben" (High Mountain Life) |
Unpublished |
[5] |
1888 |
V/7 |
"O schneller mein Ross" ( O faster, my Ross) |
Unpublished |
[5] |
1889 |
V/8 |
"Chanson (de) Fortunio" |
Unpublished |
[5] |
1889–90 |
V/9 |
Seven Songs from the Norwegian: 1. "Cradle Song" (Ibsen); 2. "The Homeward Journey" (Vinje); 3. "Twilight Fancies" (Bjørnsen); 4. "Sweet Venevil" (Bjørnsen); 5. "Minstrel" (Ibsen); 6. "Love concealed" (Bjørnsen); 7. "The Birds Story" (Ibsen) |
|
[6][7] |
1890 |
V/10 |
"Skogen gir susende langsom besked" (Softly the Forest) |
Unpublished |
[5] |
1890–91 |
V/11 |
Songs to words by Heine: 1. "Mit deinen blauen Augen" (With your blue eyes); 2. "Ein schöner Stern geht auf in meiner Nacht" (A shining star appears in my night); 3. "Hör' ich das Liedchen klingen" (I hear the sound of singing); 4. "Aus deinen Augen fliessen meine Leider" (From your eyes flows my song) |
Unpublished |
[5] |
1891 |
V/12 |
Three English songs [Shelley]: 1. "Indian Love Song"; 2. "Love's Philosophy" 3. "To the Queen of my Heart" |
|
[6][7] |
1891 |
V/13 |
"Lyse Naetter" |
Unpublished |
[5] |
1893 |
V/14 |
"Jeg horde en nyskaaren Seljeflojte" (I once had a newly cut willow pipe) |
Unpublished |
[5] |
1893 |
V/15 |
"Nuages" (Clouds) |
Unpublished |
[5] |
1895 |
V/16 |
Deux Melodies [Verlaine]: 1. "Il pleure dans mon coeur" (It cries in my heart); 2. "Le ciel est, par-dessus le toit" (The sky is over the roof) |
Accompaniment later orchestrated |
[7] |
1895 |
V/17 |
"Pagen hojt paa Taarnet sad" (The page sat in the lofty tower) |
Unpublished |
[5] |
1898 |
V/18 |
"Traum Rosen" (Dream Roses) |
Unpublished |
[5] |
1898 |
V/19 |
Lieder nach Gedichten von Friedrich Nietzsche (Songs after poems by Fredrich Nietzsche): 1. "Nach neuen Meeren" (By New Seas); 2. "Der Wanderer" (The Wanderer); 3. "Der Einsame" (The Lonely One); 4. "Der Wanderer und sein Schatten" (The Wanderer and his Shadow) |
|
[7] |
1898 |
V/20 |
"Im Glück wir lachend gingen" (In bliss we walked with laughter) |
|
[7] |
1900 |
V/21 |
Two songs from the Danish: 1. "The Violet"; 2. "Autumn" |
"The Violet" accompaniment orchestrated, 1908 |
[7] |
1900 |
V/22 |
"Black Roses" |
|
[6][7] |
1901 |
V/23 |
"Jeg horer i Natten" (I hear in the night) |
Unpublished |
[5] |
1902 |
V/24 |
"Summer Landscape" |
Orchestral accompaniment 1903 |
[7] |
1910 |
V/25 |
"The Nightingale has a Lyre of Gold" |
|
[6][7] |
1911 |
V/26 |
"La Lune blanche" (The white moon) (Verlaine poem) |
Orchestral accompaniment 1911 |
[6][7] |
1911 |
V/27 |
"Chanson d'Automne" (Song of Autumn) (Verlaine poem) |
|
[6][7] |
1913 |
V/28 |
"I-Brasil" |
|
[6][7] |
1913 |
V/29 |
Two songs for children: 1. "Little Birdie"; 2. "The Streamlet's Slumber Song" |
|
[7] |
1915–16 |
V/30 |
Four old English lyrics: 1. "It was a lover and his lass"; 2. "So white, so soft, so sweet is she"; 3. "Spring, the sweet Spring"; 4. "To Daffodils" |
|
[7] |
1919 |
V/31 |
"Avant que tu ne t'en ailles" (Morning Star) |
|
[7] |
Works for orchestra alone
Year(s) composed |
RT |
Title |
First performance |
Comments |
Ref. |
1887 |
VI/1 |
Florida Suite |
Leipzig, 1888 |
Revised 1889 |
[3] |
1888 |
VI/2 |
Hiawatha (tone poem) |
|
|
[3] |
1888 |
VI/3 |
Rhapsodic Variations |
|
Incomplete |
[3] |
1888 |
VI/4 |
Three pieces for string orchestra |
|
|
[5] |
1889 |
VI/5 |
Idylle de Printemps |
|
|
[3] |
1889–90 |
VI/6 |
Orchestral suite (Petite Suite No. 1) |
London, 18 November 1946 |
|
[3] |
1889 (approx.) |
VI/6a |
Suite of 3 Characteristic pieces |
|
|
[5] |
1889 (approx) |
VI/6b |
Marche Française |
|
|
[5] |
1890 |
VI/7 |
Three small tone-poems: 1 Summer Evening; 2 Winter Night (Sleigh Ride); 3 Spring Morning |
London, 2 January 1949 |
|
[3] |
1890 (approx.) |
VI/8 |
A l'Amore |
|
|
[5] |
1890 |
VI/9 |
Orchestral Suite (Petite Suite No. 2) |
|
|
[3] |
1890–92 |
VI/10 |
Paa Vidderne (On the Mountains) - symphonic poem |
Christiania, Norway, 10 October 1891 |
|
[3] |
c. 1891 |
|
Mazurka |
|
Incomplete sketch |
[5] |
1895–97 |
VI/11 |
Over the hills and far away (fantasy overture) |
London, 30 May 1899 |
|
[3][6] |
1896 |
VI/12 |
Appalachia: an American rhapsody |
|
Orchestral version, later adapted for solo and chorus |
[3] |
1899 |
VI/13 |
La Ronde se déroule (The Dance Goes On) |
London, 30 May 1899 |
Revised, 1901, as "Lebenstanz" (Life's Dance) |
[3] |
1899 |
VI/14 |
Paris: The Song of a Great City |
Elberfeld, 1901 |
|
[3][6] |
1901 |
VI/15 |
Lebenstanz (Life's Dance) |
Düsseldorf, February 1904 |
Further revised, 1912 |
[3][6] |
1907 |
VI/16 |
Brigg Fair |
Basle, 1907 |
|
[3][6] |
1908 |
VI/17 |
In a Summer Garden |
London, 11 December 1909 |
Delius conducted the first performance |
[3][6] |
1908 |
VI/18 |
Dance Rhapsody (No. 1) |
Hereford (Three Choirs Festival) 8 September 1909 |
Delius conducted the first performance |
[3][6] |
1911–12 |
VI/19 |
Two pieces for small orchestra: 1. On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring 2. Summer Night on the River |
Leipzig, 2 October 1913 |
|
[3][6] |
1912 |
VI/15 |
Life's Dance (final version) |
Berlin, 1912 |
Revised from 1901 |
[3] |
1913–14 |
VI/20 |
North Country Sketches |
London, 10 May 1915 |
|
[3][6] |
1915 |
VI/21 |
Air and Dance |
London, Aeolian Hall, 16 October 1929[10] |
|
[3] |
1916 |
VI/22 |
Dance Rhapsody (No. 2) |
|
|
[3] |
1917 |
VI/23 |
Eventyr (Once Upon a Time) |
London. 11 January 1919 |
|
[3] |
1918 |
VI/24 |
A Song before Sunrise |
|
|
[3] |
1918 |
VI/25 |
Poem of Life and Love |
|
Incomplete, lost |
[3] |
1929-30 |
VI/26 |
A Song of Summer |
London, 17 September 1932 |
|
[3] |
1931 |
VI/27 |
Irmelin prelude |
|
|
[3] |
1931 |
VI/28 |
Fantastic Dance |
London, 12 January 1934 |
|
[3] |
undated |
|
On the moors (Impressions of Nature) |
|
Incomplete sketch |
[5] |
undated |
|
Sunday morning on the moors |
|
Incomplete sketch |
[5] |
undated |
|
Mountain poem |
|
Incomplete sketch |
[5] |
Works for solo instrument(s) and orchestra
Year(s) composed |
RT |
Title |
First performance |
Comments |
Ref. |
1888 |
VII/1 |
Suite for violin and orchestra |
|
|
[3] |
1890 |
VII/2 |
Legendes (Sagen) for piano and orchestra |
|
|
[3] |
1895 |
VII/3 |
Legende for violin and orchestra |
|
Later revised for violin and piano |
[3][6] |
1897 |
VII/4 |
Piano Concerto in C minor |
Elberfeld, 1904 |
1st movement revised 1906 |
[3][6] |
|
VII/4a |
Rhapsody for piano and orchestra |
|
|
[5] |
1915 |
VII/5 |
Double Concerto for violin and violoncello |
London, 21 February 1920 |
|
[3] |
1916 |
VII/6 |
Violin Concerto |
London, 30 January 1919 |
|
[3] |
1921 |
VII/7 |
Cello Concerto |
Frankfurt, 30 January 1921 |
|
[3] |
1930 |
VII/8 |
Caprice and Elegy for cello and chamber orchestra |
|
|
[3] |
undated |
|
Second Piano Concerto |
|
Incomplete sketch |
[5] |
undated |
|
Fantaisie for piano and orchestra |
|
Incomplete sketch |
[5] |
Chamber music
Year(s) composed |
RT |
Title |
Instrumental forces |
First performance |
Comments |
Ref. |
1888 |
VIII/1 |
First string quartet |
|
|
|
[7] |
1889 |
VIII/2 |
Romance |
Violin, piano |
|
|
[7] |
c. 1890 |
|
Vasantasena for violin and piano |
Violin and piano |
|
Incomplete sketch |
[5] |
1892 |
VIII/3 |
Violin Sonata in B major |
Violin, piano |
Achille Rivarde with Harold Bauer, Paris 1893 |
|
[7][11][12] |
1893 |
VIII/4 |
Second string quartet |
|
|
|
[7] |
1896 |
VIII/5 |
Romance |
Cello, piano |
|
|
[7] |
1905–14 |
VIII/6 |
Violin Sonata No. 1 |
Violin, piano |
Manchester, 1915 |
|
[6][7] |
1916 |
VIII/7 |
Cello Sonata |
Cello, piano |
London, 11 January 1919 |
|
[7] |
1916 |
VIII/8 |
String quartet (1916) |
|
London, 1 February 1919 |
|
[7] |
1923 |
VIII/9 |
Violin Sonata No. 2 |
Violin and piano |
London, 7 October 1924 |
|
[7] |
c. 1923 |
|
Sonata for violin and piano in C |
Violin and piano |
|
Incomplete sketch |
[5] |
1930 |
VIII/19 |
Violin Sonata No. 3 |
Violin and piano |
London, 6 November 1930 |
|
[7] |
Pianoforte solos
Year(s) composed |
RT |
Title |
First performance |
Comments |
Ref. |
1885 |
IX/1 |
Zum Carnival |
|
written before first departure from Florida |
[5] |
undated |
IX/2 |
Pensees mélodieuses (Melodious thoughts) |
|
|
[5] |
undated |
IX/3 |
Norwegian Sleigh Ride |
|
|
[5] |
undated |
IX/4 |
Badinage (Danse lente) |
|
|
[5] |
undated |
IX/5 |
Two piano pieces: 1. Valse; 2. Reverie |
|
|
[5] |
1919 |
IX/6 |
Dance for Harpsichord |
|
|
[7] |
1922–23 |
IX/7 |
Five piano pieces: 1-2. Mazurka and Waltz for a Little Girl; 3. Waltz; 4. Lullaby for a Modern Baby; 5. Toccata |
|
|
[7] |
1923 |
IX/8 |
Three piano preludes: 1. Scherzando; 2. Quick; 3. Con moto |
London 4 September 1924 |
|
[7] |
undated |
|
Presto leggiero for piano |
|
Unpublished piano solo |
[5] |
References
- 1 2 Payne, Anthony (Winter 1961–62). "Delius's Stylistic Development". Tempo. Cambridge University Press (60): 6–16. (subscription required)
- ↑ Fenby, Eric (1971). The Great Composers: Delius. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-09296-9.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 Sadie, Stanley (ed.) (1980). New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Volume 5. London: Macmillan. p. 342. ISBN 978-0-333-23111-1.
- ↑ Frederick Delius website, Delius: Robert Threlfall, retrieved January 23, 2016
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Threlfall, Robert (1977). "A Catalogue of the Works of Frederick Delius". The Thompsonian Institution. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Heseltine, Philip (March 1915). "Some Notes on Delius and his Music". The Musical Times. 56 (865): 137–42. doi:10.2307/909510. (subscription required)
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 Sadie, Stanley (ed.) (1980). New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Volume 5. London: Macmillan. p. 343. ISBN 978-0-333-23111-1.
- ↑ Liner notes from A Mass of Life & Prelude and Idyll Naxos 8.572861-62
- ↑ imlsp.com, 7 Danish Songs (Delius, Frederick), retrieved January 23, 2016
- ↑ Naxos
- ↑ Tamino Classic Forum
- ↑ The Delius Society Journal, Number 87, Autumn 1985