Biography
Frederick Delius developed an English take on the Impressionist idiom that emerged in music early in the twentieth century. Rather than drawing from domestic customs, his introspective and softly melodic writing reflected wider international currents.
Born in Bradford in 1862, he grew up outside a musical household; his father ran a wool business and expected him to enter commerce. Although the elder Delius rejected music as a vocation, he tolerated it as a leisure pursuit, so the young man received lessons on violin and piano. He nevertheless slipped away from classes whenever possible to hear concerts and operas. After finishing his education he joined the family firm.
In 1884 he sailed for Florida and took up work as an orange grower on a plantation. There he began lessons with Jacksonville musician and teacher Thomas Ward. Orange cultivation proved unsuccessful, prompting him to earn his living through music instead. His father financed an eighteen-month period of study at the Leipzig Conservatory beginning in 1886. Delius later claimed he gained little of lasting value in Leipzig, yet he formed a lasting friendship with Grieg, who persuaded the reluctant father to support a composing career. With that backing Delius settled in Paris and embraced the existence of an artist.
Once established there he composed steadily, finishing the operas Irmelin and The Magic Fountain before the century closed. In the opening decade of the new century he married painter Jelka Rosen and produced the opera A Village Romeo and Juliet, the large choral scores Appalachia and A Mass of Life after Nietzsche, a piano concerto, and numerous songs and chamber works. The rhapsody Brigg Fair of 1907 and the tone poem On Hearing the First Cuckoo of Spring of 1912 remain staples of orchestral programs. His reputation flourished across Europe until the First World War forced him to quit France for England. Despite continental acclaim he remained largely unrecognized at home, and financial strain marked the visit.
After the war he returned to France, where the syphilis contracted years earlier in Florida steadily brought paralysis and blindness. As his physical condition worsened his fame paradoxically grew, thanks largely to the advocacy of Sir Thomas Beecham, who organized a Delius Festival in 1929. Still determined to compose, Delius engaged English musician Eric Fenby in 1928 to serve as amanuensis; Fenby later published an account of their collaboration. In his final years King George V named him Companion of Honor, and Oxford University awarded an honorary doctorate in music. He lived to hear some of his music broadcast and recorded, yet these satisfactions could not offset his declining health, and he died in seclusion at Grez-sur-Loing in 1934.
Born in Bradford in 1862, he grew up outside a musical household; his father ran a wool business and expected him to enter commerce. Although the elder Delius rejected music as a vocation, he tolerated it as a leisure pursuit, so the young man received lessons on violin and piano. He nevertheless slipped away from classes whenever possible to hear concerts and operas. After finishing his education he joined the family firm.
In 1884 he sailed for Florida and took up work as an orange grower on a plantation. There he began lessons with Jacksonville musician and teacher Thomas Ward. Orange cultivation proved unsuccessful, prompting him to earn his living through music instead. His father financed an eighteen-month period of study at the Leipzig Conservatory beginning in 1886. Delius later claimed he gained little of lasting value in Leipzig, yet he formed a lasting friendship with Grieg, who persuaded the reluctant father to support a composing career. With that backing Delius settled in Paris and embraced the existence of an artist.
Once established there he composed steadily, finishing the operas Irmelin and The Magic Fountain before the century closed. In the opening decade of the new century he married painter Jelka Rosen and produced the opera A Village Romeo and Juliet, the large choral scores Appalachia and A Mass of Life after Nietzsche, a piano concerto, and numerous songs and chamber works. The rhapsody Brigg Fair of 1907 and the tone poem On Hearing the First Cuckoo of Spring of 1912 remain staples of orchestral programs. His reputation flourished across Europe until the First World War forced him to quit France for England. Despite continental acclaim he remained largely unrecognized at home, and financial strain marked the visit.
After the war he returned to France, where the syphilis contracted years earlier in Florida steadily brought paralysis and blindness. As his physical condition worsened his fame paradoxically grew, thanks largely to the advocacy of Sir Thomas Beecham, who organized a Delius Festival in 1929. Still determined to compose, Delius engaged English musician Eric Fenby in 1928 to serve as amanuensis; Fenby later published an account of their collaboration. In his final years King George V named him Companion of Honor, and Oxford University awarded an honorary doctorate in music. He lived to hear some of his music broadcast and recorded, yet these satisfactions could not offset his declining health, and he died in seclusion at Grez-sur-Loing in 1934.