The musical compositions of

Frederick Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...

(1862–1934) cover numerous genres, in a style that developed from the early influences of composers such as

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

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 Eric William Fenby OBE (22 April 190618 February 1997) was an English composer, conductor, pianist, organist and teacher who is best known for being Frederick Delius's amanuensis from 1928 to 1934. He helped Delius realise a number of works t ...

, enabled Delius to resume composing in 1928. The Delius-Fenby combination led to several notable late works.

Chronological list of principal works

The "principal" works are those identified as such by

. A division of Delius's work into phases such as "apprentice" and "middle period" has been suggested by many commentators, notably

Anthony Payne Anthony Edward Payne (2 August 1936 – 30 April 2021) was an English composer, music critic and musicologist. He is best known for his acclaimed completion of Edward Elgar's third symphony, which subsequently gained wide acceptance into Elga ...

in "Delius's Stylistic Development" (1962).

Apprentice works, 1887–1899

*1887: '' Florida Suite'' *1890–92: (Opera) ''

Irmelin ''Irmelin'' is an opera in three acts with music by Frederick Delius. Composed between 1890 and 1892, it was the first opera which he finished. But it wasn't premiered until 1953, nearly twenty years after his death. The libretto was by the compo ...

'' *1893–95: (Opera) ''The Magic Fountain'' *1895–97: (Opera) '' Koanga'' *1897: (Incidental music) '' Folkeraadet'' (Norwegian Suite) *1897: Concerto for piano and orchestra (original version) *1899: '' Paris: The Song of a Great City''

"Middle period" works, 1900–06

*1900–01: (Opera) ''

A Village Romeo and Juliet ''A Village Romeo and Juliet'' is an opera by Frederick Delius, the fourth of his six operas. The composer himself, with his wife Jelka, wrote the English-language libretto based on the short story "''Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe''" by the Swi ...

'' ** (Orchestral interlude between Scenes 5 and 6) "The Walk to the Paradise Garden" *1902: (Opera) ''Margot-la-Rouge'' *1903: ''Appalachia: Variations on a Slave Song'' *1903–04: '' Sea Drift'' (setting of a poem by

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

) *1904–05: ''

A Mass of Life ''A Mass of Life'' (German: ''Eine Messe des Lebens'') is a cantata by English composer Frederick Delius, based on the German text of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical novel ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' (1883-1885). In 1898, Delius had written a m ...

'' (text by

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

) *1906: Concerto for piano and orchestra (with revised first movement) *1906–07: ''

Songs of Sunset ''Songs of Sunset'' is a work by Frederick Delius, written in 1906-07, and scored for mezzo-soprano and baritone soli, SATB chorus and large orchestra. The words are by Ernest Dowson. It was published in 1911, and a German translation was ma ...

'' (poems by

Ernest Dowson Ernest Christopher Dowson (2 August 186723 February 1900) was an English poet, novelist, and short-story writer who is often associated with the Decadent movement. Biography Ernest Dowson was born in Lee, then in Kent, in 1867. His great-uncle ...

)

Mature works, 1907–24

*1907: ''

Brigg Fair Brigg Fair is a traditional English folk song sung by the Lincolnshire singer Joseph Taylor. The song, which is named after a historical fair in Brigg, Lincolnshire, was collected and recorded on wax cylinder by the composer and folk song colle ...

'' *1908: '' In a Summer Garden'' *1909–10: (Opera) ''

Fennimore and Gerda (subtitled ''Two Episodes from the Life of Niels Lyhne in Eleven Pictures'', RT I/8) is a German-language opera with four interludes, by the English composer Frederick Delius. It is usually performed and recorded in English, as ''Fennimore and Ge ...

'' *1911: ''An Arabesque'' (poems by

Jens Peter Jacobsen Jens Peter Jacobsen (7 April 1847 – 30 April 1885) was a Danish novelist, poet, and scientist, in Denmark often just written as "J. P. Jacobsen". He began the naturalist movement in Danish literature and was a part of the Modern B ...

) *1911: '' A Song of the High Hills'' (wordless chorus) *1911–12: ''Summer Night on the River'' *1911–12: '' On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring'' *1912: ''Life's Dance'' (revised from 1899 symphonic poem ''La ronde se déroule'') *1913–14: ''North Country Sketches'' *1914: Sonata for violin and piano No. 1 (begun 1905) *1914–16: '' Requiem'' (text by

Heinrich Simon August Heinrich Simon (29 October 180516 August 1860) was a German democratic politician. External links * at the Swiss Literary Archives * * * August Heinrich Simon in thSimonsection of the Meyers Konversations-Lexikon from 1880 Simon Papers ...

) *1915: Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra *1916: Concerto for violin and orchestra *1916: ''Dance Rhapsody'' No. 2 *1916: String Quartet *1916: Sonata for cello and piano *1917: '' Eventyr (Once Upon a Time)'' *1918: ''A Song Before Sunrise'' *1920–23: (Incidental music) ''Hassan'' (play by

James Elroy Flecker James Elroy Flecker (5 November 1884 – 3 January 1915) was a British novelist and playwright. As a poet, he was most influenced by the Parnassian poets. Biography Herman Elroy Flecker was born on 5 November 1884 in Lewisham, London, to Willi ...

) *1921: Cello Concerto *1923: Sonata for violin and piano No. 2

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 Delius was produced by Robert Threlfall in 1977, and a supplement to it in 1986. It is abbreviated as RT. The Threlfall sectioning is a categorization where works are assigned nominal numbers according to a roman-numeric genre numbering scheme. For example, ''

'' is, according to Threlfall's counting, the sixth piece of dramatic work Delius composed. Thus, the piece is in Section I, number 6, so is designated RT I/6.

Dramatic works

Works for voices and orchestra

Works for solo voice and orchestra

Works for unaccompanied voices

Songs with piano accompaniment

Works for orchestra alone

Works for solo instrument(s) and orchestra

Chamber music

Piano solos

References

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Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...