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Delius / Sir Thomas Beecham, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
"Florida Suite / Dance Rhapsody No. 2 / Over The Hills And Far Away"
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLExdRU27xbS1ZyI9x29_ta1y8QojI3Xft
... link directly to the "Florida Suite"
https://youtu.be/2L45eqhH7Kw
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Frederick Theodore Albert Delius CH (born Fritz Theodor Albert Delius; /ˈdiːliəs/; 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934) was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted attempts to recruit him to commerce. He was sent to Florida in the United States in 1884 to manage an orange plantation. He soon neglected his managerial duties, and in 1886 returned to Europe.
Having been influenced by African-American music during his short stay in Florida, he began composing. After a brief period of formal musical study in Germany beginning in 1886, he embarked on a full-time career as a composer in Paris and then in nearby Grez-sur-Loing, where he and his wife Jelka lived for the rest of their lives, except during the First World War.
Delius's first successes came in Germany, where Hans Haym and other conductors promoted his music from the late 1890s. In Delius's native Britain, his music did not make regular appearances in concert programmes until 1907, after Thomas Beecham took it up. Beecham conducted the full premiere of A Mass of Life in London in 1909 (he had premiered Part II in Germany in 1908); he staged the opera A Village Romeo and Juliet at Covent Garden in 1910; and he mounted a six-day Delius festival in London in 1929, as well as making gramophone recordings of many of the composer's works. After 1918, Delius began to suffer the effects of syphilis, contracted during his earlier years in Paris. He became paralysed and blind, but completed some late compositions between 1928 and 1932 with the aid of an amanuensis, Eric Fenby.
The lyricism in Delius's early compositions reflected the music he had heard in America and the influences of European composers such as Grieg and Wagner. As his skills matured, he developed a style uniquely his own, characterised by his individual orchestration and his uses of chromatic harmony. Delius's music has been only intermittently popular, and often subject to critical attacks. The Delius Society, formed in 1962 by his more dedicated followers, continues to promote knowledge of the composer's life and works, and sponsors the annual Delius Prize competition for young musicians.
Delius's school (he attended the previous building) Bradford Grammar School
Delius was born in Bradford in Yorkshire. He was baptised as Fritz Theodor Albert Delius, and used the forename Fritz until he was about 40. ...
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH (29 April 1879 – 8 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras. From the early 20th century until his death, Beecham was a major influence on the musical life of Britain and, according to the BBC, was Britain's first international conductor.
Born to a rich industrial family, Beecham began his career as a conductor in 1899. He used his access to the family fortune to finance opera from the 1910s until the start of the Second World War, staging seasons at Covent Garden, Drury Lane and His Majesty's Theatre with international stars, his own orchestra and a wide repertoire. Among the works he introduced to England were Richard Strauss's Elektra, Salome and Der Rosenkavalier and three operas by Frederick Delius.
Together with his younger colleague Malcolm Sargent, Beecham founded the London Philharmonic, and he conducted its first performance at the Queen's Hall in 1932. In the 1940s he worked for three years in the United States where he was music director of the Seattle Symphony and conducted at the Metropolitan Opera. After his return to Britain, he founded the Royal Philharmonic in 1946 and conducted it until his death in 1961.
Beecham's repertoire was eclectic, sometimes favouring lesser-known composers over famous ones. His specialities included composers whose works were neglected in Britain before he became their advocate, such as Delius and Berlioz. Other composers with whose music he was frequently associated were Haydn, Schubert, Sibelius and the composer he revered above all others, Mozart.
Beecham was born in St Helens, Lancashire (now Merseyside), in a house adjoining the Beecham's Pills laxative factory founded by his grandfather, Thomas Beecham. ...
... -- Wikipedia
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Previously in your Great Instrumental Music series ...
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/no-strings-attached-no/7742943891.html
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/spectacular/7742853346.html
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/midnight-oil/7742849466.html
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/strings-of-an-era-past/7742766835.html
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/hear-this/7742694685.html
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/persistence-of-memory/7742591758.html
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/emotions/7742527666.html
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/pleasure-programmed/7742514796.html
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/all-time-top-twelve/7742434988.html
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/another-one-for-the-jazz-cats/7742387621.html
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/rnr/d/karajishi-botan/7742311179.html
... ... ... ... ...
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