How English is Delius?
\ JE have been ‘hearing quite a lot of Delius lately from Dunedin stations, and his "Walk to the Paradise Garden," included in a programme of modern British music, sounded so different in style and thought from the other works that the old query arose as to how much of the English there really was in Delius. The announcer said, before a performance of "Brigg Fair," that it symbolised the delicate and springtime beauty of the English countryside; but how much of this is due to the quality of the folk-song on which it is based, and the fact that Delius was incapable of writing music which was not beautiful? Delius, indeed, seems to have made himself an exile, choosing to live in France; and one of those who knew him well has told us that he frequently declared a hatred of British music and maintained that there were no modern British composers of any note. Delius is a citizen of no musical city. Either you love his unique music or you see. no beauty in it at all. For those who don’t like dreams, I advise other composers. Delius is the enchanter from whose hypnotic spell it is impossible to awaken unchanged.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19450810.2.12.4
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 320, 10 August 1945, Page 8
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206How English is Delius? New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 320, 10 August 1945, Page 8
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