Tag: music

Delius

The works of Frederick Delius
Delius. Delius Society

The works of Frederick Delius were the subject of the Society’s evening on April 24th and we were delighted to welcome Martin Lee-Browne, the ex-president of the Delius Society.  This was an informed presentation – not just because Martin knew a great deal about this composer – but because of the family connections he has with him.  His grandfather was a good friend to Delius and also taught Sir Thomas Beecham the famous conductor.  It was Beecham who did so much to promote the composer.

Delius’s father was a wool merchant and wanted his son to go into the business which he did for about 2 years.  His heart was not in it so he then persuaded his father to help set him up in the orange plantation business in Florida which he did for a couple of years.  He then gave that up and moved to Danville in Virginia.

He studied music in Leipzig in 1886 but was unimpressed with the teaching there which he found old fashioned and apparently, they were not too impressed with him.  He met and became friends with the Norwegian Composer Edvard Grieg and persuaded him to come to England to meet his father.  Norway was a big influence on his work and the Song of the High Hills is based on his time there.  Beecham described this as one of the composer’s major works.

His father was so impressed that his son knew someone as famous as Grieg that he continued funding his musical activities for another year.  This he spent living in Montparnasse in Paris.  He struggled to make a living there as a composer.  By 1899 he had managed to get only 20 songs published.

He returned to England and self-funded a concert of his own works which had mixed success but began to get him recognised as a serious composer.  Gradually his pieces entered the repertoire.   Martin played several of his works – including some early compositions which one would not at first sight have realised were by him – as well as selections from his more famous and familiar works.  These included Brigg Fair, the single movement Violin Concerto and Sea Drift, the latter strongly influenced by Walt Whitman.

Martin Lee-Browne. Picture: Salisbury RMS

Martin also brought along some memorabilia included a score annotated in the margin by Percy Grainger.  In 1910 his health seriously declined and he was only able to compose with the aid of Eric Fenby who wrote the music to Delius’s direction.  He lived for most of his life in Grez-sur-Loing in France and he is buried with his wife in Limpsfield in Surrey.

 

 

 

 

Next meeting

Frederick Delius

Our next meeting on Monday 24th April celebrates the music of the English composer Frederick Delius.  We are pleased to welcome Martin Lee-Browne to the Society who is from the Delius Society and will be coming down from the Midlands to speak to us and play some of his works.

Normal start at 7.30 and details of where we are can be found at the top of the page.  It is £3 for non-members.  Parking is easy and the room is accessible for people with disabilities.  We look forward to seeing you.

Next meeting: Bruckner

Presentation by Terry Barfoot on Anton Bruckner

The Society is delighted to welcome the well known writer on music Terry Barfoot who is going to do an audio visual presentation on the music of Anton Bruckner.  He was arguably one of the greatest symphonists of the nineteenth century and his symphonies are now rarely out of the repertoire.  They are large in scale however and so presenting them to the Society has been a challenge.

Usual place and usual time.

Terry runs Arts in Residence which are residential weekends with a musical theme.

 

Next meeting

The next meeting of the Society will be on Monday 20 March starting at 7:30 as usual and will a presentation by Ed Tinline on the development of woodwind.  He will be playing a selection of pieces including wind soloists and also ensemble playing.
The committee will be meeting immediately prior to the main session.  If members reading this have any points they would like the committee to consider, or you might be interested in presenting or co-presenting a session, please let one of the members know.
 
 
 
 

Music fit for an Emperor

Superb and surprising selection of music from the Hapsburg empire

Last night’s presentation by Angus Menzies was of music composed for several of the emperors of the Habsburg court from the middle of 16th to the middle of the 17th centuries.  This was pre-Haydn and Mozart of course and most of the music played was by composers who, for the most part have been forgotten – undeservedly so.

Image result for johann fux
Johann Fux. Picture: Wikipedia

Each would have his own favourites of course but those who stood out were Antonio Bertali; Johann Schmelzer; Heinrich Biber and Johann Fux.  We also heard a piece composed by Leopold I entitled Il lutto dell universe which was ‘not without talent’ as one might say.  The pieces played were mostly composed for weddings and coronations and hence had a magisterial quality.  Others were from operas.  Schmelzer’s Die Fechstchule was played alongside mass horse displays as monarchs from that era often used equestrian events to impress and show off their country.  Indeed, portraits from that era often feature monarchs astride a horse as a symbol of power.  Little is known of him but he was a favourite of Leopold I and became a Kapellmeister in Vienna.

Another composer to impress was Jan Zelenka and we heard Melodrama de Sancto Wenceslao and also Johann Reutter whose aria Venga l’eta was played from La Magnamitada Alessandro.  Zelenka was ranked along side Telemann and Handel in his day but is now mostly forgotten.

A worthwhile evening with many surprises and providing a window into the music of this era in history.

 

 

Mozart’s Last Year

Mozart’s last year was the title of a presentation to the Society by group member Peter Curbishley.  There probably isn’t another composer about whom there are so many myths particularly surrounding his death in December 1791, almost exactly 225 years ago.  The film Amadeus by Peter Shaffer did not help.  Although entertaining, it gave credence to wild rumours about poisoning which are now known to be untrue.
Pic: Anthem Arts

Peter played extracts from most of the works he wrote in the final months of his life.  This included of course the Requiem, but also from the operas The Magic Flute and La clemenza di Tito.  The Magic Flute was a huge success and is the fourth most performed opera ever written.  La Clemenza di Tito by contrast was a failure and languished unperformed until the 1950s.  This was in part due to a part written for a castrato, a practice which, mercifully, died out soon after the opera was written.

Members also heard extracts from the Clarinet Concerto written two months before his death, a string quintet and the last Horn Concerto.  Despite the huge body of brilliant music Mozart had composed before he died, he was Peter explained, only just beginning.  Part of the last piano concerto, finished in the early part of that year.  Had he lived into the nineteenth century who knows what he might have produced.  His death – from a streptococcal throat infection not poison – was a tragic loss to the world of music.
This was the last meeting of the first part of the programme and the next meeting is in February.  Seasons greetings to all our readers.

Forthcoming events

At Salisbury Recorded Music Society we are now into our Christmas and New Year break, and will start again in February 2017 with what promise to be really excellent presentations by several very good friends of the society:

On Monday 6 February, Angus Menzies will present “Fit for an Emperor: music at the Austrian court 1650 – 1750”.
 
On Monday 20 February, we shall host a live concert by David Davies (piano), with David Morgan (violin) and Warren Driffill (‘cello), exploring the piano trio.
 
On Monday 6 March, Frida Backman will be presenting “The solo violin in classical music”. 
Meanwhile, can I mention that Frida Backman is giving a series of solo violin concerts, the first of which is this Thursday (1 December) at 7.30pm in St Martin’s Church, Salisbury (with pre concert talk at 7.
We hope you will be able to support some or all of these events.  For details nearer the time, look at this Web site for any updates or changes.