Editing Frederick Delius (section)

====Towards recognition====
Delius's first orchestral compositions were, in Christopher Palmer's words, the work of "an insipid if charming water-colourist".<ref>Palmer, p. 5</ref> The ''Florida Suite'' (1887, revised 1889) is "an expertly crafted synthesis of Grieg and Negroid Americana",<ref>Palmer, p. 7</ref> while Delius's first opera ''Irmelin'' (1890–1892) lacks any identifiably Delian passages. Its harmony and modulation are conventional, and the work bears the clear fingerprints of Wagner and Grieg. Payne asserts that none of the works prior to 1895 are of lasting interest. The first noticeable stylistic advance is evident in ''[[Koanga]]'' (1895–1897), with richer chords and faster harmonic rhythms; here we find Delius "feeling his way towards the vein that he was soon to tap so surely".<ref name= Stylistic/> In ''Paris'' (1899), the orchestration owes a debt to [[Richard Strauss]]; its passages of quiet beauty, says Payne, nevertheless lack the deep personal involvement of the later works. ''Paris'', the final work of Delius's apprentice years, is described by Foss as "one of the most complete, if not the greatest, of Delius's musical paintings".<ref name= Foss/>
[[File:Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe 1.jpg|thumb|left|Woodcut illustration (1919) of the young lovers from [[Gottfried Keller]]'s original story, which became Delius's opera ''A Village Romeo and Juliet'']]
In each of the major works written in the years after ''Paris'', Delius combined orchestral and vocal forces. The first of these works was ''[[A Village Romeo and Juliet]]'', a music drama which departs from the normal operatic structure of acts and scenes and tells its story of tragic love in a series of tableaux. Musically it shows a considerable advance in style from the early operas of the apprentice years. The entr'acte known as "The Walk to the Paradise Garden" is described by Heseltine as showing "all the tragic beauty of mortality&nbsp;... concentrated and poured forth in music of overwhelming, almost intolerable poignancy".<ref name= heseltine>{{cite journal|author-link= Peter Warlock|last= Heseltine|first= Philip|title= Some Notes on Delius and his Music|jstor= 909510|journal= The Musical Times|date= March 1915|pages=137–42|volume=56}} {{subscription}}</ref> In this work Delius begins to achieve the texture of sound that characterised all his later compositions.<ref name= Stylistic/> Delius's music is often assumed to lack melody and form. Cardus argues that melody, while not a primary factor, is there abundantly, "floating and weaving itself into the texture of shifting harmony" – a characteristic which Cardus believes is shared only by Debussy.<ref name= Cardus/>

Delius's next work, ''Appalachia'', introduces a further feature that recurred in later pieces – the use of the voice instrumentally in wordless singing, in this case depicting the distant plantation songs that had inspired Delius at Solano Grove.<ref name= Stylistic/> Although Payne argues that ''Appalachia'' shows only a limited advance in technique, Fenby identifies one orchestral passage as the first expression of Delius's idea of "the transitoriness of all mortal things mirrored in nature". Hereafter, whole works rather than brief passages would be informed by this idea.<ref>Fenby (1971), p. 55</ref> The transitional phase of the composer's career concludes with three further vocal pieces: ''[[Sea Drift (Delius)|Sea Drift]]'' (1903), ''[[A Mass of Life]]'' (1904–05), and ''[[Songs of Sunset]]'' (1906–07). Payne salutes each of these as masterpieces, in which the Delian style struggles to emerge in its full ripeness.<ref name= Stylistic/> Fenby describes ''A Mass of Life'' as standing outside the general progression of Delius's work, "a vast parenthesis", unlike anything else he wrote, but nevertheless an essential ingredient in his development.<ref>Fenby (1971), p. 58</ref>