Editing Frederick Delius (section)

===Reception===
Recognition came late to Delius; before 1899, when he was already 37, his works were largely unpublished and unknown to the public. When the symphonic poem ''Paa Vidderne'' was performed at [[Monte Carlo]] on 25 February 1894 in a programme of works from British composers, ''[[The Musical Times]]'' listed the composers as "...&nbsp;[[Michael William Balfe|Balfe]], [[Alexander Mackenzie (composer)|Mackenzie]], Oakeley, [[Arthur Sullivan|Sullivan]]&nbsp;... and one Delius, whoever he may be".<ref>{{cite journal|title= Foreign Notes|jstor= 3361873|journal= The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular|date= April 1894|pages=266–67|volume=35}} {{subscription}}</ref> The work was well received in Monte Carlo, and brought the composer a congratulatory letter from [[Alice Heine|Princess Alice]] of [[Monaco]], but this did not lead to demands for further performances of this or other Delius works.<ref>Beecham (1975), p. 63. (Beecham misdates the concert to February 1893)</ref> Some of his individual songs (he wrote more than 60) were occasionally included in vocal recitals; referring to "the strange songs of Fritz Delius", ''[[The Times]]'' critic expressed regret "that the powers the composer undoubtedly possesses should not be turned to better account or undergo proper development at the hands of some musician competent to train them".<ref>{{cite news|title= New Songs|newspaper= The Times|date= 9 August 1899|page=13}}</ref>
[[File:Stjameshall.gif|thumb|[[St James's Hall]], London, the venue for Delius's first London concert, May 1899]]
Of the May 1899 concert at [[St. James's Hall]], London, ''The Musical Times'' reviewer remarked on the rawness of some of the music, but praised the "boldness of conception and virile strength that command and hold attention".<ref name= MT99>{{cite journal|jstor= 3367034|title= Mr. Fritz Delius|journal= The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular|date= July 1899|page=472|volume=40}} {{subscription}}</ref> Beecham, however, records that despite this "fair show of acclaim", for all the impetus it gave to future performances of Delius's work the event might never have happened; none of the music was heard again in England for many years.<ref>Beecham (1975), p. 106</ref> Delius was much better received in Germany, where a series of successful performances of his works led to what Beecham describes as a Delius vogue there, "second only to that of Richard Strauss".<ref>Beecham (1975), p. 114</ref>

In England, a performance of the [[Piano Concerto (Delius)|Piano Concerto]] on 22 October 1907 at the Queen's Hall was praised for the brilliance of the soloist, [[Theodor Szántó]], and for the power of the music itself.<ref>{{cite journal|title= Mr Delius's Pianoforte Concerto|jstor= 904474|journal= The Musical Times|date= November 1907|page=739|volume=48}} {{subscription}}</ref> From that point onwards the music of Delius became increasingly familiar to both British and European audiences, as performances of his works proliferated. Beecham's presentation of ''A Mass of Life'' at the Queen's Hall in June 1909 did not inspire Hans Haym, who had come from Elberfeld for the concert,<ref name=carley/> though Beecham says that many professional and amateur musicians thought it "the most impressive and original achievement of its genre written in the last fifty years"<ref name="Beecham 1975, p. 155"/> Some reviewers continued to doubt the popular appeal of Delius's music, while others were more specifically hostile.{{refn|''[[The Observer]]'' wrote of "a charm and fascination entirely its own&nbsp;... but whether his contemplative and reticent musical spirit will ever make an appeal to the great public is another question".<ref>{{cite journal|title= Concerts of the Week|journal= The Observer|page=6|date= 25 January 1914}}</ref> [[Samuel Langford]] in ''The Manchester Guardian'' wrote that Delius's music had "the modern note without the ancient form and grace. The instruments come in, as it were, anywhere, like little toy reeds pulled by some childish [[Pan (god)|Pan]]."<ref>{{cite journal|title= The Beecham Promenade Concerts|last=Langford|first=Samuel|journal= The Manchester Guardian|page=3|date= 3 October 1917}}</ref>|group= n}}

From 1910, Delius's works began to be heard in America: ''Brigg Fair'' and ''In a Summer Garden'' were performed in 1910–11 by the [[New York Philharmonic Orchestra]] under [[Walter Damrosch]]. In November 1915 Grainger gave the first American performance of the Piano Concerto, again with the New York Philharmonic. The ''[[New York Times]]'' critic described the work as uneven; richly harmonious, but combining colour and beauty with effects "of an almost crass unskillfulness and ugliness".<ref>{{cite news|title= Philharmonic Concert: Percy Grainger, soloist, plays Delius's Piano Concerto|url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/11/27/105048805.pdf|newspaper= The New York Times|date = 27 November 1915}}</ref>

For the rest of his lifetime Delius's more popular pieces were performed in England and abroad, often under the sponsorship of Beecham, who was primarily responsible for the Delius festival in October–November 1929. In a retrospective comment on the festival ''The Times'' critic wrote of full houses and an apparent enthusiasm for "music which hitherto has enjoyed no exceptional vogue", but wondered whether this new acceptance was based on a solid foundation.<ref name= Times29/> After Delius's death Beecham continued to promote his works; a second festival was held in 1946, and a third (after Beecham's death) at Bradford in 1962, to celebrate the centenary of Delius's birth. These occasions were in the face of a general indifference to the music;<ref>{{cite journal|last= Cooper|first= Martin|title= Question Mark Over Delius Lovers|journal= The Daily Telegraph|date= 7 April 1962}}</ref> writing in the centenary year, the musicologist [[Deryck Cooke]] opined that at that time, "to declare oneself a confirmed Delian is hardly less self-defamatory than to admit to being an addict of cocaine and marihuana".<ref name= Cooke>{{cite journal|author-link= Deryck Cooke|last= Cooke|first= Deryck|title= Delius the Unknown|jstor= 765994|journal= Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association|page=17|date= 18 December 1962}} {{subscription}}</ref>

Beecham had died in 1961, and Fenby writes that it "seemed to many then that nothing could save Delius's music from extinction", such was the conductor's unique mastery over the music.<ref name= F257/> However, other conductors have continued to advocate Delius, and since the centenary year, the Delius Society has pursued the aim of "develop[ing] a greater knowledge of the life and works of Delius".<ref name= DSoc>{{cite web|title= About the Society|url= http://www.delius.org.uk/aboutus.htm|publisher= The Delius Society|access-date= 18 January 2010|archive-date= 16 May 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130516150515/http://www.delius.org.uk/aboutus.htm|url-status= dead}}</ref> The music has never become fashionable, a fact often acknowledged by promoters and critics.{{refn|Deryck Cooke chose the title "Delius the Unknown" for his December 1962 address to the Royal Musical Association, recognising, Cooke says, the extent to which the composer was out of fashion.<ref name= Cooke/> In 1991 the sleeve note of the Naxos recording of the Violin Concerto and other works ends: "Delius is now out of fashion, for our times do not favour art that is never vulgar, never strident."<ref>{{cite web|title= About this Recording: 8.557242 – Delius: Violin Concerto (Tintner Edition 10)|url= http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.557242&catNum=557242&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English|publisher= Naxos|year= 1991|access-date= 19 January 2011|archive-date= 20 January 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120120164701/http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.557242&catNum=557242&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English|url-status= dead}}</ref> In a comment on the BBC Symphony Orchestra's projected October 2010 Elgar and Delius concert at London's [[Barbican Centre]], the critic David Nice observes that while Elgar is in vogue, Delius is "desperately out of fashion".<ref>{{cite web|last= Nice|first= David|title= BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis, Barbican|url= http://www.theartsdesk.com/classical-music/bbc-symphony-orchestra-sir-andrew-davis-barbican |website= The Arts Desk|date= 9 October 2010|access-date= 18 January 2011}}</ref>|group= n}} To suggestions that Delius's music is an "acquired taste", Fenby answers: "The music of Delius is not an acquired taste. One either likes it the moment one first hears it, or the sound of it is once and for ever distasteful to one. It is an art which will never enjoy an appeal to the many, but one which will always be loved, and dearly loved, by the few."<ref>Fenby (1981), p. 208</ref> Writing in 2004 on the 70th anniversary of Delius's death, the ''Guardian'' journalist Martin Kettle recalls Cardus arguing in 1934 that Delius as a composer was unique, both in his technique and in his emotionalism. Although he eschewed classical formalism, it was wrong, Cardus believed, to regard Delius merely as "a tone-painter, an impressionist or a maker of programme music". His music's abiding feature is, Cardus wrote, that it "recollects emotion in tranquillity&nbsp;... Delius is always reminding us that beauty is born by contemplation after the event".<ref>{{cite journal|author-link= Martin Kettle|last= Kettle|first= Martin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/jul/09/classicalmusicandopera.proms2004|title=Three-act tragedy|journal= The Guardian|date=9 July 2004|access-date=30 January 2011}}</ref>