Delius in Florida
In 1884, the disappointing young son of a successful German manufacturer was sent to Florida to manage the family orange plantation. Frederick Delius was enthralled by his Romantic surroundings and by the songs of black workers in the groves and on the river boats. “It was there that I first felt the urge to express myself in music,” he would later write. The Florida Suite was his earliest orchestral work, and it was inspired by recollections of his life at Solano Grove, near the banks of the St. Johns River. Delius left the grove a ruin, but his sparkling music is still enjoyed today.
The Florida Suite is a delicate mingling of Grieg and black spirituals. The four movements are “Daybreak,” “By the River,” “Sunset—Near the Plantation,” and “At Night.” (The third movement is my own favorite, and features one of those fleeting Florida storms.) Delius dedicated the suite to the people of Florida.
(You can read more about Delius and other great composers, in one of my favorite music resources: The Gift of Music by Jane Stuart Smith.)
(The painting above is by Harold Newton, one of the Florida Highwaymen mentored by the artist Albert “Beanie” Backus. The Florida Highwaymen were black artists who sold their scenic paintings on the side of the road.)
Tuesday, April 17, 2012