Frederick Delius - a great Yorkshireman

Born in Bradford, West Yorkshire in 1862, Frederick Delius was the fourth child of a family of fourteen. Named Fritz Theodore Albert by his parents, Delius was born into a musical family.

He grew up with a love of the moors nearby and much of his music has bucolic themes: ‘On hearing the first cuckoo in Spring’ is perhaps one of his most well known, but ‘To Daffodils’, ‘The Nightingale has a Lyre of Gold’, and Two songs: ‘The Violet and the Autumn’ all point to his love of the countryside. ‘Brigg Fair’ is based upon a folk song, as much of his music was, some on Norwegian themes, some on poems: Three Shelley Songs: ‘Indian Love Song, ‘Love’s Philosophy’, and ‘To the Queen of My Heart’, and four Nietzsche songs, among many, many others.

He rests in the small town of Limspfield, Surrey, with his devoted wife, Jelka.
Robert L. Fielding