Delius Requiem - 'In memory of young artists fallen in the war'.

Dedicated by Delius to 'the memory of young artists fallen in the war'.
The text for Frederick Delius's Requiem (1916) was compiled by the composer and his German Jewish friend Heinrich Simon.
The text is a non-religious, philosophical work written in German that does not quote any single specific author. Instead, it is inspired by the spirit of the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche and Arthur Schopenhauer, and also includes influences from William Shakespeare and the Bible.

N.B.Fenby regarded this as a 'curious requiem', he being a devout Christian at odds with Delius' outspoken condemnation of religious beliefs.

The Requiem by Frederick Delius was written between 1913 and 1916, and first performed in 1922. It is set for soprano, baritone, double chorus and orchestra, and is dedicated "To the memory of all young artists fallen in the war". The Requiem is Delius's least-known major work, not being recorded until 1968 and having received only seven performances worldwide by 1980.

The reasons why Delius, an avowed atheist, started work on a Requiem, a decidedly Christian (specifically Catholic) form, are obscure. (A Mass of Life from 1905 also has a title suggestive of religion, but with an apparently anti-religious text.) He started work on the Requiem in 1913, after a holiday in Norway. The dedication "To the memory of all young artists fallen in the war" was clearly not in Delius's mind at the outset, as there was no war happening at that time. He had substantially completed the work by 26 October 1914, barely ten weeks after the start of the First World War. Prior to the outbreak of the war, both Henry Wood and Sir Thomas Beecham had shown early interest in presenting the Requiem during the latter part of the 1914 season. The war put paid to those plans, and Delius used the opportunity to make some minor revisions. By 15 March 1916 he was able to tell Philip Heseltine that it was completely finished.

The work lasts a little over half an hour. It is in two parts and five sections. The chorus appears in every section, along with either the soprano or baritone soloist. The soloists do not sing together until the final section:

Our days here are as one day (chorus, baritone)
Hallelujah (chorus, baritone)
My beloved whom I cherish was like a flower (baritone, chorus)
I honour the man who can love life, yet without base fear can die (soprano, chorus)
The snow lingers yet on the mountains (baritone, soprano, chorus)

Album Info :-
Delius Requiem
For Soprano Baritone, Chorus and Orchestra.
Heather Harper - Soprano
John Shirley Quirk - Baritone
The Royal Choral Society, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Conductor - Meredith Davies.
Recording date C. 1968.
From vinyll album.
EMI
ASD 2397.

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