Frederick Delius was born in the Horton district of Bradford on 29 June 1862. His parents Julius and Elise Pauline emigrated from Westphalia in 1856 so that Julius could further his career as a wool merchant. They went on to become leading members of the German community in the City.
The family were highly musical and by his early teens Delius was proficient both as a pianist and violinist. After attending Bradford Grammar School from 1874 to 1878 Delius was expected to join the family textile business but he proved reluctant to do so. For a year from the Spring of 1884 Delius was sent to Florida to manage an orange plantation, however neglecting his work he attended musical concerts whenever he could. His exposure to gospel and spiritual music influenced his work Florida Suite composed in 1887. From 1886 Delius pursued his music career in Leipzig and in Paris where in 1897 he met his future wife the artist Jelka Rosen marrying her in 1903. The couple settled in the village of Grez-sur-Loing 40 miles outside Paris where he lived for the rest of his life. In the years before the First World War Delius composed most of his most famous orchestral works including Brigg Fair, In a Summer Garden and On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring. He also wrote an opera A Village Romeo and Juliet.
Before and after the War his music was championed in Britain by the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham and by the early 1920s he was receiving widespread recognition for the quality of his music.
Unfortunately his health began to deteriorate from the mid1920s possibly from the result of contracting syphilis in Paris before meeting his wife. By 1928 he was blind and paralysed and unable to compose. However a young admirer from Scarborough Eric Fenby volunteered to help Delius compose further music over the next 5 years. This collaboration was celebrated in 1968 in the film Song of Summer directed by Ken Russell.
Delius died at his home in France in 1934 he was buried at St Peters church, Limpsfield, Surrey.
Today in Bradford there is a thriving Delius Arts and Cultural Centre close to his birthplace. In 1993 the Quatrefoil for Delius sculpture created by Amber Hiscott was unveiled in Exchange Square consisting of two enormous leaves to highlight Delius’s love of nature.
This year Bradford will be the UK City of Culture and there will be a performance of Delius’s Piano Concerto at St George’s Hall on 22 May. https://www.bradford-theatres.co.uk/whats-on/philippine-philharmonic-orchestra
Read more about Bradford’s City of Culture programme here: https://bradford2025.co.uk/whats-on/
Article contributed by David Holt, Yorkshire Blue Badge Guide: https://yorkshiresbestguides.co.uk/project/david-holt/
