Delius: Appalachia & The Song of the High Hills BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus & Sir Andrew Davis

• Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934): Appalachia:
• 1 Delius: Appalachia: Introduction I. Molto moderato - Tranquillo 03:47
• 2 Delius: Appalachia: Introduction II. Poco più vivo ma moderato 02:13
• 3 Delius: Appalachia: Theme. Andante 00:29
• 4 Delius: Appalachia: Variation I. Un poco più - Moderato 00:45
• 5 Delius: Appalachia: Variation II. Più vivo 01:00
• 6 Delius: Appalachia: Variaton III. Molto moderato - Poco più mosso 04:09
• 7 Delius: Appalachia: Variation IV. Con moto - Un poco più tranquillo 00:53
• 8 Delius: Appalachia: Variation V. Giocoso. Allegro moderato - Meno mosso. Più tranquillo 02:42
• 9 Delius: Appalachia: Variation VI. Lento e molto tranquillo - Misterioso. Più mosso - Un poco meno 04:10
• 10 Delius: Appalachia: Variation VII. Andante con grazia - Calando 01:38
• 11 Delius: Appalachia: Variation VIII. Lento sostenuto e tranquillo - Un poco più 02:50
• 12 Delius: Appalachia: Variation IX. Allegro alla marcia - Adagio 01:42
• 13 Delius: Appalachia: Variation X. Marcia. Molto lento maestoso 01:34
• 14 Delius: Appalachia: Song. L'istesso tempo - Misterioso lento 07:52
• The Song of the High Hills:
• 15 Delius: The Song of the High Hills: In ruhigen fließendem Tempo - Tranquillo 09:27
• 16 Delius: The Song of the High Hills: Very slow (The wide far distance - The great solitude) 11:45
• 17 Delius: The Song of the High Hills: Tempo I - Più mosso ma tranquillo - With exultation (not hurried) 07:21
• Total Runtime 01:04:17

Info for Delius: Appalachia & The Song of the High Hills

This recording presents two comparatively rarely heard but striking works by Frederick Delius. Both are prime examples of his highly individual and ground-breaking use of voices in predominantly orchestral works.

In Appalachia, the sombre mood reflects the fate that overcame many black slaves along the Mississippi River, who were sold by one cotton planter to another, simply uprooted from loved ones, and transported to a different place – the practice is the origin of the expression ‘being sold down the river’. The inspiration for the work came to Delius when he was working on an orange plantation in Florida as a young man, and from across the water in the distance heard the singing of black farm labourers. Many year later, Delius recollected: ‘they showed a truly wonderful sense of musicianship and harmonic resource in the instinctive way in which they treated a melody, and hearing their singing in such romantic surroundings it was then and there that I first felt the urge to express myself in music.’

The inspiration for The Song of the High Hills was the mountains of Norway, which Delius regarded as his spiritual home. In 1911, he started composing the tone poem in which he sought to capture the impression created by a still summer night in the Norwegian mountains. Completed the following year, it is scored for large orchestra and chorus which, as in Appalachia, plays an integral part in the work, although the singing here is entirely wordless. To emphasise their role in providing colour to the texture, the singers were directed to remain seated throughout, and to ‘sing on the vowel only which will produce the richest tone possible’. Delius considered this not only one of his best works, but one of the works in which he had expressed himself most completely.

"Davis combines a sensitive feeling for tempo and shape with superfine detail of phrasing and balancing...The BBC Symphony Orchestra plays for its former chief conductor with precision and spirit, the solo voices make an excellent contribution, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra achieves miracles of quiet singing and climactic exultation." (BBC Music Magazine)

"[Davis] guides the BBC Symphony Orchestra through two beautifully expressive performances that challenge accusations [that] Delius is boring...Credit must also go to the chorus, which tackles its integral role with great subtlety and skill, from the stirring final song of the first piece to the transcendent, wordless choral work of the second." (Classic FM Magazine)

"With the excellent BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Davis uncovers original turns of phrase in Appalachia, Delius’s heat-haze of variations inspired by the Mississippi swamps. Here, as in the austere choral-symphonic Song of the High Hills, Davis conjures an authentic Delian atmosphere – and brings joy to the heart." (Financial Times)

Andrew Rupp, baritone
Olivia Robinson, soprano
Christopher Bowen, tenor
BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sir Andrew Davis, conductor

Sir Andrew Davis
Maestro Davis is conductor laureate of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (having previously served as principal conductor), conductor laureate of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (having previously had the longest tenure as chief conductor since BBCSO founder Sir Adrian Boult) and former music director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Sir Andrew serves as artistic advisor to the Besançon International Music Festival and is president of the jury for that festival’s 52nd International Competition for Young Conductors.

In the 2011-2012 season Maestro Davis conducts Boris Godunov, Ariadne auf Naxos, and The Magic Flute at Lyric Opera of Chicago. His engagements elsewhere in 2011-12 include the Besançon Festival, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, London’s Philharmonia Orchestra,the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera (Don Giovanni), BBC Symphony Orchestra, The Santa Fe Opera, Canadian Opera Company (Eine florentinische Tragödie and Gianni Schicchi), Santa Fe Opera (Arabella), the Bergen Festival (La damnation de Faust), and the opening of the Edinburgh Festival. In addition, Sir Andrew will spend several weeks recording for Chandos Records with various orchestras.

In the 2010-11 season Sir Andrew conducted The Mikado (new production), The Girl of the Golden West, and Lohengrin at Lyric Opera of Chicago. He was seen on the podium with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Sir Andrew also returned to the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Proms in London and to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, where he led performances of his own new orchestration of Handel’s Messiah. Maestro Davis made return appearances with the Metropolitan Opera (Capriccio), the Canadian Opera Company (Ariadne auf Naxos), the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Peter Grimes), and Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Rusalka).

With the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Maestro Davis has led concerts at the Proms and on tour to Hong Kong, Japan, the U.S., and Europe. He has conducted all of the world’s major orchestras, from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to the Berlin Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw, as well as at opera houses and festivals throughout the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and the Bayreuth Festival.

Maestro Davis has a massive discography on the Chandos, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Warner Classics International, Capriccio, EMI, and CBS labels, among others. Sir Andrew currently records exclusively for Chandos Records. His first Chandos recording, Elgar’s “Crown of India,” was released in 2010. His recordings of Holst’s “Beni Mora,” “Japanese Suite,” and “The Planets,” and of York Bowen’s Symphonies No. 1 and 2 with the BBC Philharmonic; and of Delius’s “Appalachia” and “Song of the High Hills” with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, were issued in the first half of 2011.

In 2008, Sir Andrew released Elgar’s Violin Concertos, featuring violinist James Ehnes and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra (Onyx Classics), which won Gramophone’s coveted “Best of Category – Concerto” Award. Recordings in 2007 included Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with violinist Min-Jyn Kim and the Philharmonia Orchestra (Sony); a solo recital of operatic favorites sung by soprano Nicole Cabell with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (Decca), which in 2008 won the Solti Prize from the French Académie du Disque Lyrique; and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with pianist Yundi Li and the Philharmonia Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon).

In 1992, Maestro Davis was created a Commander of the British Empire for his services to British music, and in 1999 he was made a Knight Bachelor in the New Year Honours List. In 1991, he received the Royal Philharmonic Society/Charles Heidsieck Music Award.

Born in 1944 in Hertfordshire, England, Maestro Davis studied at King’s College, Cambridge, where he was an organ scholar before taking up the baton. His diverse repertoire ranges from Baroque to contemporary, and his vast conducting credits span the symphonic and operatic and choral worlds. Sir Andrew is a great proponent of twentieth-century works including those by Janácek, Messiaen, Boulez, Elgar, Tippett, and Britten, in addition to the core symphonic and operatic composers’ works.

Maestro Davis and his wife, soprano Gianna Rolandi, reside in Chicago where she is the director of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Booklet for Delius: Appalachia & The Song of the High Hills