''Cynara'' is a setting by

Frederick Delius file:Fritz Delius (1907).jpg, Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercan ...

of a poem by

Ernest Dowson Ernest Christopher Dowson (2 August 186723 February 1900) was an English poet, novelist, and short-story writer who is often associated with the Decadent movement. Biography Ernest Dowson was born in Lee, then in Kent, in 1867. His great-uncle ...

, for solo baritone voice and orchestra. Delius worked on the piece in 1907 as part of his score for '' Songs of Sunset'', but abandoned this setting as he felt it did not fit with the other poems by Dowson. He left it incomplete. The sketches were rediscovered in 1929 by Delius's assistant,

Eric Fenby Eric William Fenby OBE (22 April 190618 February 1997) was an English composer, conductor, pianist, organist and teacher who is best known for being Frederick Delius's amanuensis from 1928 to 1934. He helped Delius realise a number of works th ...

(the composer Philip Heseltine, otherwise Peter Warlock, also claimed credit for the discovery). Delius dictated to Fenby a setting of the final four lines, and the completed score was sent to Heseltine who was assisting Sir

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Roya ...

in the organisation of a Delius Festival to be held in London during October 1929. ''Cynara'' was premiered at the

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...

on 18 October 1929; John Goss was the soloist, with the

BBC Orchestra BBC Orchestras and Singers refers collectively to a number of orchestras, choirs and other musical ensembles, maintained by the BBC. Current operation All of the BBC’s Orchestras and Singers record performances primarily for BBC Radio 3, with ...

conducted by Beecham. There are several available recordings of the work.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1929 compositions Compositions by Frederick Delius Vocal musical compositions Compositions for symphony orchestra