Sea Drift (Delius)
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''Sea Drift'' is among the larger-scale musical works by the composer
Frederick Delius file:Fritz Delius (1907).jpg, Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius (born Fritz Theodor Albert Delius; ; 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934) was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prospero ...
. Completed in 1903–04 and first performed in 1906, it is a setting for
baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
, chorus and orchestra of words by
Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...
.


The poem adaptation

''Sea Drift'' takes its name from a section of Walt Whitman's poetical compilation ''
Leaves of Grass ''Leaves of Grass'' is a poetry collection by American poet Walt Whitman. After self-publishing it in 1855, he spent most of his professional life writing, revising, and expanding the collection until his death in 1892. Either six or nine separa ...
'', Sea-Drift, which contains several poems about the sea or the shore. The text is drawn from the poem '' Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking'', though it does not use the full text. In the poem, the speaker describes how, as a boy, he watched a pair of mocking-birds nesting, until one day the she-bird flew away and never returned. In a long section usually printed in italics, the he-bird, unable to leave in case his mate should return and find him gone, waits forever and calls his sorrowful song to the moon, the stars and the sea, which are heavy and drooping with his lost love. The text employed by Delius closes with the bird's
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, 'translated' by the boy, who seems to understand it, or projects it from his own awakening feelings. The poem however continues to explain how the boy's feelings suddenly burst out tumultuously, and he ran weeping down to the sea in the moonlight as the bird's call unlocked the questions in his own heart. Knowing that he will never escape the unknown want aroused in him, 'the sweet hell within', he begs for some word more of understanding. The unhurrying sea
Lisp'd to me the low and delicious word death,
And again death, death, death, death
Hissing melodious, neither like the bird nor like my arous'd child's heart,
But edging near as privately for me rustling at my feet,
Creeping thence steadily up to my ears and laving me softly all over,
Death, death, death, death, death.


The setting

Throughout the work, which lasts about 25 minutes, the motion of the waves is suggested by the orchestra. The chorus opens (the beginning of the poem, 'Out of the cradle...' is omitted) at 'Once Paumanok, when the lilac-scent was in the air...', two sections weaving the words to suggest the two birds. Then the baritone is the narrator, and tells ('And every day...') how the boy went and watched, and the chorus responds with the birds singing together ('Shine! shine! shine!'). The baritone interrupts ('Till of a sudden...') to tell how the she-bird disappeared, and the he-bird was left. The chorus gives the bird's cry, and the baritone responds with the lyrical passage describing how the boy listened to the song, 'Yes my brother, I know: The rest might not, but I have treasured every note...' The remainder of the setting is from the text of the bird's song (somewhat edited), (beginning 'Soothe! soothe! soothe!') overlapping as the baritone sings 'Following you, my brother...': from this point on the baritone takes important sections of the bird's song ('You must know who I am, my love!'), with the chorus singing other parts of the text at the same time, interweaving, reinforcing, echoing and punctuating the singer's narrative. Love becomes the power which drives the effects of nature ('O madly the sea pushes upon the land,/With love, with love'). The choral phrases 'O rising stars! Perhaps the one I want so much will rise, will rise with some of you' pivots between two passages where despair alternates with the delusional hope for a glimpse or an echo of the beloved. This culminates in the fortissimo 'O in vain!', repeated by the chorus as the climax, and then the long coda, mainly sung by the baritone ('O I am very sick and sorrowful'), lamenting the loss of their life together ('We two together no more'), and the words 'no more', echoed like the murmuring sea and wind by the choir, bring the work to a close. By this blending of the narrator with the choir in the words of the bird's song, Delius has achieved the union of the boy's spirit with what he witnesses, in the way that is explained in the later part of Whitman's poem, and Delius does not have to tell us about the 'low and delicious word death.'


Premier performances

''Sea Drift'' was completed by Delius between 1903 and 1904, not long before his '' A Mass of Life''. It was dedicated to the composer and conductor
Max von Schillings Max von Schillings (April 19, 1868 – July 24, 1933) was a German conductor, composer and theatre director. He was chief conductor at the Berlin State Opera from 1919 to 1925. Schillings' opera ''Mona Lisa'' (1915) was internationally successfu ...
(then plain "Max Schillings"), and (at a time when Delius found it very difficult to obtain performances of his works in Britain) the first performance was given on 24 May 1906 at the
Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...
Tonkünstler Verein (Composers' Society) in Germany, with Joseph Loritz as soloist and Georg Witte conducting. Carl Schuricht was present, was immediately won over by the work, and wrote frequently to the composer about it. Over the next years the bass Felix von Kraus distinguished himself in the work in Germany. The first performance in England was given by the baritone Frederic Austin, conducted by
Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundr ...
, in autumn 1908 at the
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
Festival. It was repeated, with the same soloist and with the New Symphony Orchestra and the North
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
Choral Society, under
Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, (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 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philh ...
, at Hanley, Staffordshire on 3 December 1908 and at
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
on 4 December. Of this Manchester performance it was written, "People had come from Paris, London, Birmingham and Liverpool to hear it; yet, as a matter of actual fact, there were more people taking part in the concert on the platform than listeners in the audience. Nevertheless, Delius's ''Sea Drift'' aroused tremendous enthusiasm, the audience making up in applause what they lacked in numbers." The New York premiere, in 1928, featured the English baritone Herbert Heyner.


Recordings

The first commercial recording of ''Sea Drift'' was issued in 1929 by
Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
. The set of three 78rpm discs featured baritone Roy Henderson with the New English Symphony Orchestra and Chorus; however, the recording was pulled by Decca after a limited time (before 1936) because it fitted poorly across six record sides, and on account of contract issues related to the conductor (who went unnamed on the recording). An earlier recording was made in 1928 for
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of baritone Dennis Noble, the
London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
and the Manchester Beecham Opera Chorus under Sir Thomas Beecham; however, His Master's Voice never issued the recording owing to flawed acoustics. It was eventually released as part of an anthology of Beecham recordings in 2001. Beecham recorded ''Sea Drift'' a few more times, beginning in 1936 with John Brownlee and the
London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...
and London Select Choir, for special release by the Delius Society (and reissued in 1976 for World Record Club). Then in January 1951 he conducted baritone Gordon Clinton, the BBC Chorus and the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...
. Lastly came a rendition with Bruce Boyce (and the same orchestra and choir) recorded in 1954 and widely released by CBS Masterworks and Philips Classics. A 1963 broadcast performance (in German) conducted by Carl Schuricht, with soloist Carlos Alexander and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, preserves the reading of one of the earliest conductors of the work, who knew Delius and altered some details of his orchestration. Later recordings include Sir Charles Groves conducting the
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmo ...
Orchestra & Choir with
John Noble John Noble (born 20 August 1948) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Denethor in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003), and Dr. Walter Bishop in the Fox science fiction series '' Fringe'' (2008–2013). ...
(paired with '' A Song of the High Hills'' on
Angel Records Angel Records was a record label founded by EMI in 1953. It specialised in European classical music, classical music, but included an occasional operetta or Broadway score. and one Peter Sellers comedy disc. The famous Recording Angel trademark ...
in 1974), and
Richard Hickox Richard Sidney Hickox (5 March 1948 – 23 November 2008) was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music. Early life and education Hickox was born in Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire into a musical family. After attending ...
leading the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with the London Symphony Chorus and John Shirley-Quirk (a 1981 pairing with ''Appalachia'' on
Argo In Greek mythology, the ''Argo'' ( ; ) was the ship of Jason and the Argonauts. The ship was built with divine aid, and some ancient sources describe her as the first ship to sail the seas. The ''Argo'' carried the Argonauts on their quest fo ...
).
Digital recording In digital recording, an audio signal, audio or video signal is converted into a stream of discrete numbers representing the changes over time in air pressure for audio, or Color, chroma and luminance values for video. This number stream is s ...
s of the work are found on the 1991 CD of Thomas Hampson with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra & Chorus under Sir Charles Mackerras; a 1993 rendition by Bryn Terfel with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and assorted choirs, again under Hickox and released on Chandos Records, and a 2013 recording by Roderick Williams with the Hallé Orchestra, Hallé Choir and Hallé Youth Choir conducted by Mark Elder. In 2012, at the behest of the Delius Trust, a new recording of ''Sea Drift'' was made (paired again with ''Appalachia''). Intended to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Delius' 1862 birth, while also honoring the connection he had to
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, the album features baritone Leon Williams with
The Florida Orchestra The Florida Orchestra is an American orchestra based in the tri-city area of Tampa, Clearwater, Florida, Clearwater and St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida. It was founded as the Florida Gulf Coast Symphony upon the 1968 merger of th ...
and The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, under conductor Stefan Sanderling.
Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records, which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about ...
recorded the live album during concerts in St. Petersburg, Florida.DELIUS, F.: Appalachia / Sea Drift (arr. T. Beecham) (Williams, Tampa Bay Master Chorale, Florida Orchestra, S. Sanderling) (Naxos 8.572764)
www.naxos.com


References


External links

* {{Authority control 1904 compositions Choral compositions by Frederick Delius Musical settings of poems by Walt Whitman