Delius and the Sound of Place

Book at Lunchtime: Delius and the Sound of Place Few composers have
responded as powerfully to place as Frederick Delius (1862–1934).
Born in Yorkshire, Delius resided in the United States, Germany,
and Scandinavia before settling in France, where he spent the
majority of his professional career. This book examines the role of
place in selected works, including 'On Hearing the First Cuckoo in
Spring', Appalachia, and The Song of the High Hills, reading place
as a creative and historically mediated category in his music.
Drawing on archival sources, contemporary art, and literature, and
more recent writing in cultural geography and the philosophy of
place, this is a new interpretation of Delius' work, and he emerges
as one of the most original and compelling voices in early
twentieth-century music. As the popularity of his music grows, this
book challenges the idea of Delius as a large-scale rhapsodic
composer, and reveals a richer and more productive relationship
between place and music.