Search - Ralph Vaughan Williams, Frederick Delius, William Boughton :: Vaughan Williams: The Wasps; The Lark Ascending; Delius: Florida Suite

Re the "Florida Suite"

R. Scharba | Chicago, IL USA | 11/03/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I thought I would post a dissenting opinion from the one already here about the Delius "Florida Suite" on this Nimbus CD, a piece of which I am particularly fond. The reviewer criticizes a lack of coherence or musical form overall, and calls it an "immature work by someone who was less than a master." It's true that this relatively early piece does not reflect Delius' mature style, and a paradigm of musical form it's not. However, I find its lyrical beauty and communicative power extraordinary, and to the receptive mind it evokes a time, place, and atmosphere as vividly as any music I've ever heard. At certain points, say in the first movement (Daybreak) and last movement (At Night), it conjures up a powerful sense of nostalgia for a long-ago time and place that we haven't experienced, but can still feel the composer's longing for through the power of this score.The other pieces on this disc are lovely, though I would suggest that Boult's recording of the complete "Aristophanic Suite" from "The Wasps" is a better choice for that music. Boughton's languorous but powerfully expressive recording of Delius' "Florida Suite," however, makes it a real desert island disc for me. If you admire this piece, as I do, I think this is a recording you really should hear."