Quintessentially English ?

Marketed as one of EMI's Great Recordings of the Century, this disk highlights a couple of strange anomalies as well as providing benchmark performances. Simply titled Delius Orchestral Works and played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Thomas Beecham, the anomalies centre on the supposed quintessential "Englishness" of Delius and the central place that Beecham holds in Delius interpretation. In his life, Delius had as much connection with France, Germany and the US as he did with England but there is undoubtedly that sense of the English pastoral and landscape that many of the composers of the first half of the 20th century are supposed to share. Beecham certainly championed the music of Delius and cemented the performing style but the anomaly here is that he didn't get any insight from the composer himself, who remained vague on detail though supportive of Beecham's efforts. This disk has the well known Brigg Fair and On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring and other titles tend to enhance the pastoral theme. However inapt it might be, the sense of a particular time and place is very strong and when in the mood to be nostalgic about those, this disk can not be bettered.