Frederick Delius.

New York, Knopf, 1961, ©1959, 1961. Very Good. Reprint ; 227 p. illus. 24 cm. ; LCCN: 60-16206 ; OCLC: 3936106 ; LC: ML410.D35; Dewey: 927.8 ; blue cloth in green dustjacket ; slight mottling of covers ; slight edge wear on dustjacket ; "The names of Delius and Sir Tomas Beecham are linked in a manner unique in the history of music. It is not merely that much of the work of Deilus would not have secured recognition had not Sir Thomas devoted so much of his time and talent to making it known, nor is it even that there is no other conductor who can bring out to the full its exquisite quality in performance. The key to this collaboration lies neither in temperment nor character, for the two men are essentially unlike; and if we are looking for intimate revelations, it is to Jelka, the wife of Delius, to whom we must turn. Her account of the passage of her love for Delius, written down at the request of Sir Tomas, is a moving narrative on its own. But on the plane of music, composer and interpreter seem to be one and indivisible. But public and press have grown to regard the union as something inexplicable and even magical. But Sir Thomas offers a simple explanation of the seeming mystery. Over forty years ago, dissatisfied with virtually all the existing printed versions of Delius's output, he began the task of re-editing nearly everything the composer had then weitten. In fact he created his own private edition--in course of publication--and it is this which has formed the basis of all his interpretations. This biography was written in fulfilment of a personal pledge to Jelka Delius, and at last makes clear the facts of the composer's life, disentangling them from ambiguity and legend that his previous biographers--and even Delius himself, when in playful mood--have surrounded them. Authentic to the last detail, it is a book that only Sir Thomas Beecham could have written. Every sentence has the richly beguiling charm of his conversation and that ,asterpiece in autobiography, A Mingled Chime." ; a St. Louis Post article from Friday, January 18, 1974, covering a performance of Delius' Mass of Life , with Walter Susskind and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, written by Frank Peters, laid in ; VG/VG