• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Yes
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 18.03 x 13.76 x 1.48 cm; 83.16 g
• EAN ‏ : ‎ 5037899013601
• Manufacturer reference ‏ : ‎ 5037899013601
• Release date ‏ : ‎ May 11, 2009
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Digital Classics
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

This DVD presents a fascinating portrait of the life and work of Frederick Delius (1862-1934), and packs a wealth of material into its one-hour duration. The film focuses on his early life and work, and so in a sense complements Ken Russell's well-known dramatisation Song of Summer, which deals with the years of incapacity at the end of the composer's life. The music performed (as brief samples, of course) includes the Florida Suite and Song of the High Hills played by the Welsh National Opera conducted by the late Sir Charles Mackerras, the Concerto for Violin and Piano with Delius champion Tasmin Little, the Cello Sonata performed by Julian Lloyd Webber, the "Late Swallows" movement of the String Quartet played by the Brindisi Quartet, as well as snatches of the Mass of Life and the opera A Village Romeo and Juliet.

The various performers are also seen in discussing the unique nature of Delius music and the problems encountered in performing it. There are further contributions from Robert Threlfall (charged with the gargantuan task of preparing a definitve edition of all Delius' music), Thomas Hampson (who plays the Dark Fiddler in the above-mentioned opera), the music critic Felix Aprahamian, the composer Anthony Payne, and an elderly Eric Fenby, whose remarkable association with Delius as his amanuensis between 1929-34 is the subject of Russell's film.

"Discovering Delius" documents particularly well the influences of the various countries he visited (especially America, Norway, Germany, and France where, with his Norwegian wife Jelka, he made his home for almost 40 years. Delius was very much a nature composer but, despite his being born and raised in Bradford, not an English one (although, strangely, he chose to be buried here - in the Surrey village of Limpsfield). This documentary does much to dispel the myth that his exquisite miniatures such as Song of Summer, A Summer Night on the River, and On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, are redolent of the English countryside. If anything they reflect the French landscape in which he lived, and the early Song of the High Hills is about the "high hills" of Norway.

It may be that Delius devotees will not learn much that they do not alreay know, but this documentary is well compiled, with some stunning scenes of the Norwegian landscape, and some evocative ones of the composer's old home in the village of Grez-sur-Loing. For the interested enquirer who knows little of Delius' life and work this DVD will provide and excellent introduction.