Tags
Language
Tags
April 2024
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
31 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 1 2 3 4

Delius: Appalachia; The Song Of The High Hills - Davis, BBC Symphony Orchestra (2011)

Posted By: peotuvave
Delius: Appalachia; The Song Of The High Hills - Davis, BBC Symphony Orchestra (2011)

Delius: Appalachia; The Song Of The High Hills - Davis, BBC Symphony Orchestra (2011)
X Lossless Decoder | Flac (Tracks + cue + log) | 1 CD | Full Scans | 226 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Chandos | Catalog Number: 5088

This recording presents two comparatively rarely heard but striking works by Frederick Delius, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Andrew Davis with entirely idiomatic results. Both works are prime examples of Delius’s highly individual and ground-breaking use of voices in predominantly orchestral works.

In Appalachia, the sombre mood reflects the fate that overcame many black slaves along the Mississippi River, who were sold by one cotton planter to another, simply uprooted from loved ones, and transported to a different place – the practice is the origin of the expression ‘being sold down the river’. The inspiration for the work came to Delius when he was working on an orange plantation in Florida as a young man, and from across the water in the distance heard the singing of black farm labourers. Many year later, Delius recollected: ‘they showed a truly wonderful sense of musicianship and harmonic resource in which they treated a melody, and hearing their singing in such romantic surroundings it was then and there that I first felt the urge to express myself in music.’

Setting an anonymous slave song, Delius expresses the human tragedy that unfolds in it initially through the full chorus in unaccompanied song. The orchestra steals in to reflect on the suffering before the baritone sings and the chorus responds. Rising to its climax, the music suggests hope and human dignity triumphing over adversity; the music of the introduction returns and the vision poignantly fades as the ship with its dispossessed slaves sails downstream and disappears from sight.

The inspiration for The Song of the High Hills was the mountains of Norway, which Delius regarded as his spiritual home. In 1911, he started composing the tone poem in which he sought to capture the impression created by a still summer night in the Norwegian mountains. It was completed the following year, written for large orchestra and chorus which, as in Appalachia, plays an integral part in the work, although the singers here are wordless. To emphasise their role in providing colour to the texture, they were directed to be seated throughout, and to ‘sing on the vowel only which will produce the richest tone possible’.

In the words of Delius, the work ‘expresses the joy and exhilaration one feels in the mountains and also the loneliness and melancholy of the high solitudes and the grandeur of the wide far distances. The human voices represent man in nature; an episode which becomes fainter and then disappears altogether’. Delius considered this not only one of his best works, but one of the works in which he had expressed himself most completely.

Composer: Frederick Delius
Performer: Andrew Rupp, Olivia Robinson
Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis
Orchestra/Ensemble: BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus

Reviews: “I tried to express the joy and exhilaration one feels in the Mountains, and also the loneliness and melancholy of the high solitudes, and the grandeur of the wide far distances…” Frederick Delius writing about his The Song of the High Hills.

The 1983 Unicorn-Kanchana (DKP (CD) 9029) release of this sublime work, arguably Delius’s masterpiece, is one of my most cherished recordings. It was conducted by Delius’s amanuensis, Eric Fenby and produced by the late and still lamented Christopher Palmer (he wrote one of the best and most insightful books on Delius: Delius - Portrait of a Cosmopolitan, Duckworth, 1976, ISBN 0 7156 1547 5) who also wrote the intelligent booklet notes. In one particular section, Palmer wrote illuminatingly, “Delius had no belief in the ‘God’ of popular religious contrivance; yet he was profoundly religious in the sense that his music aspires and looks through nature to some immanent spiritual reality, unseen unknown. In the High Hills the voice of this spiritual reality is the voice, human voices which singing to no words, sound paradoxically un-human, an embodiment of ‘man in nature’ as Delius called them.” And this sonority, this ethereal music, as captured here on this CD, indeed has that most mystical quality which lifts the spirit and engages the soul.

This new recording has the benefit of superior sound and the Chandos team has certainly done Delius proud. The spatial perspectives so vital in this work, evocations of unfolding vistas as the ascent proceeds, the flashes of lightning and the sound of thunder rolling amongst the hills, the birdcalls, Alpine horns, and the sonic pictures of snowfields and stormy rain clouds – these are all startling realistic. The ecstatic choir at the work’s climax certainly has an impact; its layering is very impressive but I worry that the choir and soloists, Olivia Robinson and Christopher Bowen, are recorded too closely, risking submerging that so-important mystical quality. But taken in the context of the whole of this CD, I can live with this concern and this notwithstanding I would now place Davis’s reading alongside that of Eric Fenby.

Appalachia

In his preface to the score of Appalachia Delius wrote: Appalachia is the old Indian name for North America. The composition mirrors the moods of tropical nature in the great swamps bordering on the Mississippi River which is so intimately associated with the life of the old Negro slave population.

However the inspiration for this work can be traced back to the time when Delius was in Florida, near the wide St Johns River, engaged in cultivating oranges although his mind was on music. He relates that he would sit smoking on sultry nights listening, and being mightily impressed, with the complex harmonies of the singing of black farm labourers in the distance. Many Delians also believe that he fell in love with a black girl with whom he had a child. The romance came to naught but Delius never forgot it - Tasmin Little has even suggested that she was the love of his life. It may well be that some of the emotions of that time spilled over into this and so many other works besides those inspired by his time in America. So much of Delius’s music speaks of the transience and tragedy of life and love. This sadness is emphasised in the sentiments of the slave song on which Appalachia is based. These slaves were considered as being little more than commodities to be bought and sold, families being cruelly split up in the process and literally ‘sold down the river’. Delius’s music, especially in that concluding song, is full of pathos and pity for their predicament.

Sir Andrew Davis gives a beautifully-shaped and sensitive reading of Appalachia. It begins with a gorgeous atmospheric scene-setting – Delius’s slow introduction – an evocation of a sultry, hazy dusk. all muted colours. A quickening tempo ushers in the melody of the slave song first hinted at on strumming strings imitative of banjos and then in a majestic sweep conjuring up a vision of the mighty Mississippi. After this comes the statement of the theme proper first on cor anglais and then transferred to the minor key for the first variation on horn. This is followed by nine other variations in a variety of moods of joy, of reflection and almost unbearable poignancy. There is a waltz and marches and episodes of exquisite delicacy and there is some exquisite nature-painting. This leads up to that magnificent and heart-rending final variation for chorus and orchestra and baritone Andrew Rupp: strong and reassuring to his woman – ‘And don’t you be so lonesome love. And don’t you fret and cry…And you’ll find me ever waiting…’ – as the boat comes to carry him away down river.

Tracklisting:

1. Appalachia - American Rhapsody by Frederick Delius
Performer: Andrew Rupp (Baritone)
Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis
Orchestra/Ensemble: BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1896; Paris, France

2. Song of the High Hills by Frederick Delius
Performer: Olivia Robinson (Soprano)
Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis
Orchestra/Ensemble: BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911; France

X Lossless Decoder version 20131102 (145.0)

XLD extraction logfile from 2013-12-17 18:17:01 -0500

Delius / Appalachia - The song of the High Hills

Used drive : HP DVD Writer 556s (revision MH23)
Media type : Pressed CD

Ripper mode : XLD Secure Ripper
Disable audio cache : OK for the drive with a cache less than 1375KiB
Make use of C2 pointers : NO
Read offset correction : 6
Max retry count : 20
Gap status : Analyzed, Appended (except HTOA)

TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 00:00:00 | 03:48:13 | 0 | 17112
2 | 03:48:13 | 02:13:20 | 17113 | 27107
3 | 06:01:33 | 00:29:25 | 27108 | 29307
4 | 06:30:58 | 00:45:35 | 29308 | 32717
5 | 07:16:18 | 01:00:15 | 32718 | 37232
6 | 08:16:33 | 04:09:15 | 37233 | 55922
7 | 12:25:48 | 00:53:30 | 55923 | 59927
8 | 13:19:03 | 02:42:00 | 59928 | 72077
9 | 16:01:03 | 04:10:05 | 72078 | 90832
10 | 20:11:08 | 01:38:10 | 90833 | 98192
11 | 21:49:18 | 02:49:45 | 98193 | 110912
12 | 24:38:63 | 01:42:00 | 110913 | 118562
13 | 26:20:63 | 01:33:52 | 118563 | 125589
14 | 27:54:40 | 07:52:23 | 125590 | 161012
15 | 35:46:63 | 09:27:14 | 161013 | 203551
16 | 45:14:02 | 11:45:00 | 203552 | 256426
17 | 56:59:02 | 07:23:73 | 256427 | 289724

AccurateRip Summary (DiscID: 001b416a-016e484a-d90f1711)
Track 01 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 02 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 03 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 04 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 05 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 06 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 07 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 08 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 09 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 10 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 11 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 12 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 13 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 14 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 15 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 16 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
Track 17 : OK (v2, confidence 11/11)
->All tracks accurately ripped.

All Tracks
Album gain : 0.61 dB
Peak : 0.986481
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 01
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/01 Appalachia - Introduction I.flac
Pre-gap length : 00:02:00

Track gain : 13.01 dB
Peak : 0.191162
CRC32 hash (test run) : 643BA8D5
CRC32 hash : 643BA8D5
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : FD2F0948
AccurateRip v1 signature : C656A5DF
AccurateRip v2 signature : BA0F14AB
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 02
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/02 Appalachia - Introduction II.flac

Track gain : 1.21 dB
Peak : 0.524902
CRC32 hash (test run) : 1D37360F
CRC32 hash : 1D37360F
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 5D13C69E
AccurateRip v1 signature : 58E8A2AF
AccurateRip v2 signature : 9A5941FA
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 03
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/03 Appalachia - Theme.flac

Track gain : 18.97 dB
Peak : 0.066681
CRC32 hash (test run) : 9863517D
CRC32 hash : 9863517D
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 77A885FF
AccurateRip v1 signature : 0B7808FA
AccurateRip v2 signature : 7C649961
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 04
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/04 Appalachia - Variations I.flac

Track gain : 12.83 dB
Peak : 0.134705
CRC32 hash (test run) : 0BAF92D9
CRC32 hash : 0BAF92D9
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 9FB0B114
AccurateRip v1 signature : A1C01FED
AccurateRip v2 signature : F482A869
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 05
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/05 Appalachia - Variations II.flac

Track gain : -0.68 dB
Peak : 0.913635
CRC32 hash (test run) : 399B20AF
CRC32 hash : 399B20AF
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 89C69D05
AccurateRip v1 signature : 008929C3
AccurateRip v2 signature : 0FB0B3BB
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 06
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/06 Appalachia - Variation III.flac

Track gain : 4.75 dB
Peak : 0.599121
CRC32 hash (test run) : 3F8F9C8A
CRC32 hash : 3F8F9C8A
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : BD9EC362
AccurateRip v1 signature : AE389582
AccurateRip v2 signature : 71CCF19C
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 07
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/07 Appalachia - Variation IV.flac

Track gain : 0.49 dB
Peak : 0.606598
CRC32 hash (test run) : 6C6B6F74
CRC32 hash : 6C6B6F74
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 3A697420
AccurateRip v1 signature : F77223CC
AccurateRip v2 signature : 3474A6EA
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 08
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/08 Appalachia - Variation V.flac

Track gain : 0.61 dB
Peak : 0.747223
CRC32 hash (test run) : 10AE80F9
CRC32 hash : 10AE80F9
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 519EBEE8
AccurateRip v1 signature : 3BA6C596
AccurateRip v2 signature : 755F784D
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 09
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/09 Appalachia - Variation VI.flac

Track gain : 14.45 dB
Peak : 0.237610
CRC32 hash (test run) : 0DBEDC47
CRC32 hash : 0DBEDC47
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : A1381F46
AccurateRip v1 signature : 1E381331
AccurateRip v2 signature : 9E8AAC54
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 10
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/10 Appalachia - Variation VII.flac

Track gain : 4.87 dB
Peak : 0.378662
CRC32 hash (test run) : 5AE40169
CRC32 hash : 5AE40169
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 22A6645C
AccurateRip v1 signature : F94B5FD1
AccurateRip v2 signature : E41688EA
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 11
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/11 Appalachia - Variation VIII.flac

Track gain : 6.01 dB
Peak : 0.384796
CRC32 hash (test run) : 0116E241
CRC32 hash : 0116E241
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 2DC3D0A5
AccurateRip v1 signature : 1ACC37F1
AccurateRip v2 signature : 491EE9FD
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 12
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/12 Appalachia - Variation IX.flac

Track gain : -1.16 dB
Peak : 0.958191
CRC32 hash (test run) : 9D88E721
CRC32 hash : 9D88E721
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 24930BB0
AccurateRip v1 signature : 89BAC5A4
AccurateRip v2 signature : 26D82013
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 13
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/13 Appalachia - Variation X.flac

Track gain : 0.76 dB
Peak : 0.657288
CRC32 hash (test run) : 3BF7D0AF
CRC32 hash : 3BF7D0AF
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 62D470D9
AccurateRip v1 signature : 8C65BF5C
AccurateRip v2 signature : 2EBFFCDB
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 14
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/14 Appalachia - Song.flac

Track gain : -1.91 dB
Peak : 0.959106
CRC32 hash (test run) : 298A20A6
CRC32 hash : 298A20A6
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : D27D4B42
AccurateRip v1 signature : DF8FEC7B
AccurateRip v2 signature : C3F530CE
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 15
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/15 The song of the High Hills - In ruhigem fliessendem Tempo.flac
Pre-gap length : 00:09:06

Track gain : -0.39 dB
Peak : 0.986481
CRC32 hash (test run) : A8D247CD
CRC32 hash : A8D247CD
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : F9D51653
AccurateRip v1 signature : B4441AB4
AccurateRip v2 signature : 3E15C511
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 16
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/16 The song of the High Hills - Very slow.flac

Track gain : -0.49 dB
Peak : 0.957825
CRC32 hash (test run) : 9114B0CE
CRC32 hash : 9114B0CE
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 75ACD45D
AccurateRip v1 signature : C5B33A84
AccurateRip v2 signature : 086249D5
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 17
Filename : /Users/Tyler/Downloads/Delius - Appalachia - The song of the High Hills (2011) [FLAC]/17 The song of the High Hills - Tempo I.flac

Track gain : 0.96 dB
Peak : 0.871155
CRC32 hash (test run) : CD5019FC
CRC32 hash : CD5019FC
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : DDEB3D2F
AccurateRip v1 signature : A0305E1E
AccurateRip v2 signature : 6496B7AB
->Accurately ripped (v2, confidence 11/11)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

No errors occurred

End of status report

––-BEGIN XLD SIGNATURE––-
NcRG22jeOBADtYWEEd9kbcw5657GBBngWaR4Tlp2TRgEzi2gs6keceA9_qloDDXsRRLWv.jeI.bG4RYM3Py2J1PnbL8BR4WKyfX6tU8
––-END XLD SIGNATURE––-



Thanks to the original releaser