Interlude – a bit of a fiddle!

All this talk of my friend Frederick Delius has reminded me of some unexpected and surprising memories.

In 1910, Thomas Beecham conducted the premiere of Delius’s new opera ‘A Village Romeo and Juliet’ at Covent Garden, and I was in the orchestra with Charles Woodhouse.  This opera includes the beautiful orchestral intermezzo ‘Walk to the Paradise Garden’.

(Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe)

This performance has brought lots of thoughts to mind – Thomas Beecham and his devotion to Delius, the mention of the ‘Dark Fiddler’ character in the opera reminding me of Halfdan Jebe and the way violin playing has sometimes reflected dark moods along with bright resonances, the importance of expressing real engagement with players and listeners alike.

Gottfried Keller’s novella ‘Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe’ on which the opera is based makes great ‘play’ on the sounds and effects of his German language with its rural Swiss accent.  I remember reading that he once described his heart as a violin that becomes more precious the more it is played upon.

This reminds me of the way I have used the German word ‘Stimmung’ in past diary entries to reflect and echo the mood, the atmosphere and the attunement of the sounds we make, and the resonances which connect players and audiences alike.

It’s no surprise to me that philosophers like Friederich Schleiermacher, Johann Gottfried Herder, Moravians like August Spangenberg, Methodists like my Richardsons, have all been profoundly sensitive to the emotional impact of the sounds we express towards one another – the ‘Stimmung’.

Neither is it a surprise to me that the only fragment regularly played from Delius’s opera is the ‘Walk to the Paradise Garden’ – an interlude overflowing with resonances of ‘Stimmung’, attunement, mood and emotion.

In the next few diary entries, I hope you will hear the Stimmung effect of the Great War which has resonated down the years, affecting the human mood and culture for ever, echoing through our bodies and souls.  I believe there are sounds of a dark fiddler too!