Frederick Delius was born on January 29, 1862 in Bradford, West Yorkshire of German-Scandinavian descent.
He was baptized as "Fritz Theodore Albert Delius," and used the forename Fritz until he was about 40.
Delius was the second of four sons (there were also ten daughters) born to Julius Delius and his wife Elise Pauline, née Krönig.
He followed a commercial career until he was 20, when he went to Florida as an orange planter, studying music in his spare time.
Delius entered Leipzig Conservatory in 1886, and became a friend of Grieg.
After 1890 he composed prolifically. He wrote six operas, including A Village Romeo and Juliet (1901), and a variety of choral and orchestral works, such as Appalachia (1902) and On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (1912).
In 1897 Delius moved into the house of German painter Jelka Rosen in Grez-sur-Loing, France. They married six years later. She was heiress to a modest fortune from her distinguished Schleswig-Holstein family and her wealth gave Delius financial security.
In 1924 Delius became paralyzed and blind, but with the assistance of a young English admirer Eric Fenby, he continued to compose.
Delius died at Grez-sur-Loing on June 10, 1934, aged 72. He had wished to be buried in his own garden, but the French authorities forbade it. His alternative wish, despite his atheism, was to be buried in an English country churchyard. Jelka chose St Peter's Church, Limpsfield, Surrey as the site for the grave.
Source Europress Family Encyclopedia 1999.
He was baptized as "Fritz Theodore Albert Delius," and used the forename Fritz until he was about 40.
Delius was the second of four sons (there were also ten daughters) born to Julius Delius and his wife Elise Pauline, née Krönig.
He followed a commercial career until he was 20, when he went to Florida as an orange planter, studying music in his spare time.
Delius entered Leipzig Conservatory in 1886, and became a friend of Grieg.
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| "Fritz Delius (1907)" by Unidentified - "Fritz Delius". Monographien Moderner Musiker [Monographs of Contemporary Musicians] (in German) 2. Leipzig, Germany: C. F. Kahnt Nachfolger. 1907. Licensed under PD-US via Wikipedia - |
After 1890 he composed prolifically. He wrote six operas, including A Village Romeo and Juliet (1901), and a variety of choral and orchestral works, such as Appalachia (1902) and On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (1912).
In 1897 Delius moved into the house of German painter Jelka Rosen in Grez-sur-Loing, France. They married six years later. She was heiress to a modest fortune from her distinguished Schleswig-Holstein family and her wealth gave Delius financial security.
In 1924 Delius became paralyzed and blind, but with the assistance of a young English admirer Eric Fenby, he continued to compose.
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| Frederick Delius with his wife Jelka Rosen in 1929 |
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