Delius - Appalachia - Sea Drift (2012)
Delius - Appalachia - Sea Drift (2012)
1. Appalachia: Variations on an Old Slave Song 35:19 2. Sea Drift 24:52 Arr. Thomas Beecham Leon Williams – baritone Tampa Bay Master Chorale Florida Orchestra Stefan Sanderling - conductor
Appalachia (a native American word for North America) is a set of variations based on a slave song about the tragedy of the cotton planters 'being sold down the river'. Delius heard the song when teaching the violin in Virginia, but the primary inspiration was his formative experience of the semi-tropical beauty of Florida's Solano Grove where he had managed an orange plantation. In Sea Drift Delius absorbed a further American influence in the nature mysticism of Walt Whitman. The symphonic poem, one of his greatest works, is a song of love and death in which the baritone soloist is both a participant in the drama and offers a commentary upon it. ---Editorial Review