Spring is Here...

Well, almost!  It really is a nice day out there today, if a little on the windy side.  So, it seems like a good time to have a look at some music to reflect the mood of the moment.


I return to my favourite composer, Frederick Delius, for parts Three and Four of his North Country Sketches.  The first two parts of this piece are "Autumn", and "Winter Landscape", so they don't seem too appropriate right now!  Part Three is simply called "Dance", while the final movement is "March of Spring".

Written immediately before the outbreak of WWI, North Country Sketches received its premiere at the Queen's Hall, London, on May 10, 1915.  That was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sir Thomas Beecham, but here is a 1951 recording of Beecham with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.