Edward Elgar: Overture, ‘Cockaigne’ (‘In London Town’), Op. 40.

This post was inspired by one of Rosa Newmarch’s programme notes written for the Queen’s Hall Orchestra between the years 1908 and 1927. It gives a perfect verbal description of this wonderful overture alongside some astute technical details. Elgar’s Cockaigne Overture offers a vivid, affectionate panorama of everyday London. Though formally traditional, it unfolds as a sequence of sharply characterised scenes: bustling streets, dignified civic spirit, tender romance, cheeky street‑urchins, and the swagger of a military parade. Themes shift between nonchalant brilliance, noble warmth, and lyrical repose, coloured by exuberant orchestration and flashes of humour. Even the lovers’ retreat to a church is gently interrupted by urban bustle. The recapitulation gathers these strands before the march blazes back and the “nobler London” theme crowns the score. The Overture ends as it began- in buoyant celebration of the city’s optimistic, middle‑class vitality.

Rosa Newmarch writes: This Overture was first performed in London at a Philharmonic Concert, 20 June 1901. While adhering fairly closely to the requirements of traditional form, it follows a definite programme. The music depicts the varied experiences crowded into a few hours of London life, and evokes a whole series of pictures - serious, humorous, or romantic in turn - all of which are sincerely felt and expressed. It is average, middle-class London, optimistic and healthy-minded - but by no means uninteresting - that we meet in the pages of this score. London tragic and terrible, with its ‘garrulous clamours and assoiléd shows,’ [1] was not in the composer’s mind when he wrote ‘Cockaigne.’ But although Elgar does not pose here as the Charpentier of London life and abstains from showing up its sordid and seamy side, his work is the more valuable as being true to its time and surroundings.

The Overture is scored for the usual strings and woodwind, with double bassoon, four horns, two trumpets, [two cornetti] three or five trombones, [tuba], kettledrums, bass and tenor drums, and organ. The opening theme (Allegro scherzando), given out by the first violins, is animated and insouciant, and is followed at once by a cheery figure in the oboes and clarinets. The two phrases, having been developed and repeated, are brought to an effective climax in which the brass takes a full share. After this we reach an episode, distinguished by the composer’s favourite indication, Nobilmente. [2] This is based upon a dignified theme, delivered by woodwind, horns, and strings, and evidently intended to show the deeper side of the Londoner as compared with the gay (i.e., lively) opening subject. The latter, however, soon reasserts itself with heightened orchestral colour.

With a change of key to E flat the music assumes a gentler and quieter character. A transition passage with triplet accompaniment in the Strings introduces the love episode. Absorbed in their springtide dreams, a pair of lovers - so the story goes - seek refuge from ‘the madding crowd’ in some quiet glade of the parks. The theme of their romance forms the second subject proper of the Overture, and we hear it, piu tranquillo, in the first violins, with an idyllic additional phrase in the Oboes. This is fully developed, and when the tender passages have reached a crisis, an indiscreet solo (scherzando) for clarinet reveals the undesirable presence of the ubiquitous and sharp-eyed London street-boy. The theme of the intrusive youngsters is cleverly evolved by diminution from the motive marked Nobilmente which stood for the Londoner in his more dignified aspect. This proceeding naturally recalls Wagner’s transformation of the Mastersingers’ theme into the pert motive of the apprentices. Some repetitions and modifications of the foregoing materials bring this section to an end. The working-out starts with the Nobilmente theme, now given out ‘dolce e legato’ by the strings and succeeded by a reference to the closing phrases of the love-theme. A clarinet solo heralds the approach of a fresh episode, and soon the love-motive is lost in the martial strains which draw nearer and nearer, until finally the military band bursts into a gay and blustering march. This is worked out with immense spirit and brilliancy, the piccolos shrilling, the brass blaring out the tune, and the drums, bells, and triangles adding to the exhilarating din. Fragments of the ‘Young Londoners’ motive in different parts of the orchestra depict the eager delight of the street -urchins as they try to keep step with Tommy Atkins [3] in all his ‘pomp and circumstance.’ When the strains of the March have died down, the opening theme (‘gay London’) “returns and prepares the way for a new musical picture. The lovers now seek refuge from the turmoil of the streets in a neighbouring church. But before they can reach this haven of peace they must pass through another ordeal. This time it is not the band of the Guards, but more probably that of the Salvation Army, the clarinets of which play a very different version of the march-tune in G flat while the basses keep on cheerfully reiterating F. Yet, judging from the expressive whisperings in the violins, it takes more than the discord of semitone against semitone to interrupt the course of true love at this stage of its ‘world-oblivion.’

Presently a quiet theme in the horns and woodwind, with a countersubject in the strings, intimates that the couple have at last found sanctuary. Interwoven with the love-theme and the church motive are reminiscences of the urchins’ theme, like echoes from the surrounding streets. A gradual acceleration of speed leads back to the Tempo primo of the Overture, and the recapitulation begins with the theme of ‘gay London’ heard in the trombones. The lovers now resume their wanderings and pass through much the same experiences as before. The introductory subject and the phrase which followed it are restated with enriched and varied orchestration; the love-theme is also recalled very softly in the woodwind, first violins, and violas; and then the street boys’ motive appears, here, there, and everywhere, anticipating the return of the military band. The Coda reintroduces the march in its fullest vigour and audacity, and the ‘nobler London’ theme rings out in the full strength of the orchestra with the addition of organ ad lib. The Overture ends, however, with a last reference to the gay opening theme.

Rosa Newmarch The Concert-Goer’s Library of Descriptive Notes, Volume 1, OUP 1929 p.63f

Notes

[1] In the phrase “garrulous clamours and assoiléd shows,” ‘assoiléd’ suggests spectacles or displays that have been ‘absolved’ or ‘washed clean’ - perhaps morally dubious scenes glossed over or forgiven by the city’s bustle.

[2] Nobilmente tells the performer to play with “noble breadth and dignified warmth.” It signals an elevated, sincere tone: music that stands upright, speaks plainly, and carries a quiet moral weight rather than showy grandeur.

[3] ‘Tommy Atkins’ is the traditional nickname for the ordinary British soldier. It appears in Army paperwork from the early 19th century, where “Tommy Atkins” was used as a sample name on forms - much like “John Doe.” By the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, it had become a familiar, affectionate term for the rank‑and‑file infantryman: sturdy, good‑humoured, dutiful, and unpretentious. In Elgar’s Cockaigne, the street‑urchins march alongside “Tommy Atkins,” delighting in the swagger of the military band.

Across the Irish Sea in a Gale: Moscheles’ Ordeal on the Road to Dublin, 1826

Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870) is a composer I have adopted as being of interest to British Music enthusiasts. Although he was born in Prague and subsequently died in Leipzig he spent much time in the United Kingdom. Many of his works were performed here and he was friends with all the key participants in English music.

The challenges of touring in those days are vividly illustrated by Moscheles’ account of his journey to Ireland in the year 1826. After concluding a lengthy tour of provincial towns, he began his to Dublin.

His wife, Charlotte, in her edition of Ignaz’s diaries [1] states that he began his journey from Liverpool. This seems highly unlikely, as it is on record that gave a concert at the Bath Assembly Rooms, on 3 January 1826. To be sure his diary states that "On the 4th of January, at seven a.m., I started from Liverpool and arrived at Birmingham at eight in the evening.” No concert has been identified from around this time in Liverpool. Charlotte’s assertion reflects either a misunderstanding of the itinerary or a compression of events in her editorial narrative.

On the 1 January 1826, Moscheles entered in his diary: "To-day I can call my happiness my own; by tomorrow I shall have left it. But courage! it must be so! I am in honour bound to fulfil my engagements."  He describes with much minuteness the dangers and difficulties in those days’ inseparable from a long journey, and of which we, in our age of rail and steamer, can scarcely form an idea.

"On the 4th of January, at seven a.m. I started from [Bath] Liverpool and arrived at Birmingham at eight in the evening. On the 5th I travelled without stopping day or night.

At two a.m. I had a grievous contretemps. We were close to Bangor, and I, the only passenger, was turned out of the warm coach into the cold, raw night, and made to cross the rushing river in an open boat. [1] It gave me the shivers, but I stood my ground, muttering my watchword, Courage, and patience!

On the opposite shore a forlorn and solitary passenger got inside the mail-coach, which was standing in readiness. Thus, we jogged on for the rest of the night wind blowing, snow falling - until at last, at five a.m., we arrived at Holyhead.

January 6th. —Eventful day! Severe trial! God's saving hand! In the hotel I found a respectable set of fellow-travellers, consisting of two gentlemen and one lady, ready to embark for Dublin. They were still waiting for the Chester mail, which arrived at seven o'clock. We were told that there was no steamboat to take us across the Channel; that the violent winds of the last few days had kept all the steamers on the Irish side, but that a sailing vessel would start immediately, and carry the mails across in from six to seven hours. Would we passengers cross in that vessel? We agreed and embarked shortly after seven o'clock. It rained in torrents, and the sea was so high that we soon betook ourselves to our berths. I suffered so violently that after a few hours I was completely prostrate.

The gale meanwhile increased. I counted the passing hours. It grew dark, but we did not land. The steward, on being asked when we should be released, whispered, “Who knows? we are doing badly!” - Words too clearly verified by the lurching of the boat. Although I lay smothered in blankets and clothes, my feet perished with cold. It cost me no slight effort to shake off my drowsiness, and groping about, to discover that the seawater had got into my berth; the ship had become leaky.

There was no longer any mystery about that, for the water came hissing into the cabin. The storm howled fiercely; it was pitch-dark. The captain could offer no other comfort than the assurance that we were not far from shore. Of course, not near enough to land. We were surrounded by rocks and sandbanks, and yet not near enough for a distress signal to be perceptible from the coast. At last, after a long battle and the most fearful shocks from the waves, which knocked our vessel about like a plaything, we were able to throw out anchors, and there we poor victims lay till daybreak. In this sad plight, however, I had not lost heart; faith in an Almighty Providence sustained me. I could think with calmness of my wife and child. They sleep peacefully, thank God, without sharing my hard fate.

They will either see me again and rejoice, or bear my loss, with the help of God. I thought with painful composure of my other friends and relations. It seemed but a little step from this world to the next. At last, in the afternoon, the welcome tidings came, “We are all right, a boat has reached our ship and will take us up.” Whereupon, after getting together our goods and chattels, we were thrown, so to speak, with them into the reeling boat, and, after a short fight with the foaming surf, landed in Howth harbour.

There I hired a post chaise, which carried me (a seven-mile journey) to the city. The dreary, sandy plain, the country dotted over with ruins, the sorry aspect of the people, did not, I am bound to confess, impress me very favourably. At last, I arrived in Dublin, drove over the beautiful Carlisle Bridge, [3] and the Liffey, to Westmoreland Street, where I rested for a few hours in a lodging which Pigott, [4] the music seller, had hired for me."

Notes:
[1] Moscheles, Ignaz. Recent Music and Musicians: As Described in the Diaries and Correspondence of Ignaz Moscheles. Edited by Charlotte Moscheles and adapted from the original German by A. D. Coleridge. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1873.
[2] The Menai Bridge did not open until 30 January 1826, some three weeks after Moscheles journey to Holyhead.
[3] Carlisle Bridge is now O’Connell Bridge.
[4] Samuel J. Pigott was a Dublin cellist and music seller who established his firm around the 1820s on Westmoreland Street before moving to Grafton Street. Operating alongside contemporary Dublin dealers like Isaac Willis and Smollett Holden, Pigott built a business that supplied continental and British music scores to the local market and eventually became one of Ireland's major 19th-century music publishers.

Anthony Collins’ Legacy of Delius Recordings Part 3

There are surprisingly few references to Anthony Collins (right) in the pages of the Delius Society Journal. The most important contribution was from Michael Gartz (No.78, 1983) He began his article by noting that Brigg Fair has always been one of Delius’s most popular works and that the listener has three different Beecham recordings to listen to (there was also an unpublished version dating from 1928). The earliest commercially available one dating from 1928 is in his opinion the ‘finest.’ He is tempted to regard this as the ‘definitive performance, a miracle of interpretation which could never be challenged, let alone superseded.’ Gartz explained how he had recently come across Anthony Collins’ 1953 recording, however his ‘allegiance to the Beecham version was so strong’ that it took him several days to get around to hearing it. His immediate reaction was one of ‘pure delight’ and he had come to consider that Collins was ‘worthy to be placed alongside Beecham’s classic account.’ He decried the comment made in the contemporary edition of the Penguin Stereo Cassette Guide that Collins’ conducting was in the Beecham tradition.’ In fact, he considered that Collins’ realisations were ‘just as individualised as Beecham’s and just as revealing of the music.’ He then compares the two versions of Brigg Fair and concludes that Collins’ is more ‘languorous, grave even, conjuring up images of a bleak winter morning, with a cortege slowly descending from the hills.’ He considers this music both tragic and nostalgic in the same manner as Mahler’s Ninth Symphony. Michael Gartz is equally impressed with the other works on this disc and considers the sound ‘astonishing for its age.’

Thirteen years later Roger J. Buckley (No.117, 1996) recalls Anthony Collins’ ‘spectacularly successful’ contribution to the discography of Sibelius in the 1950s. He reminds readers of the two Delius LPs made at around the same time. In this review of Dutton Laboratories (CDLXT 2503) re-mastering, he notes that Collins has been ‘regarded by some as second only to Beecham as a conductor of Delius’. He insists that Collins’ ‘insight and integrity survive quite undiminished. These are fine, passionate performances. Some of them, such as Paris and A Song of Summer, must be among the greatest performances of Delius's music ever recorded.’ After praising the quality of the re-mastering and noting some ‘slap-happy ensemble playing’ by the L.S.O. and some extraneous noises-off he concludes by stating that these are still ‘very important recordings.’

In 2008 Lyndon Jenkins (No.143, 2008) was a little less complimentary about Anthony Collins’ version of Paris. He notes the Record Guide (1955) opinion that this was ‘a flawless achievement’ he points out the 1995 Dutton CD transfer ‘revealed some fairly indifferent playing; this would not have been so evident on the original LP – although the insistent tambourine early on that packs up several bars too soon certainly was.’ He offered in mitigation that the L.S.O. was then at a ‘lowish point’ and was awaiting its ‘mid-50s rejuvenation’. Jenkins does concede that there are ‘impressive moments in Collin’s performance [of Paris,] but considers that ‘the whole of the opening is much laboured and, at some of the tempi he chooses, he seems unable to give the faster sections the rhythmic lift they need to bring them alive.’

Finally, a personal appreciation from Rob Sabine (No.144, 2008) in a short note about Rudolf Kempe and the 1962 Delius Festival. Sabine notes that he had just been demobbed from the RAF. He had bought the Ace of Clubs LP (ACL144) primarily for the performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis. He was struck by the two Delius pieces on the ‘B’ side – The Walk to the Paradise Garden and A Song of Summer. He was ‘stunned by the music, its beauty and individuality – a feeling that remains to this day.’

Conclusion

Reading these reviews suggests that Sir Thomas Beecham is consistently regarded as the base-line interpreter on record of virtually all Delius’ orchestral music. One critic after another compares the recordings made by Anthony Collins and the London Symphony Orchestra with Beecham’s ‘exemplar.’ Most often this comparison is favourable. Some 60 years after these reviews were published it is easy to see that the major stumbling block was that Anthony Collins’ new recordings were quite simply not Beecham’s interpretations of these works. In 2014, with more than fifty-eight recordings of [e.g.] the First Cuckoo currently available and featuring some twenty-five different conductors, it is an interpretative dilemma that all listeners must deal with. Is Beecham the definitive interpretation of Delius, or are others equally valid? I personally believe that Anthony Collins has left a near-perfect legacy of the seven works that he recorded.

Select Bibliography
Holmes, John, Conductors on Record (Greenwood Press, 1982)
The files of The Gramophone, Billboard Magazine, Tempo, Delius Society Journals, etc.

MusicWeb International (accessed 11 July 2026):
Terry Barfoot, Review.
Jonathan Woolf, Review & Review

Select Discography
Only the works performed by Anthony Collins and the London Symphony Orchestra noted in compilations. Dates of release given where known.

Brigg Fair, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, The Walk to the Paradise Garden and A Song of Summer. 1953. LP. Decca LXT 2788.

The Walk to the Paradise Garden, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring. 1953. MP. (10 inch) Decca LW 5036.

Brigg Fair, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, A Song of Summer, The Walk to the Paradise Garden. 1953. LP. London Label LL 758.

Paris, In a Summer Garden, Summer Night on the River. 1954. LP Decca LXT 2899.

Paris, In a Summer Garden, Summer Night on the River. 1954. LP. London Label LL 923.

Summer Night on the River, A Song of Summer. 1955. MP. (10 inch) Decca LW 5173

Brigg Fair, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, + works by Elgar. 1961. LP. Ace of Clubs ACL 131.

The Walk to the Paradise Garden, A Song of Summer + works by Vaughan Williams. 1961 LP. Ace of Clubs ACL 144.

Paris, In a Summer Garden, Summer Night on the River. 1965. LP. Ace of Clubs ACL 245.

Brigg Fair, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, The Walk to the Paradise Garden, A Song of Summer. 1970. LP. Decca Eclipse ECS 633.

Paris, In a Summer Garden & Summer Night on the River. 1971. LP. Decca Eclipse ECS 634

Brigg Fair, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, A Song of Summer, The Walk to the Paradise Garden. 1971. Cassette. Decca KECC 633

Brigg Fair, Summer Night on the River and Paris + works by Elgar c.1987 Cassette 'Delius and Elgar’ (under licence from Decca) Pickwick DTO 10177

Brigg Fair, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, A Song of Summer, Paris, In a Summer Garden & Summer Night on the River. 1995. CD. Dutton Laboratories CDLXT 2503

The British Music Collection Brigg Fair + other works by Delius. 2001. CD. Decca 470 190-2

The British Music Collection Paris, In a Summer Garden, A Song of Summer, Summer Night on the River, The Walk to the Paradise Garden + other works by Delius. 2002. CD Decca 470 375-2.

Paris, In a Summer Garden, A Song of Summer, Summer Night on the River, The Walk to the Paradise Garden. c.2002. CD. Decca Eloquence 461 358-2.

Brigg Fair, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, The Walk to the Paradise Garden, A Song of Summer. c.2005. Downloads. Pristine PASCO15

The Walk to the Paradise Garden, A Song of Summer. 2008. CD. Beluah 1PD26

On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring + other works by Delius. 2011. CD Danacord DACOCD 717 

Concluded    

With thanks to the Delius Society Journal Spring 2014 No.155: 51-6, where this essay was originally published.

Anthony Collins’ Legacy of Delius Recordings Part 2

In 1970/71 Decca released two LPs on their popular Eclipse label, noted above, (ECS 633 and ECS 634) featuring all seven of the Delius works recorded by Anthony Collins in 1953. They were ‘re-mastered’ in ‘electronic stereo,’ which was really an attempt at making the old monaural recordings sound better by adding reverberation and ‘tinkering’ with frequency levels. Some reviewers felt that the original recordings were ruined by this ‘Electronically Reprocessed Stereo.’

The first LP included Brigg Fair, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, The Walk to the Paradise Garden and A Song of Summer. The Gramophone (November 1971) reviewer, R.L. (probably Robert Layton) notes that ‘Collins succeeds in capturing the atmosphere of A Song of Summer.’ The other works were seen as ‘thoroughly idiomatic readings’ however he did have reservations about the audio quality: ‘Naturally the sound is not as vivid or brilliant as a modern recording and calls for some degree of tolerance.’

The second Decca Eclipse LP featured Paris, In a Summer Garden and Summer Night on the River. Writing in The Gramophone, (July 1972) R.L. considers that ‘it would be idle to pretend’ that Collins’ version is equal to Beecham’s for ‘Sir Thomas brought to Delius very special qualities of light and atmosphere that few others have succeeded in matching.’ After this commonly heard caveat he insists that this is a satisfactory performance ‘with no lack of vitality or poetry and with excellent playing from the LSO.’ He concluded by noting that ‘Collins was a sensitive Delian, and his accounts of both the shorter pieces are atmospheric and idiomatic.’ He is impressed by the stereo transcription but considers that the bass has been ‘mechanically boosted.’

In 1995 Dutton Laboratories released a compact disc (CDLXT 2503) of six of Anthony Collins’ 1950’s recordings of Delius. The Walk to the Paradise Garden was not included. The Gramophone (August 1995) reviewer begins by noting that these performances were ‘famous and acclaimed in their day’ which is impressive as it also happened to be Thomas Beecham’s ‘day’ as well. He considered that the 1953 recordings had ‘worn well’ and praises the sound quality of this disc noting the ‘satisfyingly solid bass, a wide dynamic range and only a touch of fizz to the strings in the heavier passages to betray their age.’ The main thrust of M.E.O.’s (Michael Edgar Oliver) evaluation is that Anthony Collins was a master at creating musical colour. Each of the three ‘summer’ pieces require a different palette of colours to reflect the particular musical landscape – water, garden, moorland. In Paris, he feels that Collins can control the formal structure of the work which can ‘easily fall apart’ if the various episodes are not given their due weight in the overall development of the music. The conductor creates impressive musical climaxes in Paris and A Song of Summer and manages to avoid ‘rhythmic monotony’ in the progress of the First Cuckoo. He observes a few examples of ‘carelessness’ from Collins that include the fact the bells and the trumpet near the end of Brigg Fair ‘never quite synchronize.’ His closing remarks suggest that Anthony Collins’ version of Paris ‘is the best performance’ on the CD and is ‘perhaps the finest of Delius’ ‘The Song of a Great City’ ever recorded.

Jonathan Woolf reviewing the Decca Eloquence CD release (461 358-2) for MusicWeb International (2002) suggests that Paris is the ‘prize of the collection’ – from the opening, with its sepulchral basses, to the final moments of ecstatic exultation Collins traverses nearly twenty-four minutes of perilous score with utter conviction.’ He believes that he ‘is sovereign at assimilating the disparate elements of the score’ which echoes M.E.O.’s remarks above. Woolf concludes his thoughts on Paris by suggesting that ‘whether scintillating, dancing or glowering this Paris is viscerally alive, with effortless weight cushioning it and leading to a conclusion made inevitable and moving through Collins’ command of structure and tonal nuance.’ This skill extends to the other pieces on this disc. He brings ‘Elysian logic’ to In a Summer Garden, ‘languorous sensuality’ to Summer Night and a ‘yearning elegance’ to A Song of Summer. He concludes by confidently stating that to listen to Collins’ Delius ‘is truly to understand a little better the nature of his orchestral genius and to absorb a beauty born of a conductor’s selfless gifts.’

The same critic (MusicWeb International, 2005) considered the Pristine ‘download’ (PASC015) which includes Brigg Fair, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, A Song of Summer and The Walk to the Paradise Garden. Woolf concentrates in his appraisal on the sound quality improvements made on the original recording. He considers that Pristine have reduced surface noise, but in so doing they have managed to ‘reduce the immediacy of the original…[the] result is a gauzy, quiet one but rather lacks openness of sound.’ This appears to be a trade-off – surface noise, clicks and scratches removed at the expense of a duller sound.

The Decca British Music Collection (470 375 2) featured a number of works by Delius performed by a variety of artists. Collins is represented by Paris, In a Summer Garden, A Song of Summer, Summer Night on the River and The Walk to the Paradise Garden. Terry Barfoot (MusicWeb International, 2002) suggests that the sound is ‘anaemic, with little or no richness or bloom during climaxes.’ Barfoot enjoyed the ‘natural phrasing and shaping...and Collins’ ability ‘to conjure magical colours from quasi-impressionist textures…during the mostly quiet music of In a Summer Garden...’

To be continued….

Bibliography and Discography at the end of Part 3 of this essay.

With thanks to the Delius Society Journal Spring 2014 No.155: 51-6, where this essay was originally published.

Anthony Collins’ Legacy of Delius Recordings Part 1

My first introduction to Frederick Delius was an old 10-inch record which I found in the Coatbridge High School music-library around 1971. It was Anthony Collins’ recording of The Walk to the Paradise Garden and On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring issued on Decca (LW 5036). They were part of a selection of Delius’ orchestral music that had been recorded in 1953 and subsequently released on various media over the following 58 years. A couple of years later I was motivated to buy two Decca Eclipse records from Cuthbertson’s Music Shop in Glasgow. These featured the entire Collins/Delius Discography. Part of the inspiration for that purchase was the delightful photographs of National Trust woodland at Wetheral in Cumberland gracing the sleeves. The seven pieces on these albums served as my apprenticeship to Delius’s music. They have remained favourites for over forty years. The performance that Anthony Collins drew from the London Symphony Orchestra (L.S.O.) has been my personal benchmark for all subsequent versions of these iconic works. It was not until some years later that I discovered Thomas Beecham’s interpretations of this music. Yet, these never usurped my original enthusiasm for Collins’ readings. I still have the Decca Eclipse records in my collection; fortunately, all the tracks are currently available on CD or download.

It is the purpose of this essay to examine the achievement of Anthony Collins in respect to his recorded legacy of Delius’ music. It will concentrate on the reception of the original recordings but will also note critical opinion of many subsequent re-releases and re-masterings.

Anthony Collins’ Biography

Unlike other prestigious British conductors, there is no ‘official’ biography of Anthony Collins. To the best of my knowledge, there is not even a ‘chapter length’ study of his life and works. What little information exists is found in a few musical reference books and in the pages of contemporary music journals and the press. The most comprehensive discussion of his achievement is in John L. Holmes Conductors on Record (1982). The current Grove is short on detail: the fifth edition (1954) does give a bit more information. The internet is surprisingly silent about his work.

Anthony Collins was born in Hastings on 3 September 1893. When he was only seventeen years old, he was engaged as a violist in the Hastings Municipal Orchestra. After four years in the army during and after the Great War, he entered the Royal College of Music and studied violin with Achille Rivarde (1865-1940) and composition with Gustav Holst (1874-1934).

For ten years he was principal violist of the London Symphony Orchestra and the Covent Garden Opera House Orchestra before resigning in 1936 to further his career as a composer and conductor. His concert debut was in January 1938, conducting the L.S.O. in a performance of Elgar’s First Symphony. In 1939 he founded the London Mozart Orchestra (not to be confused with the London Mozart Players which was formed in 1949). During the Second World War Collins lived in the United States where he conducted various orchestras and worked in the film industry. After the war he returned to England and made a number of recordings. Finally, he went back to the States in 1953. Anthony Collins died in Los Angeles on 11 December 1963. At the present time he is best remembered as an interpreter of Sibelius. From a compositional point of view, he was quite prolific: he wrote two violin concertos, two symphonies for strings, a number of light music miniatures and a large quantity of film music. His most popular composition is the short, orchestral miniature Vanity Fair which still features in many anthologies of British Light Music. In 2005 Dutton Epoch issued a ‘retrospective’ CD of Collins’ music (CDLX 7162).

The Original Recordings

The recording history of Anthony Collins’ Delius collection begins in June 1953 with the release of an LP (Decca LXT 2788) featuring Brigg Fair, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, The Walk to the Paradise Garden and A Song of Summer. The music had been recorded in February of that year with Collins conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. It was simultaneously released in the United States on the London Label (LL 758). The Record Guide (Edward Sackville-West, Desmond Shawe-Taylor et al.) for 1955 notes that ‘these four favourite pieces are carefully played and extremely well recorded; but the shaping, especially of the woodwind phrases and of the poetic endings leaves something to be desired. Nevertheless, this disc is bound to give considerable pleasure.’

The most detailed review of this record is given in The Gramophone magazine (June 1953). M.M. declares that Anthony Collins ‘persuades the L.S.O. into highly sensitive playing and has throughout an immense care for the niceties of internal balance, which so often in a Delius score do not by any means look after themselves.’ He concedes that three of the pieces (not including A Song of Summer) are already in ‘more or less definitive’ versions recorded by Thomas Beecham. Beecham is deemed to ‘nearly always’ extract ‘the last shred of beauty from the bewitching music, [however] Collins sometimes remains content with the last but one.’ An example is cited from the opening bars of Brigg Fair, where he suggests that after the introduction as Collins has rendered it, it is ‘just ready for Beecham to get the wood-wind soloists to linger a bit more in the right places, and to tell the harp to for pity’s sake try to play a run of five notes evenly.’ He relishes the efforts of the principal horn player in Brigg Fair.

I remember a fan of the First Cuckoo telling me that her ideal of this work was to be reminded of a hot, sultry, summer’s day somewhere in the Home Counties – not Norway or France. It could be defined as a ‘ravishing’ sound she was searching for. M.M. does not consider Collins achieves the same degree of ‘ravishment’ as Beecham does. The reason adduced is interesting – Collins sticks to the score quite strictly. This is always a subject for debate: to what extent does Beecham ‘recreate’ Delius’ score in his realisation of the First Cuckoo?

The reviewer is impressed with ‘nearly all’ of Paradise Garden, which he deems is an improvement on the ‘fine’ Beecham version. He suggests that the reason for this is the recording balance. Nevertheless, he considers that ‘Perfection…waits on just a little more lingering affection in some of the wind players. His comments on A Song of Summer bear reporting in full: ‘[this work] escapes these odious comparisons. How can you compose music like this when you are blind and paralysed- even given that you can compose music like this at all? The devotion that must have been necessary on Eric Fenby’s part has its reward in the nostalgic beauty that he set down on paper; without it the wonderful music could never have been liberated from Delius’s mind.’

The critic was impressed by the recording quality (monaural) which has a ‘brilliance and clarity that leaves any earlier versions standing.’ Technically, this means that Decca are moving towards a ‘more authentic balance that improves enormously both the realism and the aural pleasure of their recording.’ There is a downside: the tendency to ‘surface swish’ needs to be addressed. M.M. concludes his evaluation by reiterating his view that the disc is produced with ‘outstanding technical quality and very fine musical quality.’

Finally, Eric Thompson writing in the contemporary Tempo (Autumn 1953) journal had been discussing Collins’ recent release of Richard Strauss's sequence of waltzes from Acts 1 & 2 of Der Rosenkavalier (LW 5025) with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He regarded it as ‘a lively performance and the excerpt from Humperdinck's Hänsel and Gretel, on the reverse [side] is equally good.’ Later in the review he writes that ‘Anthony Collins again, only this time with the London Symphony Orchestra, gives us four Delius pieces … [which] are clearly recorded throughout. One is inclined to associate Beecham's name with what one thinks is the ideal performance, but it is certainly demonstrated in these recordings that thought and care have been lavished upon these interpretations.

In 1954 Decca released a second volume (LXT 2899) of Anthony Collins conducting Delius’ tone poems. It featured the magnificent evocation of Paris, The Song of a Great City, the more intimate Summer Night on the River and the atmospheric In a Summer Garden. These had been recorded in October 1953 and once again featured the London Symphony Orchestra.

The reviewer (M.M.) in The Gramophone (May 1954) recognises the fact that Paris is not a ‘particularly characteristic’ work of Delius. He recalled how it had caused considerable disappointment when it was released as the principal work on the pre-War Delius Society record collection issued in 1934. He accepts that both Collins and Beecham have given ‘ravishing’ accounts of this work. Paris does not exhibit the usual ‘gentle, resigned melancholy’ normally associated with Delius. The Straussian mood of the work forces the orchestra to ‘show their paces’ in reflecting a ‘fascinating, kaleidoscopic picture of Paris at night and at early dawn.’ M.M. rates Collins’ version, which ‘persuades the London Symphony Orchestra into a performance of sensitivity equal to that which Beecham achieved with the London Philharmonic in the old Society set.’ Decca have ‘responded with one of their very best recordings - clear, well-balanced, smooth-toned, and with splendid handling of the climaxes as the music ebbs and flows.’ He believes that Paris will be unlikely to receive a better recording in the foreseeable future.

In a Summer Garden is seen as being a ‘little less outstanding than Paris.’ The problem is put down to the sound balance rather than to Collins’ conducting. This especially manifests itself with the string accompaniment obscuring the characteristically expressive woodwind phrases. It is a problem that has been ironed out in the subsequent re-masterings of this piece. M.M. suggests that this technical problem means that he must recommend the Beecham recording of this work on Columbia (33C1017). Neither does he feel that Collins and the L.S.O. are quite as sensitive in their performance of Summer Night on the River as Beecham. M.M. concludes by admitting that this LP, like its companion is a ‘fully worthy companion to the outstanding Beecham series on Columbia.’

The American magazine Billboard (19 June 1954) noticed Collins’ recordings with considerable enthusiasm. Reviewing the simultaneously released London Label (LL 923) record it suggests that Collins ‘…after Beecham is that composer’s most distinguished interpreter, here chalks up three more outstanding readings. Paris is a moody, evocative work not previously available on LP. The other two are happy works written in Delius’s most mature years. The recorded sound is rich and gives a magnificent sheen to this lovely music.’

The Record Review (1955) reports that this ‘is a most beautiful record’ and compared most favourably to Beecham. On the negative side, it felt that Anthony Collins did not ‘manage the climaxes as carefully…they sound a little coarse…’ The critic felt that ‘Paris…is a flawless achievement’ and that Collins has shown considerable ‘cleverness’ in ‘combining the Toulouse-Lautrec side of this luxurious music with the tender passages which offset it.’ The final thought was that the recording was so impressive that ‘one forgets the presence of the gramophone.’

In the following years, a number of other short notices continued to make the comparison between Collins and Beecham. The critic reviewing the Decca medium-play reissue (LW 5173) in The Gramophone (July 1955) submits that A Song of Summer and Summer Night on the River are ‘very beautifully recorded, and, if without Sir Thomas’s ultimate finesse, nevertheless enjoyable.’ A.R. (probably Alec Robertson, The Gramophone (February 1956) has written that Collin’s version of Paris etc. (LXT 2899) is ‘indeed very good and very well recorded, but it is not disparaging it to say that no other conductor has Beecham’s magical touch in Delius’s music. His interpretation (Beecham’s) is more nocturnal, more evocative.’ Ernest Chapman (Tempo, Autumn 1965) considering the Ace of Clubs re-packaging of ‘three of Delius's best orchestral works’ Paris, In a Summer Garden and Summer Night on the River on the ‘bargain’ Decca series (mono only, ACL 245) suggested that ‘Anthony Collins's readings are sound, though lacking the lyrical quality of Beecham's, and the London Symphony Orchestra plays with true finesse. The reproduction, however, requires a high-volume level to be effective.’

To be continued….

Bibliography and Discography at the end of Part 3 of this essay. 

With thanks to the Delius Society Journal Spring 2014 No.155: 51-6, where this essay was originally published.