Florida Suite

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The Florida Suite is an orchestral suite by English composer Frederick Delius. Delius composed the work in 1887 after his time as manager of an orange grove in Florida, inspired by its landscape and culture, mainly centered around the St. John's River. During this time, Delius also studied music with an organist in Jacksonville.[1] This suite is one of the composer's more popular works. The "Daybreak" movement includes a version of the tune, "La Calinda" which Delius later uses in his opera Koanga.[2]

Hans Sitt led the first performance of the work in 1888 in Leipzig.[3] Sir Thomas Beecham was a noted champion of the work and had a copyist's score, which he used for himself, made from the composer's original manuscript. The suite was first published in 1963. A corrected edition of the score was published in 1988.[4]

[edit] Movements

The suite consists of four movements:

  • I. Daybreak
  • II. By the River
  • III. Sunset
  • IV. At Night

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kohen, Helen L. (1998). "Perfume, Postcards, and Promises: The Orange in Art and Industry". The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts 23: 33–47. doi:10.2307/1504162. 
  2. ^ Randel, William (April 1971). "Koanga and Its Libretto". Music & Letters 52 (2): 141–156. 
  3. ^ Hollinrake, Roger (January-April 1993). "Reviews of Books: A Distant Music: The Life and Times of Alfred Hill 1870-1960 by John Mansfield Thomson". Music & Letters 64 (1/2): 69–70. 
  4. ^ Banfield, Stephen (1988). "Review of Florida: Suite for Orchestra, Op. posth. (new edition)". Music & Letters 69 (2): 307. 
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