Frederick Delius: Brigg Fair, An English Rhapsody

Frederick Delius was introduced to the folk song "Brigg Fair" by his friend and fellow composer, Percy Grainger, an enthusiastic collector of traditional songs. Delius was so taken with the melody, and with Grainger's setting of it for solo voice and chorus, that he decided to write an extended orchestral rhapsody based on the song. The piece was first performed in 1907. The pictures which accompany the music are all by British landscape painters working in the19th and early 20th centuries: Henry Parker (1858-1930), Myles Birket Foster (1825-1899), George Vicat Cole (1833-1893), Benjamin Williams Leader (1831-1923), Edward Wilkins Waite (1854-1924), Louise Rayner (1832-1924) and Albert Goodwin (1835-1932)