The title 'Appalachia' does not refer to the Carolina region, but rather appropriates a Native American word for the entire North American continent.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Delius's later music, including Sea Drift, was influenced by the nature mysticism of Walt Whitman, with whom he shared a vision of 'loss of self in rapturous, solitary communion with Nature.'
Performer Biography
Leon Williams, the American baritone on this recording, has won top prizes in the Naumburg, Joy-in-Singing, and Lola Wilson Hayes Competitions.
Composition History
Appalachia, composed between 1896 and 1903, is a sequence of 'variations on an old slave song with final chorus' and is considered music on the cusp of Delius's mature chromatic style.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Delius believed that if America were to produce a great composer, they would have 'colored blood in their veins,' a prediction he made in 1928.
Composer Biography
Frederick Delius, born in England to German parents, was sent to Florida at age 22 to manage an orange grove, where he encountered plantation songs that inspired his musical career.
Compositional Technique
In Appalachia, the 'old slave song' is sung by a solo English horn, similar to how Dvořák used the instrument in his 'New World' Symphony.
