June 2004 sees the 70th anniversary of the death of probably the finest composer to come out of Yorkshire. I refer, of course, to Frederic Delius. The music of Delius is quite unlike that of any other composer and it is difficult to describe to someone who has never heard it. Mystical, haunting, sad (though never depressing), yearning, nostalgic (or music for Cancerians, if you like), decadent, exquisitely beautiful with an undercurrent of fear and tragedy - Delius' music is all of these things. It is largely a mixture of Grieg, Wagner and, not least, Negro blues and in the fifteen years leading up to the First World War he turned out a succession of astonishingly original orchestral pieces, the like of which had never been heard before and which have not been heard since. In 1903 he married a second-rate painter called Jelka Rosen who had a fine house and garden at Grez, not far from Fontaineblue, France; it was here that Delius was to spend the rest of his life.
Just before the First World War, Delius' health began to decline and by the mid-1920s he was blind and paralysed, a condition now agreed to have been caused by syphilis. In 1968, Ken Russell's TV film A Song of Summer chose to concentrate on the last six years of Delius' life. Eric Fenby, a young organist from Scarborough, had heard of the composer's plight and wrote him a letter asking if he could come over to France to help Delius compose again.
The collaboration of Delius and Fenby remains one of the most moving stories in the annals of music. Fenby would take down the notes as Delius dictated them, but according to Fenby's book Delius As I Knew Him, it was often an arduous and frustrating experience. It is not surprising that the younger man had a nervous breakdown after five years of what was almost a monastic existence in France. Nevertheless, the introduction of Fenby into the Delius household had given the composer a new lease of life, but in 1934 it was evident that Delius' health was failing rapidly and he died on June 10th of that year. Jelka joined him a year later and they are now buried at Limpsfield in Surrey. Eric Fenby led a long and active life, eventually becoming President of the Delius Society (of which this writer was a member 1986-96); he died in February 1997.
Fritz Albert Theodor Delius: 29th January 1862; Bradford (53N48 001W45); 09.07 am GMT. Original source not known.
Eric Fenby: 22nd April 1906; Scarborough (54N17 000W24); 04.00am GMT. Letter from him to David Fisher, 18th June 1986.
Jelka Delius was born in Belgrade in 1868 but I have been unable to locate the precise birth-date. New Data!!!
King Richard II of England, who reigned 1377-99, was the son of Edward the Black prince; but the latter died before his father, Edward III, leaving the succession to 10-year-old Richard. In 1381 the young King courageously faced the rebels during the Peasants' Revolt, but the real power in the land belonged to his uncle, John of Gaunt.
However, even when Richard reached 18, ambitious barons constantly frustrated his attempts to exert authority and executed or exiled the King's supporters. In 1397, hostility towards his foreign policy forced Richard to do the same to his rivals. He made an ill-advised trip to Ireland in 1399 allowing John of Gaunt's son, Henry of Bolingbroke, to claim his throne as Henry IV. Richard returned, but it was too late. He was forced to abdicate and died in Pontefract Castle some time in the year 1400.
KING RICHARD II: 6th January 1367 O.S. (14th January 1367 N.S.); Bordeaux, France (44N50 000W34); 10.00 am LMT (10.02.16 GMT). Shakespeare's Kings by John Julius Norwich (Penguin 2000). p54: "Joan of Kent had been delivered of her second son at the stroke of ten on the morning of the Feast of the Epiphany, Wednesday 6th January 1367, in the Abbey of St. Andrew at Bordeaux." On Saturday 7th February 2004 BBC1 broadcast a BAFTA tribute to Ronnie Barker, and it was fitting that it should be his old friend and co-star Ronnie Corbett who should present him with his award. Their successful show The Two Ronnies with its blend of mock news items, sketches, Corbett's monologues delivered from a huge armchair and Barker's verbal dexterity coming to the fore through his spokesman's announcements, rounded off by splendid musical number, ran from 1971 to 1987. The scripts were written by several hands, not least a certain "Gerald Wiley" who turned out to be Ronnie Barker himself.
RONNIE BARKER: 25th September 1929; Bedford (52N08 000W29); 2.00 pm BST (13.00 GMT). Pete Watson quotes a letter from Barker.
RONNIE CORBETT 4th December 1930; Edinburgh (55N57 003W13); 9.40 pm (21.40) GMT. Letter from him to David Fisher; birth certificate confirms. Gone but not forgotten...
Comedian, game show host and former scriptwriter Bob Monkhouse died in the early hours of 29th December 2003. He was the king of the one-line quip; it didn't matter what topic you threw at him, he could extract a joke from it. At one time, his involvement with game shows tended to obscure his abilities as a comedian, but in later years he returned to the night-club and cabaret circuit. He had been on TV since the early 1950s.
BOB MONKHOUSE: 1st June 1928; Beckenham (51N23 000W02); 2.00am BST (01.00 GMT). Letter from him to David Fisher.