Delius: Hassan - Complete Incidental Music / Phillips, Britten Sinfonia

$16.99
Label
Chandos
Release Date
April 19, 2024
Format
Added to Cart! View cart or continue shopping.


    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Frederick Delius
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      Britten Sinfonia Voices
    • PERFORMER
      Zeb Soanes, Britten Sinfonia
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      April 19, 2024
    • UPC
      095115229620
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      CHAN 20296
    • LABEL
      Chandos
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Orchestral & Symphonic
    Works ⌄

    1. Act I Scene 1: Prelude: Slow - Quietly but expressively

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    2. Act I Scene 1: We are in old Baghdad (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    3. Act I Scene 1-2: Interlude

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    4. Act I Scene 1-2: Moonlight - The street of Felicity, by the fountain of the two pigeons, in from of the house

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    5. Act I Scene 1-2: It is later that night (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    6. Act I Scene 2: Serenade: Con moto moderato

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    7. Act I Scene 1-2: The shutters open, and Yasmin appears (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    8. Act I Scene 1-2: Melos: Hassan falls under the shadow of the fountain. The first light of dawn shines in the sky

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    9. Act I Scene 1-2: Not too slow (Chorus)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia Voices, Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    10. Act I Scene 1-2: The first light of dawn shines in the sky (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    11. Act II Scene 1: Prelude

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    12. Act II Scene 1: The filthy, inanimate bulk of Hassan … (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    13. Act II Scene 1: Fanfare preceding the Ballet (Gaily, Outside)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    14. Act II Scene 1: No. 1. Dance of the Beggars: There enters the most awful selection of Eastern beggars the eye could imagine

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia Voices, Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Frederick Long

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    15. Act II Scene 1: And then, after the Beggars (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    16. Act II Scene 1: No. 2. Chorus of Women: (Enter a band of fair and dusky beauties.)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia Voices, Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    17. Act II Scene 1: No. 3. Divertissement

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    18. Act II Scene 1: Rafi is then announced as the King of the Beggars (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    19. Act II Scene 1: No. 4. General Dance

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia Voices, Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    20. Act II Scene 1: Rafi is asked why he hates the Caliph so (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    21. Act II Scene 1: Chorus of Beggars and Dancing Girls: (from behind the scene, after the descent of the iron curtain)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia Voices, Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    22. Act II Scene 1: This House of the Moving Walls… (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    23. Act II Scene 2: The Street of Felicity

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    24. Act II Scene 2: The SOS message has fallen from the balcony … (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    25. Act II Scene 2: Music accompanying Ishak's poem

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    26. Act II Scene 2: Yasmin's regard for Hassan has instantly shifted (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    27. Act III Scene 1: Prelude

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia Voices, Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    28. Act III Scene 1: Curtain

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia Voices, Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    29. Act III Scene 1: Hassan is installed at the Caliph's Palace (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    30. Act III Scene 1: Interlude

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    31. Act III Scene 1: The slaves inform Hassan that there is a beautiful lady … (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    32. Act III Scene 2: The great Hall of the Palace

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    33. Act III Scene 2: We are in the Great Hall of the Caliph's Palace (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    34. Act III Scene 2: Fanfares, in the great Hall of the Palace

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    35. Act III Scene 2: As more and more people gather… (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    36. Act III Scene 2: Entry of the Caliph

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    37. Act III Scene 2: The Caliph declares the trial of the beggars open (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    38. Act III Scene 2: Fanfares

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    39. Act III Scene 2: Then Rafi, King of the Beggars, is summoned (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    40. Act IV Scene 1: Prelude

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    41. Act IV Scene 1: In the Palace's dark vaults (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    42. Act IV Scene 1-2: Interlude

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    43. Act IV Scene 2: Sunlight streams through the cell's grating (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    44. Act V Scene 1: Prelude: The Garden of the Caliph's Palace, in front of a pavilion - Enter the Caliph with attendants as Hassan comes from his Pavilion

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia Voices, Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    45. Act V Scene 1: The song of the Muezzin at sunset

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Ruairi Bowen

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    46. Act V Scene 1: With another sunset approaching (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    47. Act V Scene 1: The Procession of Protracted Death

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    48. Act V Scene 1: The long, dreadful execution ensues … (Narrator)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Zeb Soanes

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    49. Act V Scene 2: Prelude

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips

    50. Act V Scene 2: Closing Scene: (The Caravan recedes farther and farther into the distance)

      Composer: Frederick Delius

      Ensemble: Britten Sinfonia Voices, Britten Sinfonia

      Performer: Ruairi Bowen

      Conductor: Jamie Phillips


Although he had initially declined the commission, Delius was persuaded to write the incidental music for Hassan by the actor and director Basil Dean in July 1920, for performances he was planning for His Majesty’s Theatre, London, the following year. Much of the music was drafted within a few weeks, and the score would eventually prove one of the greatest successes of Delius’s career. Dean’s plans for the project encountered significant obstacles and delays, however, and he had to commission additional music from Delius to cover the production’s complex scene changes. The London première eventually took place on 20 September 1923 and was a critical sensation.

Flecker’s play is a sinuous double-narrative that intertwines the twin stories of the lovelorn but worldly-wise Hassan, confectioner at the court of the cruel and vindictive Caliph Haroun al Rashid (called Haroun ar Rashid in Flecker’s play), and the young lovers Pervaneh and Rafi, caught up in the aftermath of a failed uprising and condemned to a terrifying and brutally protracted death. In tone and setting, Flecker’s text drew on nineteenth-century English translations of One Thousand and One Nights as well as other heavily fictionalized accounts and travel literature. Very much a product of the racial and class-based attitudes of its time, the play revels in imaginary scenes of a despotic Eastern court and its gruesomely barbaric practices.