ABSTRACT
Frederick Delius’s is a singular case, his three known public appearances being uniformly unsuccessful. Delius’s earliest attempt at conducting was quite likely in June 1890, with a rehearsal orchestra while he was studying at Leipzig. Delius’s first public appearance as conductor was on 2 April 1908 in Hanley when something had impelled him to direct the Halle Orchestra in the second English performance of Appalachia. One musician, highly respected by Granville Bantock and Delius, who attended this and Sir Thomas Beecham’s performance of Appalachia later that year, was Havergal Brian. Some critics, finding little to admire in the music, failed even to cite Delius as the conductor. On Delius’s arrival in Hanley things came to a head at the final rehearsal in the Victoria Hall. Bantock had some sharp words to say to Delius about his conducting but this clearly did not deter him from making another attempt.
