Delius

[violet@slip.net]

Samantha asked:
>Another question:  In Delius, whose voice is the deep, male-sounding voice?
> Is it a distorted Kate, possible?  lso,does anyone know what words this
>voice speaks int he middle of the song and then at the end?

It is Paddy Bush doing the voice of Delius.  The words he speaks are
"Ta-ta-ta. Hmmm. Ta-ta-ta.", then "Ta-ta-ta. In B, Fenby. Ta-ta-ta." and
the last word spoken is "Us" although that may be a combination of Paddy
and the other fellow doing bass voices in the song, Ian Bairnson.  But
Paddy alone is Delius.  The words he speaks are meaningless until you know
that composer Delius became quite ill in his later years, and hired an
assistant, Eric Fenby, to transcribe the music as Delius dictated it to
him.  So, when he says "In B, Fenby," he is instructing Eric that he wants
the song written in the key of B."  At the end of the song, I've never been
able to decide whether the "Us" is just an echo of the last syllable of
Delius's name, or if it is meant to be coupled with Kate's final phrase
turning it into "Us on the water."  Probably both.  For years I've been
looking for a copy of "To be Sung of a Summer Night on the Water," but
Delius is sadly mostly out of print over here in the U.S. and I've only
ever been able to find it listed in the liner notes of his CDs that I do
have.

Violet