Songs of Sunset is a work by Frederick Delius, written in 1906–07, and scored for mezzo-soprano and baritone soli, SATB chorus and large orchestra. The words are by Ernest Dowson.
It was published in 1911, and a German translation was made by Delius's wife Jelka Rosen, as Sonnenuntergangs-Lieder.[1]
The work was first performed at the Queen's Hall in London on 16 June 1911 at an all-Delius concert in the presence of the composer, conducted by his great champion Thomas Beecham.[2] The soloists were Julia Culp and Thorpe Bates, with the Edward Mason Choir and Beecham Symphony Orchestra. Other works performed that night were Paris: The Song of a Great City, the Dance Rhapsody, and Appalachia.
The occasion was also the first meeting of Delius with Philip Heseltine, then a 16-year-old Eton schoolboy, who had seen a copy of the score and wanted nothing more than to hear it. The school's permission had to be obtained for him to attend the concert. That meeting led to a lifelong friendship between the two, even though Delius was almost 33 years older than Heseltine.[3]
Songs of Sunset was dedicated to the Elberfeld Choral Society,[1] whose chief conductor Hans Haym was one of Delius's greatest supporters in Germany.[4] The Elberfeld chorus performed it first in 1914.[4] Hans Haym later wrote, "This is not a work for a wide public, but rather for a smallish band of musical isolates who are born decadents and life's melancholics".