Song of Summer
| Song of Summer | |
|---|---|
Cover of 2001 British Film Institute DVD
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| Directed by | Ken Russell |
| Produced by | Ken Russell |
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on | Delius As I Knew Him by Eric Fenby |
| Starring | |
| Music by | |
| Cinematography | Dick Bush |
| Edited by | Roger Crittenden |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | BBC |
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Release date
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1968 |
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Running time
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72 minutes (DVD) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Song of Summer is a 1968 black-and-white television film written, produced and directed by Ken Russell for the BBC's Omnibus series which was first broadcast on 15 September 1968. It portrays the final six years of the life of Frederick Delius, when he was blind and paralysed, and when Eric Fenby lived with the composer and his wife Jelka as Delius's amanuensis. The title is borrowed from the Delius tone poem A Song of Summer, which is heard along with other Delius works in the film.
It stars Max Adrian as Delius, Christopher Gable as Fenby, and Maureen Pryor as Delius's wife Jelka, with director Russell in a cameo role as a philandering priest. The cinematography was by Dick Bush, and the editing was by Roger Crittenden. It was shot on black-and-white 35mm film.
It has received wide praise since its first screening, and Ken Russell himself said it was the best film he ever made and he would not have done a single shot differently.
Song of Summer was based on Eric Fenby's memoir Delius As I Knew Him (1936, republished in 1966), which recounts his experience of offering his services in transcribing Frederick Delius's music from the composer's dictation. The 66-year-old Delius, who lived with his wife Jelka and their servants at Grez-sur-Loing, 70 kilometres south of Paris, had never even heard of Fenby, a struggling 22-year-old composer and theatre organist living with his parents in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, but he accepted Fenby's unsolicited offer. Fenby stayed with the Deliuses at Grez, on and off for six years, until Delius's death in 1934. He had immense difficulties in dealing with the cantankerous, irascible and impatient composer (perhaps partly excused by his constant pain). Neither party had ever worked this way before, but Fenby was immediately expected to keep up with Delius's fast pace when dictating, and to make sense of his out-of-tune singing. He was also required to read for long stretches to Delius, the composer's favourite books being Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. Fenby was a devout Catholic and Delius hated Christianity, even going so far as to say that Fenby should not go to the local chapel but visit one further away. On his first visit home, Fenby had a nervous breakdown and lost the use of his own legs for two weeks. Later, Jelka needed to go for treatment for stomach cancer, and Fenby virtually became Delius's nurse for a month. Delius died only two days after Jelka returned.
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