On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring

Images of the Common cuckoo (Crossley ID Guide: Britain and Ireland)

On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring is a tone poem composed in 1912 by English composer Frederick Delius; it was first performed in Leipzig, Germany on 23 October 1913, under conductor Arthur Nikisch with Summer Night on the River.^[1][2]

It is the first of Two Pieces for Small Orchestra, the second piece being Summer Night on the River, although these have for many years existed separately on recordings and in the concert hall.^[3] The piece opens with a slow three-bar sequence; its first theme is an exchange of cuckoo calls, first for oboe, then for divided strings. The second theme is scored for first violins, and is taken from a Norwegian folksong, "In Ola Valley", which was brought to Delius's attention by the Australian composer and folksong arranger Percy Grainger. (The theme was also arranged by Edvard Grieg in his 19 Norwegian Folksongs, Op. 66.) The clarinet returns with the cuckoo calls before the piece ends in pastoral fashion.

References

Other sources

• Ewen, David (1959). Encyclopedia of Concert Music. New York: Hill & Wang.