MS Mus. 1745/2/4

Incidental music for tenor and baritone soloists, chorus and orchestra, written for the poetic drama of the same name (published 1922) by James Elroy Flecker. The manuscripts comprise:

• elements of the composer's autograph score;
• additional copy material in the hand of Jelka Delius;
• an arrangement by Eric Fenby, and in his hand, of the 'Serenade' for cello and chamber orchestra;
• a full score in Fenby's hand.

Threlfall, I/9.

(1). ff. 1-46. Material from the partly-dispersed composer's autograph full score (pencil) of Hassan.

• f. 1. 'A light appears in the next house' - two pages of music which follows and completes Act I Scene II. 1 bifolium, 20-stave 360 x 280 mm.
• ff. 2-5. 'Prelude Act II', pp. 1-7 (p. 7 verso is blank). 2 bifolia, 22-stave 360 x 268 mm.
• ff. 6-13. 'Act II' (up to and including the first four 12/4 bars of the women's chorus), pp. 1-16. 4 bifolia, 26-stave 350 x 270 mm.
• f. 14. Two pages numbered 17 and 18, p. 18 headed 'Scene II Act 2'. 1 leaf, 22-stave 360 x 268 mm.
• ff. 15-25. Pages numbered 1-20, duplicate numbering for pp. 16 an 17 (6 bifolia, 20-stave 360 x 268 mm), with the following headings: 'Act III Prelude' (p. 1); 'Curtain. Scene I Act III' (p. 5); 'Yasmin comes up to Hassan' (p. 7); 'Scene II' (p. 8); '(Enter the Herald) Fanfare to be played before announcing each personage' (p. 18); 'Entry of the Caliph' (p. 19). Two blank pages follow p. 20.
• ff. 26-45. Pages numbered [1]-40 (10 bifolia, 2 of 20-stave and 8 of 24-stave, both 360 x 268 mm, plus 1 leaf as pp. 29-30 of 20-stave 360 x 280 mm), with the following principal headings: 'Prelude to Act V' [p. 1]; 'The Song of the Muezzin (Sunset)' (p. 10); 'The Procession of protracted death' (p. 11); 'The Ghost of the artist of the Fountain rises from the Fountain itself - Prelude to Scene II Act V' (p. 21); '(Scene II) At the Gate of the Moon. Bagdad. (Blazing moonlight)' (p. 31). Following p. 40 ('End'), there are two blank pages.
• f. 46. A single manuscript page, torn from a bifolium of 20-stave 355 x 270 mm music paper. Numbered faintly on the recto as p. 7 and containing the traces of two bars of music that have been erased (?Act 2 Divertissement). On the verso, six bars are sketched on the top stave.
• For a guide to the dispersal of Delius's full score, see Threlfall (1986), p. 229, which describes its incorporation in the score prepared by Philip Heseltine for Universal Edition in 1923. Heseltine's score later passed to Boosey & Hawkes, and subsequently to the Delius Trust. The score is now MS Mus. 1745/3/7/1. See also, Add MS 50497 for a further fragment (Act I Scene I, the off-stage serenade for tenor and piano, preceded and followed by passages in full score - mostly in Delius's hand but partly in the hand of Jelka Delius).

(2). ff. 47-72. Copy manuscripts (by Jelka Delius) of additional material prepared for the London performances (20 September 1923, His Majesty's Theatre, produced by Basil Dean, cond. Eugène Goossens on the opening night, thereafter Percy E. Fletcher).

• 'Act II [sic] / Between Scene I and Scene II' [the Intermezzo from Act I], pp. 1-6, two blank pages following. 2 bifolia, 24-stave 368 x 272 mm.
• 'added on to divertissement - Lesjaskog', pp. 1-3, one blank page following. 1 bifolium, 24-stave 368 x 272 mm.
• '25.5.23 for Act II Scene II'. A short score preliminary sketch for Ishak's song (crossed out). On the verso, three bars of unrelated material. Followed by two blank pages. 1 bifolium, 14-stave 340 x 270 mm.
• 'Act II Scene II / Ishak: Why have they pinned the carpet of execution', pp. 1-4. 1 bifolium, 24-stave 368 x 272 mm.
• 'Yasmin comes up to Hassan', pp. 1-6, two blank pages following. 2 bifolia, 16-stave 340 x 265 mm.
• 'Act IV Music connecting Scene I with Scene II', pp. 1-5, three blank pages following. 2 bifolia, 24-stave 368 x 272 mm.
• Short score preliminary sketch material x 3: 'from G Act 5 leading to last scene'; 'Act IV Music connecting Scene I with Scene II'; 'Caliph: Fanfare'. 1 bifolium, 14-stave, 340 x 270 mm.
• 'From G Act 5 leading to last Scene / The Cry of the Watchman', pp. 1-7, one blank page following. 2 bifolia 24-stave 368 x 272 mm.
• 'At the Gate of the Moon, Bagdad, blazing moonlight', pp. 8-19. 3 bifolia, 24-stave 368 x 272 mm.

(3). ff. 73-75. 'Serenade from Hassan arranged for Cello solo and Chamber Orchestra'.

• Arranged by Eric Fenby, and in his hand (ink).
• 2 unnumbered sheets within a bifolium, all 34-stave 400 x 302 mm.
• Title to the front of the bifolium, with the following written large in red crayon: '(rough sketch) / B. Harrison (score / & / piano / parts)'. Referring to the cellist Beatrice Harrison.
• The arrangement was made in 1929. First performed by Beatrice Harrison and the Chamber Orchestra of Boston, cond. N. Slonimsky, 12 January 1930.

(4). ff. 76-110. Full score of Hassan, in the hand of Eric Fenby

• Outer bifolium (36-stave 453 x 330 mm) entitled (by Jelka Delius): 'Hassan / Grosse Partitur' (mauve pencil) and 'To be / revised' (red pencil). With Delius's address stamp at the top of the page.
• Scored in black and in blue ink, on 10 + 4 gathered bifolia (42-stave 453 x 330 mm), pp. [1]-55, followed by 1 blank page.
• 1. Prelude to Act I, p. [1].
• 2. Act I, Interlude between Scenes I and II, p. 3.
• 3. Curtain music, Act I, Scene II, p. 6.
• 4. Prelude to Act II, p. 7.
• 5.1. Ballet, Dance of the Beggars, p. 9.
• 5.2. Entry of the Beauties (Chorus of Women), p. 12.
• 5.3. Divertissement, p. 14.
• 5.4. General Dance, p. 18.
• 6. Act II, Scene II, The Persian Dawn, p. 25.
• N.B. The final two bars of the Prelude to Act III (p. 27) are occluded by a rectangle of plain paper.
• 7. Act III, Interlude between Scenes I and II, p. 27.
• 8. Act III, Scene II, Chorus of Soldiers, p. 29.
• 9. Prelude to Act IV, p. 34.
• 10. Prelude to Act V, p. 38.
• 11. The Procession of Protracted Death, p. 40.
• 12. Prelude to the Last Scene, p. 42.
• Fenby's score is a copy of the complete work in its final form (including the additional material copied by Jelka Delius - see 2 above), but excluding Chorus of Beggars and Dancing Girls, Entry of the Caliph, Fanfares, and Call of the Muezzin.