At all stages of his career, Delius could summon oases of aureate melody seemingly sprung from an enchanted demesne. From the Calinda of the Florida Suite in 1887 to the Fantastic Dance, dictated to Fenby in 1930 when the composer was paralyzed and blind, these startlingly salubrious moments—blithesome, winsome, magical, and moving without pathos—are like nothing else in music, and the more amazing for springing from a life tormented by the creeping ravages of syphilis. As one consults the circumstances of Delius' biography in tandem with his works, it is difficult not to be reminded of Yeats' lines in "Sailing to Byzantium," "An aged man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick, unless Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing For every tatter in its mortal dress...." To Percy Grainger on September 26, 1915, Delius wrote, "My firm belief is that when the Intellect outweighs the Instinct in all art—especially music ' then the trouble begins.' As long as the instinct has the upper hand everything sounds right & rare." Though it may be the least of Delius' miniatures, Air & Dance is nevertheless rife with an aura of something half-forgotten yet precious, a searching iambic ramble unexpectedly interrupted by a skipping dance awakening us to sunlit radiance. 1915, the year of its composition, was a trial for the Deliuses, who had taken refuge from the war at Watford, Beecham's country estate near London. In April, symptoms of Delius' malady necessitated an immediate course of physiotherapy, while bouts of illness continued to plague him. Thanks to Beecham's impassioned advocacy, Delius' works were being heard in England, and the conductor and composer together took in the premiere of the First Violin Sonata in Manchester, returning for performances of the Piano Concerto and Sea Drift. Meanwhile, Delius composed the Double Concerto for violin, cello, and orchestra and sketched Eventyr. Given his gratitude to Beecham, Delius could hardly refuse when asked to compose a small piece for strings to be privately performed at a party given by Lady Maud Cunard, Beecham's mistress from 1911, when she separated from her husband, shipping heir Bache Cunard. Beecham led a small complement of strings at Lady Cunard's affair in its first performance, though it was not heard again until its first public performance as part of the great six-day Delius Festival, organized by Beecham and Philip Heseltine, over October and November 1929, the triumphant capstone of Delius' career.

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