I don't know whether friends might think it worth the price of the CD, but I have to say that Paa Vidderne (In the Mountains), a symphonic poem dating from 1889-91, rev.1892 is a most exciting and beguiling piece. It's on the new Delius in Norway CD conducted by Andrew Davis from Chandos. Marvellous.
Yes, I do agree, it's a lovely work. I first came across it conducted by, I think, Sir Alexander Gibson at an orchestral concert during the Cheltenham Festival, sometime in the 90s. It was one of those works which made an immediate and, as it turned out, lasting impression.
Paa Viderrne also appeared on a Marco Polo release from 1987.
http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.220452 (http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.220452)
Pas Vidderne has also appeared on a Classico release from 2001
http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/frederick-delius-in-norway-mr0002720678 (http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/frederick-delius-in-norway-mr0002720678)
Try the new Chandos release, though. It's a sonic spectacular!
My understanding is that Delius originally wrote Paa Vidderne (In the Mountains) as a melodrama in 1888, based on the poem of the same name by Henrik Ibsen. The music there is slightly more than incidental, and it has enough emotional weight where I wouldn't call it "light." This was never performed until 1981 on Norwegian TV. Not sure if the archival footage is still out there.
The symphonic poem has exactly the same title, it seems, with similar themes. This was performed in 1891.
Both works appear together on the Classico release.
The spectacular Chandos version can be heard here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDpJzWBZ9xA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDpJzWBZ9xA)
It also appears in The British Collection, played by the RLPO/Bostock.
I have an mp3 marked 'BBCCO/Wordsworth. (ex-BBC Radio 3, 27th Dec. 1994)', but no indication of where I found it.
I'll give it another listen. I hadn't really noticed it before. I have the Chandos recording but maybe didn't take enough notice when I played it and then left it. That's one of the great things about these groups: they inspire one to listen better.