Frederick Delius was a composer who lived in Germany, the United States, and France after being born in England to German parents. Frederick Delius is considered as one of the best English composers of his time, alongside his colleague Edward Elgar. Fritz Delius was born in Bradford, the son of German emigrants. Delius' father was a wealthy industrialist in the Yorkshire wool trade, and he wanted Delius to follow in his footsteps, despite the fact that musical schooling was an integral aspect of Delius's upbringing. Delius moved to Solana Grove, Florida, at the age of 22 to oversee a citrus plantation for his aunt, and took advantage of the chance to learn music with Thomas F. Ward. Delius' father promised to provide him with a full musical education in Leipzig when he returned from America. Delius lived the rest of his adult life overseas after that. After spending time in Scandinavia with Edvard Grieg, he moved to Paris and became friends with composers Maurice Ravel, Florent Schmitt, and Gabriel Fauré, as well as musicians Edvard Munch and Paul Gaugin, and playwright August Strindberg. Delius met his wife, the artist Jelka Rosen, in Paris as well. From 1897, he stayed with her in Grez-sur-Loing, near Fontainebleau, and spent the majority of his time there, with the exception of the First World War.

Sea Drift, the Florida Suite, Appalachia, and On Seeing the First Cuckoo in Spring are only a handful of Delius' evocative vocal and orchestral pieces that take influence from nature and landscape. Delius, on the other hand, composed music in a diverse range of styles, including chamber music, song, and opera. His operas were influenced by his musical impressions during his travels: Koanga and The Magic Fountain, for example, are both set in Florida. Delius was also intrigued with philosophy and poetry in different European languages, setting the vocabulary of Walt Whitman, Friedrich Nietzsche, Paul Verlaine, and Henrik Ibsen, to name a handful. Delius' practice shows a good sense of stylistic evolution. Early works display a clear Wagner influence, but later works show a more diverse variety of styles, including Debussy, Mahler, and popular Music Hall songs. For a younger group of composers, such as Peter Warlock, Balfour Gardiner, Percy Grainger, and Bernard Herrmann, his music was popular.