Jelka Rosen

[1] Living in Montparnasse, she made the acquaintance of the composers Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Ravel and Florent Schmitt and artists Auguste Rodin, Camille Claudel, Paul Gauguin, Henri Rousseau, Edvard Munch and Ida Gerhardi.

She met Frederick Delius at a dinner party on 16 January 1896,[1] and found they had a shared interest in the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche[n 2] and the music of Edvard Grieg.

Through her parental heritage, Jelka was widely read and spoke a number of languages, and it was she who often suggested texts her husband could set to music.

Her artistic skills were also invaluable in sketching designs for the scenery in Sir Thomas Beecham's 1920 revival of A Village Romeo and Juliet.

In autumn 1934, with her health stabilised following the operation in May, she visited London as the guest of honour at concerts of Delius' music conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham on 24 October and 8 November.

Nevertheless, she felt she had enough strength to undertake the Channel crossing to attend his reinterment in the churchyard of the Church of Saint Peter, Limpsfield, Surrey, setting out on 22 May.