AllMovie

Part of the BBC arts program Omnibus, Song of Summer is a made-for-TV biopic about English composer Frederick Delius, based on the book Delius As I Knew Him by Eric Fenby. Shot in black-and-white, the film was made as part of a series of composer biographies by Ken Russell and originally broadcast on the BBC in 1968. Max Adrian plays Delius, who is both paralyzed and blind as a result of syphilis. In 1928, young musician Eric Fenby (Christopher Gable) worked as his assistant, taking dictations at his home in Grez-sur-Loing, France. Delius turns out to be a bitter, mean old man as well as an accomplished composer. Maureen Pryor plays his wife, Jelka, while David Collings plays fellow composer Percy Grainger.