The search for thomas f ward teacher of frederick delius book read reviews from worlds largest community for readers the recent researches of dr d. The search for thomas f ward teacher of frederick delius. Thomas f ward 1856 1912 the american teacher of composer frederick delius died in historical oblivion and was buried in an unmarked grave apparently too poor to pay his own funeral expenses this biography of ward describes his crucial influence on delius an englishman whose formative musical years were spent under wards tutelage in the mid 1880s on an orange plantation on the st . Thomas f ward 1856 1912 the american teacher of the composer frederick delius died in historical oblivion and was buried in an unmarked grave apparently too poor to pay his own funeral expenses this biography of ward describes his crucial influence on delius an englishman whose formative musical years were spent under wards tutelage in the mid 1880s on an orange plantation on the st . In his book the search for thomas f ward teacher of frederick delius author don c gillespie traces the peripatetic life of brooklyn born organist thomas f ward as it intersected with that of frederick delius when the latter came to florida to work on an orange plantation and befriended the black workers whose old slave songs mesmerized the young composer and worked their way into his beloved composition appalachia