George Butterworth -- A Shropshire Lad (Song-Theme and Rhapsody)

'Loveliest Of Trees' (excerpt), composed by George Butterworth (1885-1916, first photo) to a poem by A.E. Housman, sung by baritone John Shirley-Quirk, with Martin Isepp, piano; on a Saga long-play disc, number XID5260, issued in 1966. And 'A Shropshire Lad', Rhapsody For Full Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult (second photo, at a 1949 studio session) conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra; a British Decca recording, made in 1954, issued in the United States on London long-play disc LL1169.
I have arranged the two works in sequence because Butterworth took the principal theme of his Rhapsody from this song, initially titling the second work 'Cherry Tree Prelude'. On the cover sheet of the printed score (shown here), Butterworth calls the Rhapsody "an orchestral epilogue to [his] two sets of songs, [based on] Mr. A.E. Housman's poem 'A Shropshire Lad'."
'A Shropshire Lad' was premiered at the Leeds Festival in 1913.
'Is My Team Ploughing?', also a setting of a Housman poem, may be heard in my previous Butterworth YouTube posting, along with the setting by Butterworth's friend Rafe [Ralph] Vaughan Williams.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Butterworth
• Housman
• Boult
• England
• rhapsody
• orchestral
• song-cycle
• poetry
• festival
• 1913

[phillapphullper]

I am so glad i found this : )

George Butterworth is an acestor of mine, pretty close too. I'm a Butterworth from there too, even if he was born a London. Yorkshire, Cumbrian, Lancastrain, and proud : )

I aspire to be a muscian too, but my, this is something else entirley! If could ever live up to his name, I would die a happy man.

On the matter, I've been to Thiepvial to see him, and Poizers to be near him. Even if it was not for blood, I love the man!

Thank you so much XXX

[suzannesadiiqa]

This brings back such memories of a love lost so many years ago that it breaks my heart to listen..............

[3tangle3]

sublime piece..crazily it was only 500-700 years ago that much shropshire spoke welsh/brythonic

[paklaanfa]

@phillapphullper Butterworth's grandfather had two sons, both of whom had one son each, both died without issue, killed in the first world war.

[windstorm1000]

@TK42138 Excellent observations--and yes BBC needs to get going on this. I think that VW absorbed B. s artistry into his own music--subconcously or otherwise---a tribute? or to carry on his late friends' work in some of his own? Hard to say Perhaps both--witness VW's later work. There is no finer tribute to a friend and fellow artist.

[windstorm1000]

There are some rugged, more expansive passages here that go past B.'s more typical wistful, delicate ouvre (that tone is included too, here of course). It makes you wonder where he might have gone had he survived WWI--sym.'s? I don't think so--I think he would have stuck with symphonic poems, but expanded on his early work. Wish he hadn't destroyed all his manuscripts before entering the army. I heard that we was to give up composing even in spite of the war, but we'll never know---

[roffster52]

Great, I had a Saga version of this song cycle but I wore it out, Do you have some Moeran/Houseman ?

[THEMATTBUXTON]

Banging bassline on this!

[stuarthants]

@TK42138 Apologies for my rather late response(!) - but many thanks for the info. They shared a lovely sense of melody.

[tolgug]

If you want to know how much of England was destroyed in the Great War listen to this music.