Banks of the Green Willow, The

SKU: HL.4004962

UPC: 888680653521. 9.0x12.0x0.059 inches.

Written by British composer George Butterworth in 1913, this classic work is based on two folk songs - “The Banks of Green Willow” and “Green Bushes” (the latter also appearing in works by Grainger and Vaughan Williams). Butterworth died in World War I at the age of 31, and this composition remains his most popular, regarded as an anthem for “Unknown Soldiers.” Here is a masterful setting for winds adapted by Robert Longfield. Dur: 3:50.

SKU: BT.MUSTH978431

English.

The Banks of Green Willow begins in pastorale mode with the title tune established in the Strings with solo clarinet. The work builds to quite a passionate climax before re-establishing the pastorale mood of the opening. Thesong on which the story is based has a tragic death at its centre, which is reflected in the score.English composer and folksong collector George Butterworth, who lived at the turn of the last century and lost his life in theFirst World War, is known for his settings of selections of A E Housman’s A Shropshire Lad and for an Orchestral rhapsody he composed on the same theme. As a Recorder of folksongs, he was successful in noting more thanthreehundred, mainly from Sussex. One of them, The Banks of Green Willow, is the basis for the idyll for Orchestra that has been adapted here for Piano.