George Butterworth Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad

The composer

When George Butterworth died in action at the Somme on 5 August 1916, his brigadier wrote of ‘a brilliant musician in times of peace, and an equally brilliant soldier in times of stress’. Born in London in 1885, the Oxford-educated Butterworth became a close friend of Vaughan Williams, joining him on several field trips to collect folk songs – VW also credited Butterworth with encouraging him to write his A London Symphony. Though Butterworth’s own output was small, his mastery can be seen in his songs and short but potently atmospheric orchestral works.

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The work

Hindsight can sometimes play tricks with our perception of a piece of – this song cycle for baritone and piano has become so closely associated with the First World War in which Butterworth lost his life that it is easy to forget that both AE Housman’s words and the composer’s musical setting actually date from several years earlier.