George Butterworth, one of the pre 1914 generation lost in the Great War, left a small but enduring body of work. He was introduced to folk music by Vaughan Williams, but he was also a dancer and collector of folk songs and dances – especially those from Sussex. It is however his A.E Houseman inspired orchestral Rhapsody ‘A Shropshire Lad’ that has become his most famous composition and seems to conjure up a powerful sense of the countryside of that county, and melancholy at the waste and futility of war.

Holst, like Butterworth was a friend of RVW, and together the two of them collected folk songs from around England. Holst also taught at the school for girls in Hammersmith, London and the St Paul Suite is a personal thankyou to the school. Folk songs imbue the two Songs without Words. Holst became friendly with Thomas Hardy, and it was on a night walk (at the urging of Hardy) that the inspiration for Egdon Heath came to Holst.

This recording continues the artistic partnership between Andrew Manze and the RLPO, following on from the award-winning series of music from Ralph Vaughan Williams.