Essential for any collection of twentieth century English music, this disc contains the four extant orchestral works of George Butterworth -- his Two English Idylls, The Banks of Green Willow, and A "Shropshire Lad" Rhapsody -- in performances by Adrian Boult and the London Philharmonic Orchestra of such complete conviction and deep affection that they might well be dubbed definitive. Boult attended the premiere of A "Shropshire Lad" Rhapsody in 1913 and gave the premiere of The Banks of Green Willow the following year at ...
Read More
Essential for any collection of twentieth century English music, this disc contains the four extant orchestral works of George Butterworth -- his Two English Idylls, The Banks of Green Willow, and A "Shropshire Lad" Rhapsody -- in performances by Adrian Boult and the London Philharmonic Orchestra of such complete conviction and deep affection that they might well be dubbed definitive. Boult attended the premiere of A "Shropshire Lad" Rhapsody in 1913 and gave the premiere of The Banks of Green Willow the following year at his first public appearance as a professional conductor, and his understanding of and sympathy for Butterworth's achingly sensual and poignantly nostalgic music is absolute and unwavering. Anyone who wants to know where Vaughan Williams came from and what Delius might have been should hear this music in these performances.And that's just the first 23 minutes. After Butterworth comes Peter Warlock's half-contented, half-sad An Old Song from 1917 and Patrick Hadley's robustly passionate...
Read Less
