One of the leading English composer's of his generation, George Butterworth is remembered as one of the most significant musical voices of the Edwardian era, known for a small but expressive body of work that drew deeply on his study, and collecting, of English traditional music.
At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Butterworth immediately enlisted in the British Army. Before heading to the trenches in 1915, he tragically destroyed many of his unpublished manuscripts, wanting only his best work to survive him. He served as a lieutenant in the 13th Durham Light Infantry, showing great bravery—and was awarded the Military Cross for successfully defending a crucial trench network. On August 5, 1916, at the age of 31, Butterworth was killed by a sniper during the Battle of the Somme at Pozières, France. His body was never recovered.
On this afternoon's Classical Music With Foley Schuler, we'll hear Butterworth's hauntingingly beautiful settings of A.E. Houseman's poems from A Shropshire Lad, along with a short orchestral work or two—as well as a major work of Ralph Vaughan Williams, a close friend of Butterworth's, written with Butterworth's encourangement and later dedicated to his memory: A London Symphony.
You can hear Foley Schuler's musical selections—and stories behind the music—every weekday afternoon from 1 until 4 on Blue Lake Public Radio.
