George Butterworth was a promising English composer. His work included setting many of A. E. Housman's poems to song, such as this beautiful one here from 'A Shropshire Lad':
"...The lads in their hundreds to Ludlow come in for the fair,
There’s men from the barn and the forge and the mill and the fold,
The lads for the girls and the lads for the liquor are there,
And there with the rest are the lads that will never be old.
There’s chaps from the town and the field and the till and the cart,
And many to count are the stalwart, and many the brave,
And many the handsome of face and the handsome of heart,
And few that will carry their looks or their truth to the grave.
I wish one could know them, I wish there were tokens to tell
The fortunate fellows that now you can never discern;
And then one could talk with them friendly and wish them farewell
And watch them depart on the way that they will not return.
But now you may stare as you like and there’s nothing to scan;
And brushing your elbow unguessed-at and not to be told
They carry back bright to the coiner the mintage of man,
The lads that will die in their glory and never be old..."
Poem XXIII from 'A Shropshire Lad' by A. E. Housman
George was an avid collector of folk-songs. He knew Cecil Sharp and Ralph Vaughan-Williams and was very interested in folk-dancing, especially morris dancing. The second video shows a rare early recording of english dance from 1912, the earliest known examples of English folk dance on film, recorded on a 'Kinora' machine. Amazingly, the recordings include George Butterworth, in the year he wrote his song cycles.
From 1'00' we see him dancing extracts from 'Molly Oxford (Field Town Jig)' , and from 3'25' as part of a group dancing 'Hey Boys Up We Go' [I know it looks quite amusing, but the dances are AMAZING! ;o)]
The most poignant dance for me is from 4'30' where we see him dancing a beautiful solo jig in the 'cotswold' morris style. Within 2 years, at the outbreak of World War I, George Butterworth signed up with the British Army and on 5th August 1916 he was killed during the Battle of the Somme. He was 31 years old.
From 1'00' we see him dancing extracts from 'Molly Oxford (Field Town Jig)' , and from 3'25' as part of a group dancing 'Hey Boys Up We Go' [I know it looks quite amusing, but the dances are AMAZING! ;o)]
The most poignant dance for me is from 4'30' where we see him dancing a beautiful solo jig in the 'cotswold' morris style. Within 2 years, at the outbreak of World War I, George Butterworth signed up with the British Army and on 5th August 1916 he was killed during the Battle of the Somme. He was 31 years old.
George Butterworth(1885-1916)
he carried back bright to the coiner
the mintage of man
