Butterworth: Orchestral Works & Works for Voice & Orchestra

English composer George Butterworth (1885-1916) did not write a great deal of music. In fact, during the war he destroyed many of his works for fear he wouldn’t return from battle and wouldn’t be able to revise him. He is most known for his orchestral setting “A Shropshire Lad.” This release features “A Shropshire Lad Rhapsody,” which is the ‘orchestral epilogue’ to the original settings of A. E. Housman’s poems. Especially notable on this release is “Orchestral Fantasia.” Butterworth began the composition before the war broke out, and a three and a half minute section was preserved. The conductor of this release, Kriss Russman, has picked up where Butterworth left off, adding around five minutes of music where he develops Butterworth’s original ideas and adds additional material.