Composer, Musicologist. He was a key figure in England's Folk Revival of the early 1900s, and his music was inspired by the sights and sounds of the English countryside. He is best known for his haunting vocal settings of A.E. Houseman's poetry, "Six Songs from 'A Shropshire Lad'" (1911) and "Bredon Hill and Other Songs" (1912), and for the exquisite orchestral miniature "Banks of Green Willow" (1913). Butterworth was born in London into a prosperous family and raised in Yorkshire. He was the son of Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth, Kt., LL.B., of 16, Frognal Gardens, Hampstead, London, and the late Julia Marguerite (nee Wigan), his wife. He attended Eton, the Royal College of Music, and Trinity College, Oxford, where he became close friends with folk music collector Cecil Sharp and composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. From 1906 to 1913, he made field notations of over 430 country songs and dances, some of which were published in the collection "Folk Songs from Essex" (1913); he also became an expert folk dancer, and a short film clip of him performing a Morris Jig survives. Butterworth's handful of compositions, including the orchestral rhapsodies "2 English Idylls" (1912) and "A Shropshire Lad" (1912), are memorable for their delicate lyricism. He destroyed most of his unpublished manuscripts before entering military service at the start of World War I. Commissioned a Lieutenant with the Durham Light Infantry, he was mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Military Cross shortly before he was killed leading a raid at Pozieres during the Battle of the Somme. His body was never recovered. Butterworth's early death robbed English music of one of its most promising talents. Vaughan Williams' famous "A London Symphony" (1914) was created at Butterworth's suggestion, and its later-revised versions were dedicated to his memory.
Composer, Musicologist. He was a key figure in England's Folk Revival of the early 1900s, and his music was inspired by the sights and sounds of the English countryside. He is best known for his haunting vocal settings of A.E. Houseman's poetry, "Six Songs from 'A Shropshire Lad'" (1911) and "Bredon Hill and Other Songs" (1912), and for the exquisite orchestral miniature "Banks of Green Willow" (1913). Butterworth was born in London into a prosperous family and raised in Yorkshire. He was the son of Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth, Kt., LL.B., of 16, Frognal Gardens, Hampstead, London, and the late Julia Marguerite (nee Wigan), his wife. He attended Eton, the Royal College of Music, and Trinity College, Oxford, where he became close friends with folk music collector Cecil Sharp and composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. From 1906 to 1913, he made field notations of over 430 country songs and dances, some of which were published in the collection "Folk Songs from Essex" (1913); he also became an expert folk dancer, and a short film clip of him performing a Morris Jig survives. Butterworth's handful of compositions, including the orchestral rhapsodies "2 English Idylls" (1912) and "A Shropshire Lad" (1912), are memorable for their delicate lyricism. He destroyed most of his unpublished manuscripts before entering military service at the start of World War I. Commissioned a Lieutenant with the Durham Light Infantry, he was mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Military Cross shortly before he was killed leading a raid at Pozieres during the Battle of the Somme. His body was never recovered. Butterworth's early death robbed English music of one of its most promising talents. Vaughan Williams' famous "A London Symphony" (1914) was created at Butterworth's suggestion, and its later-revised versions were dedicated to his memory.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
Inscription
DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY 13th Battalion
LIEUTENANT
BUTTERWORTH G.S.K. MC
Gravesite Details
Final resting place unknown. Name listed on the Memorial
Family Members
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