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The Banks of Green Willow

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The Banks of Green Willow is a short orchestral impressionist piece by George Butterworth composed in 1913 and around six minutes long in the key of A major.

Composition

It is scored for a small chamber orchestra with a harp in the style of a tone poem and is also described as an idyll. Butterworth included two folk song melodies that he found in 1907 as part of the piece.

Modern representations

The popular piece is often used in TV adverts with wholesome panoramic views of the British countryside, for products such as dog food and life insurance, as well as a favourite of Classic FM.

There are also two folk songs by the same name. A 2003 novel by the Irish writer Kevin Myers has the title.

Butterworth was good friends with Ralph Vaughan Williams (as was Gustav Holst). Vaughan-Williams' A London Symphony was first performed with the Banks of Green Willow in March 1914. Butterworth would be killed three years later in the Battle of the Somme on August 5 1916 aged 31 whilst serving as a Lieutenant in the Durham Light Infantry.

See also

Audio clips

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