What nationality was the person who wrote the music for Soft Flowing Avon?
Soft Flowing Avon Soft Flowing Avon was a 1769 song with music written by Thomas Arne and lyrics by David Garrick. It was composed for and first staged at the Shakespeare Jubilee in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1769. The lyrics refer to the River Avon which flows through the town, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. The piece was later part of the Shakespeare Pageant performed at the Drury Lane Theatre. The song and the Jubilee were part of the growing culture of Bardolatry which sprung up in the eighteenth century.
Ernest Austin Ernest Austin (31 December 1874 – 24 July 1947) was an English composer, music arranger and editor. Although little-remembered today (he does not even have an entry in the comprehensive "New Grove" dictionary), Austin's orchestral music enjoyed some success in its own time, including performances at the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts and on BBC Radio during the 1920s. He was a prolific composer of songs, covering a wide spectrum of mood, from serious Shakespearean settings to ballads of both sentimental and robust natures. He found some success writing piano pieces and unison songs for children. He also made piano transcriptions of the work of other composers, a particularly common practice of the time.