The Banks of Green Willow
The Banks of Green Willow is a piece of orchestral music by British composer George Butterworth. It was composed in 1913, is written in the key of A major, and is around six minutes long. Composition This is a short orchestral piece by George Butterworth, probably the most played of his three works for orchestra. It has certainly been his most recorded orchestral work. Described by its composer as an "Idyll", and written in 1913, it is scored for a small orchestra consisting of two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, one trumpet, harp and strings. It is thus a belated companion to the Two English Idylls of 1910-1911. All three pieces are founded on folk melodies Butterworth collected in Sussex in 1907, each has a similar "arch" shape, and each lasts between 4½ and 6 minutes. Butterworth based The Banks of Green Willow on two folk song melodies that he noted in 1907 - "The Banks of Green Willow" (Child 24, Roud 172) and "Green Bushes" (Roud 1040, Laws P2). The first was noted from the singing of "Mr & Mrs Cranstone" of Billingshurst, though a few bars from the end (after the flute and harp