Elgar Cockaigne

A concert overture for full orchestra commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society, it was first performed in the Queen's Hall, London on 20 June 1901, conducted by the composer. The work was dedicated to the composer's ‘many friends, the members of British orchestras’. The music was an immediate success and became one of Elgar's most popular works.

It has been performed in the concert hall less frequently in recent decades, though a performance conducted by Britain's then Prime Minister, Edward Heath, at a gala LSO concert at the Festival Hall in November 1971brought Cockaigne to much wider attention than usual.

Parry Ode on the Nativity

One of Parry’s last major works, the Ode was composed for the 1912 Three Choirs festival, Hereford. Like the Songs of Farewell, it was written in the last decade of his life, when he produced his most famous works.

Holst Hymn of Jesus

Written in August 1917, The Hymn of Jesus has always been one of Holst’s most widely performed works. Its first performance in London in 1920 was an outstanding success; Ralph Vaughan Williams, the dedicatee, said he just ‘wanted to get up and embrace everyone and then get drunk’!

Undoubtedly, the work is Holst’s artistic and philosophical response to the War, to suffering so intense, and on such a scale, that it was scarcely comprehensible. By 1916 hostilities had reached a pulverizing stalemate and conscription had been introduced in Britain. Unlike his friend Vaughan Williams (who had enlisted in 1914) Holst had been denied participation because of his health. The final impetus for producing The Hymn of Jesus may well have been the Battle of the Somme. During five months of 1916, over two million people were slaughtered, including George Butterworth and others of Holst’s friends.

The Hymn of Jesus - his first major work after completing The Planets - is a very positive and constructive response to suffering.

Butterworth Banks of Green Willow

A good friend of Vaughan Williams, together they made several trips into the English countryside to collect folk songs, and both saw their compositions strongly influenced by what they heard.

At the outbreak of World War I, Butterworth signed up for service in the British Army and was recommended for the Military Cross by Brigadier Page-Croft, who described him as a brilliant musician in times of war and an equally brilliant soldier in times of stress. On August 4th 1916, when the Battle of the Somme was entering its most intense phase, George Butterworth, the most promising British musician of his generation, was shot through the head by a sniper aged only 31.

Banks of Green Willow has become synonymous with the sacrifice of his generation and has been elevated to an anthem for all 'Unknown Soldiers'.