George Butterworth - Two English Idylls (1911). Nikon Nikkor 18-200mm lens.

George Butterworth in English pastoral mode par excellence - or is he?

My earlier upload of this work (Boult, LPO) was ordered to be taken down by Nimbus/Lyrita records - as have quite a few of my uploads, both of Finzi's music, Ireland's and others. Yet again, my greatest regret is that we have lost all the wonderful comments.

I'm gradually restoring these works to my YouTube Channel with different performances, which I think are equally fine.

I have reassembled my photographs from the original slideshow, added others, and included the Idyll No. 2 - this time with an equally compelling performance from the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-fields, under the baton of Sir Neville Marriner.

Idyll No. 1: 0.00
Idyll No. 2: 4:48

An Amazon reviewer (J. Walton) writes: "... George Butterworth was a national treasure, lost to the First World War. I bought this CD purely for the orchestral pieces: A Shropshire Lad, the Banks of Green Willow and the Two English Idylls.The pieces hark back to a time when Britain was at peace with the world, and one can imagine strolling through English meadows on a beautiful summer's day in a bygone era whilst listening to the glorious structure of the pieces. Butterworth captures England perfectly. One can only wonder of what greatness this man would have achieved had he survived the horrors of the Somme".

I took these pictures in April and May 2012; they are of various locations in the Derbyshire Peak District, England. The final photo depicting a stained glass window of Noah's Ark and the Dove of Peace with olive branch was taken at St. Mary's Church, Tissington, Derbyshire.

Conductor: Sir Neville Marriner
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
(P) 1975 DECCA 468-802-2