George Sainton Kaye Butterworth (July 12, 1885 - August 5, 1916) was a British composer best known for his settings of A. E. Housman's poems. July 12 is the 193rd day (194th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 172 days remaining. ... 1885 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Alfred Edward Housman (March 26, 1859 _ April 30, 1936) was an English poet and classical scholar, now best known for his cycle of poems A Shropshire Lad. ... Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ...

Born in London into a musical family who moved to Yorkshire early in his life, Butterworth received his first music lessons from his mother, who was a singer. He began composing at an early age, but his father intended for him to be a solicitor, and he was sent to Eton College, and from there went to Trinity College, Oxford. Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7. ... The White Yorkshire rose. ... Someone who performs, composes, or conducts music is a musician. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is an independent school for boys. ... College name Trinity College Named after The Holy Trinity Established 1555 Sister College Churchill College President The Hon. ...

It was at Trinity that he became more concentrated on music, for there he met the folk song collector Cecil Sharp and composer and folk song enthusiast, Ralph Vaughan Williams. Butterworth and Vaughan Williams made several trips into the English countryside to collect folk songs, and both their compositions were to be strongly influenced by what they heard. Butterworth was also an expert folk dancer, being particularly fond of Morris dancing. Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ... Cecil James Sharp (1859-1924) was the founding father of the folklore revival in England in the early twentieth century, and many of Englands traditional dances and music owe their continuing existence to his work in recording and publishing them. ... Ralph Vaughan Williams, OM (October 12, 1872 – August 26, 1958) was an influential British composer. ... It has been suggested that Folk dancing be merged into this article or section. ... A Morris dance is a form of folk dance. ...

Vaughan Williams and Butterworth became close friends. It was Butterworth suggested to Vaughan Williams that he turn a symphonic poem he was working on into his second symphony (the London Symphony), and he also helped in assembling the sketches for that work. Vaughan Williams dedicated the piece to him after Butterworth's death. A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, in one movement in which some extra-musical programme provides a narrative or illustrative element. ... A symphony is an extended piece of music usually for orchestra and comprising several movements. ...

Upon leaving Oxford, Butterworth began a career in music, writing criticism for The Times, composing and teaching at Radley College, Oxfordshire. He also briefly studied at the Royal College of Music where he was taught by Hubert Parry among others. The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom. ... The Royal College of Music from Prince Consort Road, London The front facade of the RCM The Royal College of Music is a prestigious music school located in Kensington, London. ... Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (February 27, 1848 – October 7, 1918) was an English composer, probably best known for his setting of William Blakes poem, Jerusalem. ...

At the outbreak of World War I, Butterworth signed up for service. He was killed by a sniper in 1916 at Pozières leading a raid during the Battle of the Somme. His body was not recovered, and his name may be found on the Thiepval memorial, near the site of the Somme. He was awarded the Military Cross and a trench was named after him. Clockwise from top: Trenches in frontline, a British Mark I Tank crossing a trench, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the battle of the Dardanelles, a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks and a Sopwith Camel biplane. ... The traditional definition of a sniper is an infantry soldier especially skilled in field craft and marksmanship, who kills selected enemies from concealment with a rifle at long distances. ... The Battle of Pozières was a two week struggle for the French village of Pozières, and the ridge on which it stands, during the middle stages of the 1916 Battle of the Somme. ... Combatants United Kingdom, France, Canada, India, Newfoundland, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia Germany Commanders Douglas Haig Ferdinand Foch Max von Gallwitz Fritz von Below Strength 13 British & 6 French divisions (initial) 51 British divisions (final) 10. ... This article is about the Thiepval village and memorial, for other uses see Thiepval (disambiguation) Thiepval is a village in the Somme département, Picardy region of Northern France. ... Military Cross The Military Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army, and formerly also to officers of the armies of other Commonwealth countries, for distinguished and meritorious services in battle. ...

Butterworth did not write a great deal of music, and he destroyed many the works he did not care for during the war. Of those that survive, it is his works based on A. E. Housman's collection of poems A Shropshire Lad, which are the best known. Many English composers of Butterworth's time set Housman's poetry, but none are as famous as these. A Shropshire Lad is a cycle of sixty-three poems by the English poet Alfred Edward Housman. ...

In 1911 and 1912, Butterworth wrote two song cycles on Housman's poems. They are rarely performed in full today, although six of the songs are often presented together, with "Is My Team Ploughing?" the most famous. Another, "Lovliest of Trees", is the basis for his orchestral rhapsody of later in 1912, also called A Shropshire Lad. A song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in sequence as a single entity. ... An orchestra is a musical ensemble used most often in classical music. ...

The parallel between the often morbid subject matter of A Shropshire Lad, set in the context of the Boer War, and Butterworth's subsequent death during the Great War is frequently commented upon. Boer guerrillas during the Second Boer War There were two Boer wars, one from December 16, 1880-March 23, 1881 and the second from October 11, 1899-May 31, 1902 both between the British and the settlers of Dutch, French and German origin (called Boers, Afrikaners or Voortrekkers) in South...

A number of other short orchestral works are sometimes heard by Butterworth, Banks of Green Willow (1913), among them. It is generally thought by those who have studied his work that his early death prevented his full talent coming to light.

External links

• An essay on Butterworth's life and music