Butterworth: Songs From a Shropshire Lad/ Folk Songs From Sussex

George Butterworth (1885-1916), killed in the battle of the Somme, had scant opportunity to develop his musical gifts, honed at the feet of Parry and Vaughan Williams. These 22 settings of AE Housman, Stevenson, Wilde and traditional folk songs appear deceptively bright in mood, but prove prophetic: lads in their hundreds die in war, lasses mourn them. "Loveliest of Trees", "Seventeen Come Sunday" and especially "Bredon Hill", with its radiant chiming of bells which darken to a knell, display Butterworth's exceptional lyric talent. In a vivid musical partnership with pianist Iain Burnside, Roderick Williams captures the mix of jauntiness and melancholy, adding tender flashes of wit.