Date
12-19-2024
Department
School of Music
Degree
Master of Arts in Music Education (MA)
Chair
Benjamin Stogner
Keywords
Musical contribution, textpaint, narrative inquiry, Butterworth, Housman, song cycles
Disciplines
Music
Recommended Citation
Smith, Brenden M., "George Butterworth’s Musical Contribution to A.E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad and Bredon Hill and Other Songs" (2024). Masters Theses. 1245.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/masters/1245
Abstract
George Butterworth and A.E. Housman were highly influential scholars at the turn of the 20th century. Both men were well known for contributing to folk genres in their corresponding fields. Many famous composers implemented Housman's works, the most conspicuous of which was Butterworth. The composer was tragically killed in World War I in 1916, and today, two song cycles of his remain, both are the poetry of A.E. Housman.
Butterworth's Shropshire Lad cycles are some of the less-performed works in our classical repertory today because Butterworth abandoned most of his works during World War I. The following paper will give an in-depth review of the life and works of both Butterworth and Housman and how they contributed to each other to form the song cycles being reviewed. The document will lastly analyze and examine the individual movements and discuss stylistic elements.
