The Banks of Green Willow

Written by British composer George Butterworth in 1913, this classic work is based on two folk songs - "The Banks of Green Willow" and "Green Bushes" (the latter also appearing in works by Grainger and Vaughan Williams). Butterworth died in World War I at the age of 31, and this composition remains his most popular, regarded as an anthem for "Unknown Soldiers." Here is a masterful setting for winds adapted by Robert Longfield.