A Selection from “Six Choral Folksongs”, H.136, Op.36b
Collected by George Gardiner (1852-1910)
Arranged for mixed voices by Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
Gustav Holst, together with his friend Ralph Vaughan Williams and many other English composers, embraced their country’s folksong tradition by making arrangements of the tunes for choirs, and bands. Holst, famous for his huge orchestral suite
The Planets, used a number of British folk songs in his compositions and also arranged them for choir. In his hands, these six folk songs, collected by Scottish folklorist George Barnet Gardiner, are transformed into imaginative and elegant works of choral literature. The Shedd Choral Society presents 4 of these songs:
1. I Sowed the Seeds of Love
2. There Was a Tree
5. I Love My Love
6. Swansea Town