The Banks of Green Willow is a piece of orchestral music by British composer George Butterworth.

Described by its composer as an "Idyll", and written in 1913, this is six-minute long orchestral piece is probably the most played of his three works for orchestra. It has certainly been his most recorded orchestral work.

Surrey Brass perform an arrangement by Jonathan Spencer

The Music

Butterworth based The Banks of Green Willow on two folk song melodies that he noted in 1907 - "The Banks of Green Willow" and "Green Bushes".

The opening creates a pastoral scene with the title theme, followed by a short development and restatement of the main tune. The mood becomes more sombre and agitated as a new theme (Butterworth's own) is introduced. An animated motif leads to the main climax, which is surprisingly passionate for such a short work, before the music subsides to introduce "Green Bushes" rather hesitantly.  This is repeated gently, and the piece ends tranquilly with snatches of the variant title theme.

The Story

The folk ballad of the same name tells the tale of a farmer's daughter who falls in love with a young sea-captain, becomes pregnant and runs away with him to sea, having first stolen money from her parents. When her child is born on board ship, the labour is especially difficult and there is no "woman's help" available. Knowing she will die, she asks her lover to "bind a napkin round my head, then throw me overboard, both me and my baby".

Her lover does this and watches as she "quivers" - presumably in her death-throes - and he sings a lament to "my true love, whom I once loved so dearly" and who shall be buried on "The Banks of Green Willow" (Butterworth's capitalisation).

It is a shocking tale, even more so in other collected versions, where it is the man who decides to throw the girl and baby overboard rather than risk the shame of taking them home.

Butterworth was killed on 5 August 1916, during the Battle of the Somme. He was aged 31 and was a Lieutenant in the Durham Light Infantry. His body has never been recovered.

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