Shropshire Lad, A

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Shropshire Lad, A. Book of poems by A. E. Housman (1859–1936) pubd. 1896 which had profound influence on many Eng. composers. Settings of the poems (to the poet's dislike) by, among others, Vaughan Williams (On Wenlock Edge, Along the Field), John Ireland (Land of Lost Content), Ivor Gurney, Graham Peel, Somervell, Frank Lambert, C. W. Orr, and George Butterworth. Butterworth's song-cycle retained the name A Shropshire Lad, and he later based an orch. rhapsody (1913) of the same title on a theme from the song Loveliest of trees.

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