The lyrical Cotswolds

Gloucestershire’s song writers

Hubert Parry (1848-1918)

Hailing from Highnam, near Gloucester, Parry reached rare emotional depths in his 12 sets of English Lyrics, composed from 1881 onwards.

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Born in Down Ampney, Vaughan Williams’s many contributions to the song catalogue include Songs of Travel (1904) and On Wenlock Edge (1909), setting Robert Louis Stevenson and AE Housman respectively.

Gustav Holst (1874-1934)

The Cheltenham-born composer’s many songs include settings of English writers plus, most famously, texts from the ancient Rig Veda, translated from the Sanskrit by himself.

Herbert Howells (1892-1983)

Though best known for his choral works, the Forest of Dean’s most famous musical son also wrote a significant number of songs, including the haunting cycle A Garland for de la Mare.

Ivor Gurney (1890-1937)

The former Gloucester Cathedral chorister – and best friend of Howells – set many of his own poems. His Five Elizabethan Songs of 1912 include the exquisite ‘Sleep’.

Gerald Finzi (1901-56)

A resident of the Cotswold village of Painswick in the 1920s, Finzi’s song output was extensive, setting writers such as Christina Rossetti and, in particular, Thomas Hardy.