Fand Catalogue

The Rambling Sailor

for Piano Solo

John Mitchell

£6.50

George Butterworth (1885–1916) is best known as the composer of The Banks of Green Willow and the rhapsody A Shropshire Lad, but in the early years of the last century he also contributed significantly to our national musical heritage by noting down numerous folk songs that were in danger of dying out. One such was The Rambling Sailor, which he collected from a singer in Horsham, Sussex in 1909. The tune is this current piece is presented in all its moods, with varying harmonic treatments in each of the four episodes in which it is presented. To a certain extent these match up with the words of the song that Butterworth recorded, and the latter are reproduced on the inner cover.

Sample pages

(Click to enlarge)

Recorded performance

Performed by the composer: John Mitchell, Piano

Catalogue code: FM226 • Published: 20th July 2020
Entry last updated: 20th July 2020