Hyperion Records

By the time Ralph Vaughan Williams had created his Studies in English Folk-song in 1926 (there are six studies in all) he had been travelling around the country collecting English folk songs for a quarter of a century. Along with Cecil Sharp, he preserved for posterity many examples of an English musical tradition that was already dying out, and now is almost totally non-existent except within specialist societies and groups of enthusiasts. These studies were originally written for the cellist May Mukle, who gave the first performance at the Scala Theatre in London on 4 June 1926.

from notes by Laurence Perkins © 2004