English Pastoral School

While London was a significant centre of European music-making, many of its most important musical figures were foreign-born naturalised citizens like Handel and Muzio Clementi; touring continental composers such as Haydn, Mozart and Felix Mendelssohn also enjoyed considerable popularity in England.

Whilst these composers' music, like those of their precursors, drew largely on German models (especially Johannes Brahms), the professionalism and the quality of their output have ensured it a more lasting place in the repertoire.

Other key early composers were Vaughan Williams's friend Gustav Holst, John Ireland, and Herbert Howells, all of whom had studied under Stanford at various points.

Howells composed a large body of chamber works with strong pastoral elements that immediately place them within the style; such as his third String Quartet subtitled In Gloucestershire.

Relatively few of his works are overtly pastoral in character, however there are notable examples such as the Symphonic Poem Egdon Heath and his single Symphony, subtitled The Cotswolds.

[6] George Butterworth, a victim of the first world war, composed only a very small amount of music in his short life; however most of what he did write explicitly evokes the English countryside, such as his settings of A.E.