Butterworth, George (Sainton Kaye) (1885–1916)

English composer. He collected folk songs, and cultivated folk dancing and composition, but enlisted on the outbreak of World War I and was killed in action. He suggested the idea for Vaughan Williams's London Symphony (1911–13), and the work is dedicated to his memory.

Butterworth was born in London. He was educated at Eton and Oxford, and studied music briefly at the Royal College of Music in London. His songs, ‘A Shropshire Lad’ and ‘Bredon Hill’, are regarded as among the finest in English music. He was killed at Pozières in the Battle of the Somme, shortly after being awarded the Military Cross.

Works Rhapsody A Shropshire Lad (1912) and Idyll The Banks of Green Willow (1913) for orchestra; Bredon Hill (1912); two song cycles on Housman's ‘Shropshire Lad’; Sussex folk songs arranged; carols set for chorus; a few other choral pieces and songs.