Emma McGrath - Thomas Pitfield: Orchestral Music

Thomas Pitfield (1903-99) was a polymath: artist, bookbinder, cabinet-maker, calligrapher, cartoonist, composer, designer, poet, printmaker and more. He brought to his compositions the same skill and craftsmanship as to his other activities, but during his long lifetime his personal modesty impeded public recognition of his achievements. Pitfield's fondness for folk-music sites his music within the broad tradition of English pastoralism established by Vaughan Williams, Finzi, Howells and others - though a touch of steel can occasionally be heard behind the lyricism.