Four Hardy Songs, Op. 48 (Milford)
Movements
i The Colour, ii If it’s ever spring again, iii Tolerance
Notes
It has been observed that Milford’s writing shows strongly the influence of Vaughan Williams, as might be expected. His use of diatonic melodies, often harmonised with gentle discords, and with false relations occurring occasionally, led Eric Blom (1942) to crystallise these musical traits (also shown by other English composers of the period) as “musical Englishry”. Vaughan Williams once wrote to Adrian Boult, “If I wanted to show the intelligent foreigner something worth doing which could only possibly come out of England, I think I would show him something of the work of Milford…”.
