Nature has often been the starting point for many British orchestral works. The CD "English seasons", with beautiful orchestral playing by The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (conducted by Neville Marriner), contains an anthology from this rich literature, arranged according to the changing of the seasons. The CD opens with spring, as it is expressed in an atmospheric way in "On hearing the
… first cuckoo in spring" by Frederick Delius (1862-1934). Delius based this work on a Norwegian folk song, which he had discovered in the "Norske folkviser" of his friend Edvard Grieg. Frank Bridge (1879-1941) recorded the two great orchestral works "Enter spring" and "Summer". More modest in design, but no less compelling, is the "Harvest hymn" by Perce Grainger (1882-1961). The restless "more
