This piece was written in 1939 when William Alwyn was an arranger of classical music for BBC's Light programme that would be performed by a small ensemble where he would also be a featured member playing the flute. The programme was set up to cater for workers in the munitions factories in WWII. The piece was arranged for piano and performed in 1940 and in 1941 there was an orchestral arrangement that was broadcast by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Somehow the piece got lost these war years but remarkably it turned up almost fifty years later and has since been recorded and performed by the City of London Sinfonia.

City of London Sinfonia recordings

William Alwyn

Pastoral Fantasia for Viola and String Orchestra

Chandos 9065

Conductor - Richard Hickox

Viola - Steven Tees

Sources