Suite in D

This work, previously called Suite in D, was commissioned by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1948 in celebration of the birth of Prince Charles and first performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult, in November of that year.  The first publisc performance was conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent at the Winter Proms in 1949.

The opening movement is a chorale prelude on the hymn tune Crimond; the second uses a traditional French melody; the third the march from Act I of Tippett's opera The Midsummer Marriage and an Irish version of All round my hat; the fourth the English medieval hymn Angelus ad Virginem; and the last Early one morning, the Helston Furry Dance, a 'folk' tune of the composer's and material re-worked from Tippett's (un-published) overture to Robin Hood.