On the next English Pastorale, we'll hear music inspired by tales for children.
Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote only one work intended for the ballet stage. Old King Cole was written for the English Folk Dance Society's Cambridge branch, which premiered the work on June 5, 1923, at Trinity College. It was written for orchestra with an optional wordless chorus.
John Lanchbery used Victorian themes as the basis for his score for Royal Ballet's film Tales of Beatrix Potter. The film was devised as a story presented in entirely visual terms with no words. Five stories from Potter were chosen for the production.
Frederick Delius set his musical sights on the folk-tales from the Norwegians Peter Christen Asbjornsen and Jorgen Engebretsen Moe. The music doesn't follow the stories as a symphonic poem would, but describes the feel and mood of the whole collection of stories through music.
Here's an excerpt from Lanchbery's Tales of Beatrix Potter.