This publication is part of a three-volume collection that comprises the bulk of the solo songs that Vaughan Williams published with Oxford University Press. They span the whole of his long life, ranging from the early 'How can the Tree but Wither?' (composed around 1896) to the Four Last Songs (from 1954-8, his final years). Many of the composer's most popular songs are included, notably 'Greensleeves', 'The Woodcutter's Song' (Seven Songs from 'The Pilgrim's Progress', no. 6), 'The New Ghost', and 'The Water Mill' (Four Poems by Fredegond Shove, nos. 3 and 4).