John Barleycorn (Sheet music, Vocal score)

for SSA and piano This setting, which opens the Autumn section of the Vaughan Williams's cantata Folk Songs of the Four Seasons, uses a combination of pomp and wit to convey the gathering of the harvest. The character of John Barleycorn personifies the crop barley, and the song is a tongue-in-cheek telling of the indignities that he suffers at the hands of his farmers. Full and reduced orchestral accompaniments for the complete cantata are available on hire.