Candlemas Eve (R. 96) was written in 1949. It is a madrigal for Male Voice Choir (TTBB), with a Piano reduction provided for rehearsal purposes. The text comes from a poem by the English poet Robert Herrick(1591-1674), which extols the joy of how the fresh Spring foliage comes forth to replace the winter evergreens.
Ernest J Moeran (1894-1950) was an English composer, who followed the tradition of R. Vaughan Williams and John Ireland by collecting, preserving, and using many folk songs, mainly from Norfolk, Suffolk, and Ireland.