During Holst's earlier years as a composer, he took interest, as did many other English composers at the time, in writing pieces based on folk music. His contemporary Ralph Vaughan Williams had written his English Folk Song Suite, all based on English folk tunes. Holst followed suit and composed the Second Suite as a result. Six tunes are compressed into the four movements of the suite, each with their own character.
The Second Suite consists of movements based on specific English folk songs
