On Sunday, February 13 at 3:00, the Tri-County Symphonic Band, under the direction of Philip Sanborn, will present a concert in the Old Rochester Regional High School Gilbert D. Bristol Auditorium. The concert is titled “English Folk Song Gala: The Music of Grainger, Holst and Vaughan Williams.” While the three composers did not write the folk songs as such, they did use them as the inspiration for their many compositions, a practice used by composers in countries other than England over the years. For example, Beethoven’s magnificent “Ode to Joy” from “Symphony No.9” began as a German poem composed by Friedrich Schiller in 1785 to serve as a drinking song with his friends. “Down the Road,” an African American spiritual served as an inspiration for the beautiful melody in Dvorak’s “Symphony No. 9.” For the Tri-County Symphonic Band concert, the listener will be treated to the musical imaginations of three outstanding British composers: Percy Grainger, Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams, each of whom developed delightful variations on English folk song melodies. Sea chanteys, love songs, folk dances, ballads, songs like “Danny Boy” and stirring marches are woven into a delightful afternoon of music guaranteed to lift your spirits, get your toes tapping and bring a smile to your face. Come and be British for an afternoon. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door and may be purchased at the Symphony Music Shop in North Dartmouth and online at brownpapertickets.com. For more information and COVID policy details for the concert, please visit www.tricountysymphonicband.org/