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.