Throughout the history of Western Music, composers have written works on rural and agricultural subjects. The first half of this dissertation examines a number of important works from the Baroque era through the present day and the composers who have chosen this specialized subject matter. Rural communities are underserved where the arts are concerned. Yet, rural audiences have perhaps the best chance at identifying with the subjects of this particular subset of vocal art music. The second half of this dissertation examines reasons why it is important to reach rural communities with vocal art music. Four sample recital programs appropriate for rural audiences are included.

British musical style changed dramatically after 1880 primarily due to factors which may be subsumed under the general heading of nationalism. This change from an essentially Germanic style has been termed the British musical renaissance by many writers on the subject. Within this new musical language, several distinctive substyles arose. One of these, British pastoral style, has been alluded to by Frank Howes and others, but these allusions do not contribute to an understanding of the works purportedly belonging to that style. It is the purpose of this study to define British pastoral style and examine its relation to the British musical renaissance. The method employed for defining style will be that of Jan LaRue's as described in his Guidelines for Style Analysis. What is British pastoral style? Judging from the literature, British pastoral style is a type of British music written between 1900 and 1950 which evokes pastoral images, especially those associated with the British landscape. A stylistic analysis of selected works will define British pastoral style through enumeration and discussion of the style's musical constituents. A more refined definition of British pastoral style is achieved by an in-depth analysis of E. J. Moeran's Fantasy Quartet, which represents a large portion of British pastoral music, that is, works featuring the oboe. Finally, an examination of British pastoral style's relation to the British musical renaissance will reveal reasons for this particular manifestation of British musical style.