Like Haydn before him, Beethoven was fascinated with English culture and the music of the British Isles. The Scot George Thomson, a collector of traditional music and a music publisher, commissioned Beethoven to arrange some of his country’s folksongs for voice and instrumental trio. In 1809, Beethoven began sending him some 150 of these and Thomson was thoroughly enchanted: “Original and beautiful are these arrangements by this inimitable genius!”