Percy Grainger
Percy Grainger was known during his lifetime as a virtuoso pianist and arranger of popular English folk song. His primary contribution to music, however, lies in his prolific output as a composer of expert and highly original works. Grainger's early years were spent in Melbourne where he studied first with his mother, and later with Louis Pabst. From 1895-1899 he attended the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, Germany, and then settled in London in 1901. The next 10 years or so were devoted to a combination of concert touring and folk song collection. Grainger's early reputation was as a brilliant and eccentric pianist, and it was this talent that not only provided his income for the rest of his life, but also brought him into contact with other composers. Grieg and Delius, in particular, had great influence on Grainger's development of a sympathy and sensitivity toward unique national and folk styles. In 1914, Grainger moved to New York, beginning a long career as a composer, arranger, collector of folk music, and educator; he became an American citizen in 1918. In 1925 and 1927 he collected and published over 200 Danish folk songs, and returned to Australia in 1924, 1926, and from 1934-1935 in order to establish a Grainger Museum at the University of Melbourne devoted to ethnomusicological research. His final years were spent completing and arranging his earlier works and trying to develop a workable form of his "free music" using primarily theremins, one of the earliest electronic instruments. The project remained incomplete, and Grainger died embittered and in relative obscurity, known only for a handful of light works that he referred to derogatorily as his "fripperies."
Early in his life, Grainger rejected the central European tradition of Western classical music, seeking instead a "democratic" music that was more closely related to natural sounds, speech, and world music. In his quest to assimilate as much unique musical culture as possible, Grainger became one of the first ethnomusicologists to use the wax cylinder phonograph in the collection and transcription of indigenous music. His arrangements of many of these are among the best ever done, capturing not only the melodies and harmonies, but also the timbres, inflections, and performance styles of each individual piece. In his own compositions, Grainger experimented with nontraditional rhythms, forms, and instrumental combinations in an attempt to create what he called "free music." He also created a large body of more traditional works and arrangements intended for more popular consumption, motivated, no doubt, by his experience with the Edwardian music hall and later with the U.S. Army Band .
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Discography
17 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Grieg Piano Concerto (Duo-Art Music Rolls from 1921 with Modern Orchestra)
Classical - Released by 2L on 1 Aug 2009
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Percy Grainger: Folk Songs
Claire Booth, Christopher Glynn
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Avie Records on 7 Apr 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Percy Grainger: Complete Music for Four Hands, Two Pianos
Pénélope Thwaites, John Lavender, Timothy Young
Classical - Released by Heritage Records on 26 Jan 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grainger: The Complete 78-RPM Solo Recordings (Recorded 1908-1945)
Percy Grainger, Columbia Concert Band, Unknown Artist
Classical - Released by APR on 1 Feb 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Country Music
Classical - Released by Heritage Records on 22 Apr 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Art of Agony
Viney-Grinberg Duo, Percy Grainger, Matthew Hindson, Wayne Howell
Chamber Music - Released by Naxos on 4 Dec 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Percy Grainger Plays Grainger
Classical - Released by Everest Records on 3 Jan 1966
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor / Grainger: Molly On the Shore / in A Nutshell / Schumann, R.: 3 Romanzen / Etudes Symphoniques (Grainger) (1928-46)
Percy Grainger, Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, Léopold Stokowski
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 1 Jan 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dancing on Ivory: Romantic Transcriptions for Piano
Classical - Released by MSR Classics on 8 Nov 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Masters of the Roll
Pop - Released by Planet Blue Records USA on 6 Aug 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Percy Grainger Performs Original Piano Works
Classical - Released by Torill Music on 30 Aug 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Percy Grainger Plays Grainger
Percy Grainger, Lotta Mills Hough
Classical - Released by Nimbus Records on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Sonata Nos. 1 & 2, Études Symphoniques & Tocatta
Classical - Released by Nimbus Records on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann & Brahms: Piano Works
Classical - Released by Biddulph Recordings on 30 May 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach-Liszt: Piano Transcriptions - Chopin: Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3
Classical - Released by Biddulph Recordings on 10 Oct 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Condon Collection, Vol. 25: Original Piano Roll Recordings
Classical - Released by CONDON COLLECTION DIGITAL on 3 Nov 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Orchestral Music - Grainger, P. / Chopin, F. / Sibelius, J. / Schubert, F. / Mozart, W.A. (Stokowski) (1949-1950)
Leopold Stokowski Symphony Orchestra, Percy Grainger, Léopold Stokowski
Classical - Released by Naxos Classical Archives on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo