Born: July 8, 1882l Brighton, Melbourne, Australia
Died: February 21, 1961; White Plains, NY
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 inRead more 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. Read less
Label: Naxos
Catalog: 8573680
Release Date: 04/13/2018
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Percy Aldridge Grainger,
Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach,
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Josquin Des Préz
...
Performer:
Joachim Carr,
Hans Knut Sveen
Conductor:
Bjarte Engeset
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Norwegian Navy Band
Label: Signum Classics
Catalog: 490
Release Date: 10/06/2017
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Charles Villiers Stanford,
Sir Edward Elgar,
Ralph Vaughan Williams,
Herbert Howells
...
Conductor:
Paul McCreesh
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Gabrieli Consort
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Label: Msr
Catalog: 1606
Release Date: 09/18/2017
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
John Rutter,
Traditional,
John Byrt,
Sir David Willcocks
...
Performer:
Michael [Bass Vocal] Popplewell,
Karen [Soprano Vocal] Lukose,
David Hartley,
David [Tenor Vocal] Hunt
...
Conductor:
Jeffrey Hunt
Label: Hungaroton
Catalog: 32803
Release Date: 06/02/2017
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Zoltán Kodály,
Franz Liszt,
Sergei Rachmaninov,
Frédéric Chopin
...
Performer:
Zoltán Kocsis,
Miklós Perényi,
János Bálint,
Péter Csaba
...
Conductor:
János Rolla,
Zoltán Kocsis
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra,
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra,
Tomkins Vocal Ensemble Budapest
Label: Grand Piano
Catalog: 75355
Release Date: 03/10/2017
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Christian Gottlob Neefe,
Daniel Gottlob Turk,
Leopold Anton Kozeluch,
Johann Baptist Vanhal
...
Performer:
Susan Kagan,
Michael Tsalka,
Kemp English,
Biliana Tzinlikova
...
Conductor:
Kerry Stratton
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra,
Invencia Piano Duo
Label: Mark Records
Catalog: 52394
Release Date: 11/18/2016
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Leroy Anderson,
Engelbert Humperdinck,
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
...
Performer:
Scott Wilson,
Elizabeth Druesedow,
Jonathan Haas,
Aaron Janosa
...
Conductor:
Mitchell Estrin,
John Watkins Jr.,
David Waybright
Orchestra/Ensemble:
University of Florida Clarinet Ensemble
Label: Mode
Catalog: 293
Release Date: 08/05/2016
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Percy Aldridge Grainger,
Henry Cowell
Performer:
Fabian Muller,
Christoph Enzel,
Frank Ziegert [aka Frank Z],
Ruth Velten
...
Conductor:
Charles Peltz
Orchestra/Ensemble:
The Percy Saxophone Ensemble,
Intersax,
New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 552758
Release Date: 10/09/2015
Number of Discs: 52
Composer:
Leos Janácek,
Benjamin Britten,
Kurt Weill,
Ralph Vaughan Williams
...
Performer:
Felicity Palmer,
Ameral Gunson,
John Mitchinson,
Malcolm King
...
Conductor:
Simon Rattle
Orchestra/Ensemble:
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,
City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus,
Christ Church Cathedral Choir Men and Boys
...
Label: Nimbus
Catalog: 1718
Release Date: 06/09/2015
Number of Discs: 4
Composer:
Carl Czerny,
Felix Mendelssohn,
Johannes Brahms,
Anatole Liadov
...
Performer:
Martin Jones,
Richard McMahon,
Adrian Farmer
Conductor:
William Boughton
Label: Mark Masters
Catalog: 51320
Release Date: 02/10/2015
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Scott Lindroth,
Chen Yi,
Percy Aldridge Grainger,
Timothy Kramer
...
Performer:
Ethan Cypress,
Ryan Sparkes,
Andrew Lammly,
Mark Carr
Conductor:
Brian K. Doyle
Orchestra/Ensemble:
The Crane Wind Ensemble
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Catalog: 002179902
Release Date: 12/09/2014
Number of Discs: 5
Composer:
Leroy Anderson,
Leopold Mozart,
Johnny Marks,
John Frederic Coots
...
Performer:
Helen Donath,
Anna Reynolds,
Christa Ludwig,
Maria Teresa Garatti
...
Conductor:
Arthur Fiedler,
Karl Richter,
Stephen Cleobury,
Sir David Willcocks
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Boston Pops,
London Philharmonic Orchestra,
John Alldis Choir
...
Label: Fanfare Cincinnati
Catalog: FC-004
Release Date: 11/11/2014
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Camille Saint-Saëns,
Recorded Sound,
Percy Aldridge Grainger,
Leonard Bernstein
...
Performer:
Ilya Finkelshteyn,
Randy Bowman,
Jonathan Gunn
Conductor:
John Morris Russell
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Cincinnati Pops