21-11-2011 - Percy Grainger

[french frank]

1/5. Grainger's upbringing in Melbourne and study in Frankfurt.
2/5. He establishes himself as a pianist.
3/5. His adoption of US citizenship and his marriage.
4/5. His founding of a museum of himself
5/5. His Jungle Book Cycle and his 'greatest hits'.

[Anna]

I find Percy Grainger, the man, quite fascinating in his early years, with the kangaroo pouch machine and innovative compositional techniques long before Ives and Cage used them. However, his easy-listening stuff like Country Gardens and Molly on the Shore leave me absolutely cold because of their twee whimsyness as does his chocolate box folklorique (I do realise on the MB he has devoted fans!) I do hope the programme on his early years focuses on his innovation and early electronic music, his psychological makeup and obsessions. He was also an amazing looking person.

[Caliban]

I find Percy Grainger, the man, quite fascinating in his early years, with the kangaroo pouch machine and innovative compositional techniques long before Ives and Cage used them. However, his easy-listening stuff like Country Gardens and Molly on the Shore leave me absolutely cold because of their twee whimsyness as does his chocolate box folklorique (I do realise on the MB he has devoted fans!) I do hope the programme on his early years focuses on his innovation and early electronic music, his psychological makeup and obsessions. He was also an amazing looking person.

I have huge amounts of time for PG too, Anna. I love a lot of his stuff. And if well-performed, his 'easy listening' music can be exhilarating I think! I love the way he chucks an occasional (or sometimes not so occasional) harmonic cluster or hair-raising dissonance into the middle of quite open, diatonic music. I recently invested in the first volume of the PG series conducted by Richard Hickox on Chandos - the Colonial Song was on repeat play for a while - sentimental, twee... maybe, but then as it goes on, pangs of feeling are conveyed by dissonance, and at one point there's a great chromatic glissando upwards for lots of instruments inc. orchestral piano...

And I never understand why one of my favourite pieces by him is not better known (I learnt what it was thanks to an old R3 message boarder who brilliantly identified it, after a plea by me and about 10 years of trying to find out what the music used at the end of a BBC drama series was). It's PG's arrangement of John Dowland's song "Now, oh now, I needs must part"... I can play most of it but the bit where the wonderful melody really goes through the harmonic hall of distorting mirrors defeats me!!

Here is a rather good performance of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-dhxIr7oqc



PS: FF, how can one tell whether COTW is a repeat or not? I've looked before where I know for a fact it IS a repeat, and have found no sign of it on the website. Is this PG series a repeat?

[french frank]

PS: FF, how can one tell whether COTW is a repeat or not? I've looked before where I know for a fact it IS a repeat, and have found no sign of it on the website. Is this PG series a repeat?

Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the section Broadcasts. It will give the date of any previous airings. In this case there are none, so unless they're lying ...

[amateur51]

Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the section Broadcasts. It will give the date of any previous airings. In this case there are none, so unless they're lying ...

Oh come on, french frank - lying or incompetent, please!

It has been known ...

[rauschwerk]

R3 has so far this year given a one-sided view of Grainger, concentrating on a few of his folksong settings. This series looks like being a useful corrective.

[amateur51]

Well, if it is a repeat, that's a shame they do not say. If so, heard it. Does not delve into the psyche of the man and his amazing eyes

I think you may need to subscribe to a non-terrestrial channel broadcasting out of Amsterdam for that sort of content, Anna

[french frank]

For the record, I don't think there's any reason to think it's a repeat ...

[Anna]

I think you may need to subscribe to a non-terrestrial channel broadcasting out of Amsterdam for that sort of content, Anna

Oh Blimey! His whips? No, I am back to being the the LCD and orff to watch Strictly Oh, it's GHARSTLEY, Darhling!

[EdgeleyRob]

I do like some of Graingers music but have very little in my collection so I will catch up with these on listen again.

his 'greatest hits'.

Sounds like Classic FM !