Born on 8
July 1882 in Brighton, Victoria,
Australia. Studied music in
Frankfurt around 1900, established himself as a
piano virtuoso in
England, although in later life
confessed that he hated the piano as an
instrument, regretted writing music for it, and that the
public performances he gave terrified him. When he first started composing, he
vowed to withhold his work from the public for fear his new, innovative music would be met with
hostility. This was partly true as in his
early career in
piano composition he became known as a '
composer of
keyboard trifles'. Grainger looked up to the
French composers Ravel and
Debussy and gave many of the first public performances of their work. He was also friends with and looked up to
Faure, whose work
Nell Grainger
transcribed in 1925. Moved to the U.S. 1914 and became an A
merican citizen, although he also described himself as an
Austrailian. He was in the
U.S. Army Bands for a brief period in which he wrote
County Gardens. He taught in
Chicago and
New York and established the
ethnomusicological center at the
University of Melbourne. On 20th February 1961, he died in
New York, and is now buried in the family grave at Adelaide, South Australia. He is known for his tuneful
short works for
orchestra,
piano, and
concert band.
Of his own work, Grainger has said:
'One reason why things of mine like Molly and Shepherd's Hey are as good is because there is so little gaiety and fun to them. Where other composers would have been jolly in setting such dances tunes I have been sad or furious. My dance settings are energetic rather than gay.'
And on his use of
harmony:
'My efforts even in those young days, were to wrench the listener's heart with my chords. It is a subtle matter, and is not achieved by mere discordance. . . It is the contrast between the sweet and the harsh. . . that is heart-rending. . . And the worth of my music will never be guessed, or its value to mankind felt, until the approach to my music is consciously undertaken as a pilgrimage to sorrows.'
- Grainger's Works
(there are more than 100, so this is just a sampling)
- Country Gardens
Irish Tune from County Derry
Molly on the Shore
Knight
Shepherd's Daughter
Shepherd's Hey
To a Nordic Princess
Walking Tune
Sailor's Song
Eastern Intermezzo
Mock Morris
Lincolnshire Posy
Children March: Over the Hills and Far Away
Spoon River
Handel in the Strand
Early One Morning
Green Bushes
Ye Banks and Braes
Tribute to Foster
Shenandoah
English Folk Songs
On a personal note, I love Grainger about as much as I love my own
father.
Irish Tune never fails to move me to tears, as for four years in
high school we played it at our
final concert. When I was
drum major, the
ballad in the show was
Shenandoah. Grainger was an amazingly talented man.
http://www.webcom.com/cyteen/links/grainger.html
http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/grainger/percy/index.html