Percy Aldridge Grainger

20th Century Composer

Percy Grainger

Music need not be a pedantic adherence to

pointless rules and traditions. Tunes should be entertaining and accessible  Example: “English Country Gardens”

Background of a weird man

Born George Percy Grainger on 8 July 1882,

near Melbourne, Australia to mother Rose Annie Aldridge (hotelier from Adelaide) and father John Harry Grainger (British architect)

Abandoned by alcoholic father Home-schooled by his mother  Extremely harsh environment

Hailed as a genius at a very young

age. Went at age 11 to study music in Frankfurt, Germany. First public tour at age 12, began composing at age 17 Fluent in up to eleven(!) languages  English  Russian  German  Icelandic  Norwegian

Met poet and artist

Ella Ström in 1926 while touring Sweden. Married in 1928 at the Hollywood Bowl before a crowd of 20,000. Grainger could never marry before his mother’s death.

Obsessive, highly

maternalistic relationship with mother Rose Adopted her maiden name Mother commits suicide 30 April 1922 amid rumors of an incestuous relationship with Percy  By far the most influential

event in Grainger’s life

 Lived in London from 1901-1914  Joined US Army in 1914  Became a naturalized US citizen in 1918  Dean of Music at NYU from 1932-1940  Moved in Springfield, Missouri in 1940  Abdominal cancer was cured in 1953, but

later metastasized to prostate cancer  Died from cancer in White Plains, New York 20 February 1961.

What makes Grainger so unusual?

Envelope Containing Private Material This envelope contained photographs and writings exploring sexuality, including the photo on the previous slide.

“True Thrills” Pulp Fiction Lust Magazine Volume 1, Issue 3, Country Press (USA) 1942

“True Thrills” Pulp Fiction Lust Magazine Volume 1, Issue 4, Country Press (USA) 1942

Sadomasochism  owned a huge collection of flagellation whips  enjoyed watching himself self-injure

Racially and ethnically prejudiced  Avoided words of Latin and Greek etymology “Blue-Eyed English” or “Anglish”  Accepted Aryan Anglo-Saxons as the superior

race



Ritardando  slow down Mezzoforte  medium loud

 

Crescendo  get louder



Allegro  fast and lively

 Poco a poco accelerando  speed up bit by bit  

A Piano  a keyed hammer-string A harpsichord  a keyed hook-string

“Meat-Shunner” (vegetarian)  Diet consisted of rice, oranges, cereals, lots of

dairy  Almost exclusively drank varieties of milk

Fashioned his own clothing  Often dug through other

peoples’ trash to find discarded towels to make his clothes  Wore homemade togas, muumuus, jackets, leggings, and grass-beaded skirts.

Highly energetic person  Liked to perform while out-of-breath, very

fatigued  Would jog and walk between cities while on tour  Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5d53hnXvmA

Absolutely obsessed with

his legacy  He and his mother

collected all kinds personal items  Invested huge portions of his earnings into a museum about himself that opened in 1938.  Paradoxically grew to detest his own work.

What distinguishes Grainger?

Pioneered much of modern music

techniques and styles:  Reduced emphasis on strings  Employed the saxophone And the oboe, English Horn, and bassoon  Dissonance  Unplayable music for piano  Progressive rhythms  Free-time (no time-signature)  Chance or aleatoric music

Greater emphasis on horns such as baritone

and trombone, and on saxophone and double-reed horns Layered complexity—multiple lines of melody that “interact” with each other Tidbits of sudden variance within the music that keeps the listener from falling into a lull Complex rhythms Oftentimes uses unusual and creative ending cadences Catchy tunes that are fun to play and hear  Example: “1. Lisbon (Dublin Bay)”

Adaptations provide fantastic

examples vis-à-vis other composers. Easy for the average listener to discern:  JS Bach’s “Sheep May Safely

Graze” adapted into “Blithe Bells”  R. Vaughan Williams’ “English

Folk Song Suite, 2nd Movement” versus Grainger’s “Passacaglia on English Folk Song”

Adapted many traditional folk songs from

Scandinavia and the British Isles.  “Lincolnshire Posy” 1. Lisbon (or Dublin Bay) 2. Horkstow Grange (A Miser and His Man: A Local Tragedy) 3. Rufford Park Poachers (Poaching Song) 4.The Brisk Young Sailor (Who Returned to Wed His True Love) 5. Lord Melbourne (War Song) 6. The Lost Lady Found (Dance Song)  “Molly on the Shore”  “Shepherd’s Hey!”

Coined a concept of “free music”  Abandon discrete scales and rhythms  Machines will play the music Theremin

Will Liam Neeson one day play Percy Grainger

in a film? Only time will tell.

Will Liam Neeson one day play Percy Grainger

in a film? Only time will tell.

Will Liam Neeson one day play Percy Grainger

in a film? Only time will tell.