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Percy Grainger

Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 1882 – 20 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. Although much of his work was experimental and unusual, the piece with which he is most generally associated is his piano arrangement of the folk-dance tune "Country Gardens".

Grainger left Australia at the age of 13 to attend the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt. Between 1901 and 1914 he was based in London, where he established himself first as a society pianist and later as a concert performer, composer and collector of original folk melodies. As his reputation grew he met many of the significant figures in European music, forming important friendships with Frederick Delius and Edvard Grieg. He became a champion of Nordic music and culture, his enthusiasm for which he often expressed in private letters, sometimes in crudely racial or anti-Semitic terms.

In 1914, Grainger moved to the United States, where he lived for the rest of his life, though he travelled widely in Europe and Australia. He served briefly as a bandsman in the United States Army during the First World War through 1917–18, and took American citizenship in 1918. After his mother's suicide in 1922, he became increasingly involved in educational work. He also experimented with music machines, which he hoped would supersede human interpretation. In the 1930s he set up the Grainger Museum in Melbourne, his birthplace, as a monument to his life and works, and as a future research archive. As he grew older, he continued to give concerts and to revise and rearrange his own compositions, while writing little new music. After the Second World War, ill health reduced his levels of activity. He considered his career a failure. He gave his last concert in 1960, less than a year before his death.

Birth and Death Data: Born July 8, 1882 (Melbourne), Died February 20, 1961 (White Plains)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1914 - 1945

Roles Represented in DAHR: piano, composer, arranger, conductor, guitar, harmonium

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 26-50 of 160 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Columbia 79716 10-in. 2/5/1921 The gum-suckers march Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano, composer  
Columbia 80487 10-in. 8/2/1922 Cradle song Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 80488 10-in. 8/2/1922 Spoon River Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano, arranger  
Columbia 80489 10-in. 8/2/1922 Eastern intermezzo Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano, composer  
Columbia 80490 10-in. 8/2/1922 Etude in A flat Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 81298 10-in. 10/27/1923 To a water-lily Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 81299 10-in. 10/27/1923 Gavotte Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 81323 10-in. 10/31/1923 Golliwogg's cake walk Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 81324 10-in. 10/31/1923 Rustle of spring Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 81582 10-in. 2/23/1924 Scherzo, op. 31, no. 2 Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 81583 10-in. 2/23/1924 Scherzo, op. 31, no. 2 Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 81587 10-in. 2/27/1924 Why? Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 81588 10-in. 2/27/1924 Water music : Hornpipe Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano, arranger  
Columbia 49243 12-in. 8/29/1917 Second Hungarian rhapsody Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 49248 12-in. 9/19/1917 Second Hungarian rhapsody Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 49249 12-in. 9/19/1917 Norwegian bridal procession Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 49281 12-in. 12/3/1917 Valse in A flat Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 49295 12-in. 1/2/1918 Paraphrase on Tchaikowsky's flower waltz Percy Grainger Piano solo composer, instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 49296 12-in. 1/2/1918 Polonaise in A flat major Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 49441 12-in. 6/7/1918 Prelude in A-flat Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 49442 12-in. 6/7/1918 Country gardens Percy Grainger Piano solo composer, instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 49561 12-in. 12/17/1918 Hungarian fantasy Percy Grainger Piano and orchestra instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 49562 12-in. 12/17/1918 Hungarian fantasy Percy Grainger Piano and orchestra instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 49638 12-in. 6/16/1919 Toccata in C-sharp minor Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
Columbia 49639 12-in. 6/17/1919 Polish dance in E flat minor Percy Grainger Piano solo instrumentalist, piano  
(Results 26-50 of 160 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Grainger, Percy," accessed April 24, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102572.

Grainger, Percy. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 24, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102572.

"Grainger, Percy." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 24 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102572

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