Percy Aldridge Grainger - British Folk-Music Settings No. 22 "Country Gardens" (1918)
Both photos taken by Serene at the Grainger Museum. RH: Grainger’s draft speech for introducing his performance of Country Gardens, c. 1937
Lionised as a pianist and feted as a composer, Grainger had written about ninety solo piano music. Among these works, one-third of them, including Country Gardens, are based on music composed by others. The Morris Dance tune that this piano setting is based on was provided by Cecil Sharp in 1908. Upon receiving it, Grainger roughly sketched it for two whistlers and a few instruments for accompaniment. It had not been worked out for piano until ten years later… [345 more words]
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