Percy Grainger Research Paper
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1
Percy Grainger was a prolific composer and pianist in the 20th century. He is especially well known for his masterful compositions and pioneering for the literature of the wind band. Grainger’s works have taken on a variety of compositional approaches across a wide range of genres. His scorings, particularly for wind band, have been described as having “a rich sonority and color which compares favorably with any celebrated example of brilliant orchestration.”1 A majority of his works, specifically his wind band works, are characterized by their inclusion of folk song melodies as source material. Within his catalog of wind band compositions, Lincolnshire Posy stands out as a masterwork in the genre. While Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy …show more content…
included folk song sources as in his other compositions, it is his unique treatment of the folk song material that distinguishes this work from his other works and those of other composers. George Percy Aldridge Grainger was born in Brighton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on July 8, 1882. His musical life began at the age of five when he began to take piano lessons with his mother, Rose. By the age of ten, Percy was advancing to the point that he had outgrown instruction from his mother. As Grainger’s life and musical career progressed, his studies brought him through Germany and Scotland before he arrived in England in 1901. Throughout this earlier period in his life, Grainger developed his folk song influence through the individuals with whom he studied. Karl Klimsche, one of Graingers teachers in Frankfurt, “revealed to Percy for the first time the beauties of English and Scottish folk-song.”2 Furthermore, Grainger once mentioned that Klimsch’s compositional theory was this: “If you have no theme or melody in your head, don’t compose at all. If you have a theme or melody, start off with it right away and the moment
1
! 197.
2!
Richard Franko Goldman, The Concert Band (New York, Toronto: Rinehart & Company, 1946), John Bird, Percy Grainger (London: Elek Books Limited, 1976), 33.
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2
your melodic inspiration runs out stop your piece.”3 In 1915, Grainger and his mother moved to New York City.
When America entered World War I, Percy enlisted as a bandsman and purchased a soprano saxophone.4 This experience likely served as the influence for Grainger’s propensity for wind band composition. The folk song influence on his compositions provides a characteristic quality that is unique to Grainger himself. What is also unique to Grainger was his method of folk song collection. Equipped with his backpack and an Edison-Bell Phonograph, Grainger roamed the English countryside sampling folk songs directly from the people. Grainger found this to be the most favorable method of collecting. An article by Grainger in the Journal of the Folk-Song Society in 1908 outlines the benefits and process of collecting folk song samples with the phonograph. Grainger himself wrote: “I took records of over seventy songs and versions of songs in two days in Lincolnshire, and that without undue haste. But the quality of collecting opened up by the phonograph, is, perhaps, of even greater value than the quantity.” 5 The collection of folk songs is central to Grainger’s compositional method, and these songs are the melodic source of many of his greatest compositions. Until Lincolnshire Posy, Grainger’s folk song use was strictly for the melodic material. His Irish Tune from County Derry, which was set for military band in 1909, has internal lines that “reveal instinctively crafted counterpoint, colorful chromatic movement, and Grainger’s characteristic harmonic suspensions.”6 These qualities are also true of many other Grainger wind band works including Shepherd’s Hey
and
3 4
!
John Bird, Percy Grainger (London: Elek Books Limited, 1976), 33.
! Willis M. Rapp, "Percy Aldridge Grainger," in The Wind Band Masterworks of Holst, Vaughan Williams, and Grainger (Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications, 2005), 59.
5
! Percy Grainger, "Collecting with the Phonograph," Journal of the Folk-Song Society, 3rd ser., 3, no. 12 (May 1908): 150.
6
! Mark Aldrich, A Catalog of Folk Song Settings for Wind Band (Galesville, MD: Meridith Music Publications, 2004), 122.
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3
Molly on the Shore. Lincolnshire Posy is yet another example of these characteristics. However, there are unique features of rhythm, style and textual symbolism within the folk song setting of this Grainger work that give Lincolnshire Posy its reputation as a wind band masterwork. Between 1905-1906, Percy Grainger collected a large number of folk songs in North Lincolnshire, England. Some years later, in 1937, “the American Bandmaster Association commissioned Percy Grainger to compose two new works for their 1937 conference.”7 One of these two works turned out to be Lincolnshire Posy. The name of this work is derived from the place in which the folk songs were collected (North Lincolnshire, England) and a term for a collection of wildflowers (posy). The work is comprised of six movements that use seven folk songs as the melodic source material. Grainger “regarded each movement as a ‘portrait’ of the singer who had first sung it to him, back in rural Lincolnshire in 1905.”8 This ‘portrait-like’ regard is portrayed in how Grainger once wrote how “Folksong, by and large, is ‘narrative song’... repetition never occurs in the folksinger’s performance, but rather, a kaleidoscopic flow of greater or slighter variety.”9 Frederick Fennell praised “the beauty, the challenge, the pathos the excitement and the thrill of high originality that is the music in Lincolnshire Posy.”10 The work was premiered on March 7, 1937, before a Milwaukee audience of over 7,000. The original premier programmed only five of the six movements, and the band only performed three of the five movements that were programmed. Two months later, the piece was premiered in its entirety
7
! Frank Battisti, The Twentieth Century American Wind Band Ensemble: History, Development and Literature (Fort Lauderdale: Meredith Music Publications, 1995), 67.
8 9
!
Wilfrid Mellers, Percy Grainger. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), 106.
! Robert Joseph. Garofalo, ed., Folk Songs and Dances in Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger, vol. 4 (Silver Spring: Whirlwind Music Publicatins, 2008), 38.
10!
Frederick Fennell, Foreword to the Full Score Edition (included as an introduction to Frederick Fennell’s edition of the full score of Lincolnshire Posy).
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4
in Town Hall, New York. As the work was continuously performed in the following months, it was met with great reviews. The harmonic characteristics of Grainger’s previous works are evident in Lincolnshire Posy, but the “most innovative element... is without doubt rhythm.”11 The reason for the rhythmic complexity is because Grainger notated the folk songs in the manner in which they were sung to him. The disregard for the bar line is combined with textual symbolism within each movement that pays tribute to the individual stories of the folk songs themselves. This unique form of setting the folk songs gives Lincolnshire Posy its ‘masterwork’ qualities.
I. Lisbon/Dublin Bay (Sailor’s Song)
The first movement of Lincolnshire Posy is currently called ‘Lisbon’, but it was referred to as ‘Dublin Bay’ in the premiere performance and the original condensed score. 12 The folk songs utilized throughout this movement are “Dublin Bay” and “The Duke of Marlborough.” The original program notes from the premiere include notes of a unique story of the folk song’s collection from Mr. Deane of Hibbaldstowe. The text of the folk song provides a typical seafaring song where “a sailor must go out to sea and his sweetheart wants to go with him.”13 This story of love and the sea is portrayed through the musical ideas in the first movement. The melodic material, like many of the other movements, is presented as a reflection of the verses of the folk song text. There are only four verses of the original five, and this is due to Mr. Deane’s lapse of memory in recalling the text of the fourth verse. Because Grainger’s setting portrayed the text, the musical section that would have represented the fourth verse is nonexistent. “The
11
! Robert Joseph. Garofalo, ed., Folk Songs and Dances in Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger, vol. 4 (Silver Spring: Whirlwind Music Publicatins, 2008), 28.
12 13!
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Percy Grainger, Lincolnshire Posy for Military Band, (Mainz: Schott Music, 1940). Garofalo, 42.
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Duke of Marlborough” is quoted as counter-melodic material in fanfare-like statement. The fanfare statement occurs in a duple meter while the surrounding music is in the triplet 6/8 time. The following musical example illustrates this quotation.
Example 1. Lisbon/Dublin Bay
This quotation perhaps represents the call of the sea and a disruption of female tranquility mentioned in the text. 14 Another example lies in the final eight measures where the phrase “I dare
14
! Michael Haithcock, Textual Symbolism in Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy: A Guide to Score Study. (Handout from a clinic at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Conference).
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6
not answer no” is repeated and augmented as the sailor takes leave of his love and returns to his ship. Musical ideas that reflect the text continue throughout the work, and in some cases they occur more literally and more complexly than others.
Horkstow Grange (The Miser and his Man: A local tragedy)
“Horkstow Grange” also known as “John Bowlin” was collected by Grainger through the voice of Mr. George Gouldthorpe in 1905.15 This song tells the story of a foreman, John Bowlin, and a waggoner beneath him, John Steeleye Span. The story recalls one market day when John Bowlin was being physically abusive to ‘Steeleye’. The emotion of the song is saddening, and the refrain opens with the line “Pity them what see him suffer, Pity poor old Steeleye Span.” Grainger employs harmonic and dynamic emphasis to build tension in key lines of the text. This tension builds leading to measure 34 where the text states “John Bowlin’s deeds.” Throughout the movement there is unstable accompanimental material that seemingly emphasizes the confrontation and the growing emotion of bystanders in the market that are witnessing the abuse. Rhythmically, Grainger uses a dotted rhythm in measure 16, when it coincides with the word “th’floor.” This is representative of Grainger accurately portraying the manner in which the folk songs were originally sung into the phonograph. This style of setting the folk songs in Lincolnshire Posy continues in greater detail throughout the remainder of the work.
Rufford Park Poachers (Poaching Song)
“Rufford Park Poachers” was originally collected in 1906 from Mr. Joseph Taylor of whom Grainger spoke, saying that he “knew more folksongs than any of my other folksingers,
15
! Robert Joseph. Garofalo, ed., Folk Songs and Dances in Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger, vol. 4 (Silver Spring: Whirlwind Music Publicatins, 2008), 44.
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and sang his songs with ‘purer’ folksong tradition.”16 The story of the folk song involves a group of poachers who get into a fight with a group of game keepers in Rufford Park. Mr. Joseph Taylor could only recall and sing three stanzas of what he mentioned was a much longer folk song of at least eight stanzas. This movement provides a true example of Grainger notating the setting precisely as he heard it. The music example below demonstrates the extreme detail that Grainger utilized in transcribing from the phonograph recordings. The image represents the original notation used by Grainger while converting “Rufford Park Poachers.”
Example 2. Rufford Park Poachers
The specific dynamic markings, mixed meters, and complex rhythms emulate the nuances of the folksinger’s performance. The example also includes “slides” written in that are directly characteristic of the vocal recording. This style of setting the folk song has caused this movement to be possibly the most difficult. It was because of the complex rhythms and meters utilized in
16
! Robert Joseph. Garofalo, ed., Folk Songs and Dances in Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger, vol. 4 (Silver Spring: Whirlwind Music Publicatins, 2008), pg. 45.
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this movement that it was originally removed from the Milwaukee Premiere Concert.17 In addition to the literal notation of the folk singer’s performance, Grainger continues to emulate the story through the musical ideas. The opening of the movement includes a quartet playing in a canon, reflecting the ongoing conflict between the poacher and the keepers. The music build harmonically and dynamically to measure 50 where the “fight” occurs at the dynamic climax of the movement. Following this moment, the dynamic recedes as it emulates the retreat of the poachers. The quartet idea concludes the piece, representing the unresolved conflict between the two groups. The variety of complex musical ideas causes this movement to be one of the most recognizable and widely analyzed from Lincolnshire Posy.
The Brisk Young Sailor (who returned to wed his True Love)
“The brisk young Sailor” was collected by Grainger from a Mrs. Thompson in Barton-onHumber, Lincolnshire.18 The story of the folk song tells of a fair maiden in her garden who is approached by a “brisk young sailor.” He asks to marry her, and she tells him of her true love who has been gone from her for seven years. She continues to tell the sailor that she will wait for seven more if she must. The sailor then shows her a token, proving that he is her true love. He then exclaims that he has returned to marry her. Musical ideas illustrate the story from a beginning bass line that represents footsteps in the garden. A euphonium solo represents the sailor’s voice while a virtuosic woodwind passage emulates the fluttering of the woman’s eyebrows. In measures 34-40, a buoyant tutti section reflects the sailor’s delight in his lady
17
! Harry Begian, Grainger’s Approach to Conducting and Rehearsing “Rufford Park Poachers” and “Lord Melbourne” (Handout for a clinic at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Conference).
18
! Robert Joseph. Garofalo, ed., Folk Songs and Dances in Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger, vol. 4 (Silver Spring: Whirlwind Music Publicatins, 2008), 46.
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passing his test of loyalty. The closing of the movement contains a repeated section of masculine and feminine-sounding ideas representing kisses between the two lovers. 19 In conclusion, Grainger employs an unusual amen that perhaps purposefully leaves the idea that the movement has ended, but the work is not yet through.
Lord Melbourne (War Song)
“Lord Melbourne” was collected via phonograph from a Mr. George Wray at Brigg, Lincolnshire in 1906. Mr. Wray was a local drunkard and he was locally regarded as the best singer of this particular song. This war song is in fact a variant of the previously used tune,“The Duke of Marlborough.”20 Additionally, the story gives a rendition of the true life story of “John Churchill, an Englishman who became on of the greatest military commanders in history.”21 The folk song essentially outlines the military career of the general as told from his deathbed. This specific movement employs elements that are similar to “Rufford Park Poachers,” including rhythmic variations and persistent changes of meter. The distinctive musical device that is employed in this movement is the use of ‘free time’ in four separate instances. An example of this ‘free time’ is represented in the following musical example.22
19
! Michael Haithcock, “Textual Symbolism in Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy: A Guide to Score Study.” (Handout from a clinic at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Conference).
20
! Willis M. Rapp, "Percy Aldridge Grainger," in The Wind Band Masterworks of Holst, Vaughan Williams, and Grainger (Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications, 2005), 69.
21
! Robert Joseph. Garofalo, ed., Folk Songs and Dances in Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger, vol. 4 (Silver Spring: Whirlwind Music Publicatins, 2008), 47.
22
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Percy Grainger, Lincolnshire Posy for Military Band, (Mainz: Schott Music, 1940).
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Example 310. Lord Melbourne
In his forward to the “Lincolnshire Posy,” entitled, “To Bandleaders,” Grainger states that bandleaders need not be afraid of the “free time” section in this movement. He goes on to say that sections in free time be “left to the bandleader’s volition,” permitting the conductor to vary the length of the beats with the “rhythmic elasticity” often practiced by English folksingers.”23 Additionally unique to this musical example is the inclusion of Grainger’s instructions in
23
! Percy Grainger, Lincolnshire Posy for Military Band, ed. Frederick Fennell, (Boca Raton: Ludwig Masters Publications, 2010).
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English. When asked in an interview why he used English instead of Italian, he said “I've taken the view that Schumann took, that music is, after all, a local, nationalistic expression, partly because I can see that music is not practiced as a cosmopolitan art yet. I wish it would be someday. But in the meantime, it seems to me one should write in the language one understands oneself.”24 The opening ‘free time’ section is a reflection of both the emotion of the story and the drunken singing of Mr. George Wray. Simultaneously, the instrumentation used is strictly brass, which mirrors a military band. Furthermore, the ethereal transitions that are utilized are reminiscent of the story progressing from past recollection to the present. The movement ends in strict time with a drawn out restatement of the first line of the folk song.
The Lost Lady Found (Dance Song)
This particular movement is derived from the folk song “The Lost Lady Found.” It was collected by Miss Lucy E. Broadwood as it was sung to her by her nurse, Mrs. Hill. 25 The story of the song describes the kidnapping of a young girl by gypsies. When her uncle alerts the authorities, they accuse him and imprison him. The girl’s lover travels across many countries in search of her and eventually finds her in Dublin. Upon their return home, she saves her uncle from being hanged, and a celebration is had as a result.26 This dance movement employs a number of musical ideas that relate to the text. The movement begins with simple rhythmic and melodic material as it illustrates the problem of the story. Furthermore, chord punctuations in the
24
! James M. Floyd, "An Interview With Percy Grainger, 15 May 1946," Tempo 61, no. 239 (February 7, 2007): pg. 21, doi:10.1017/S0040298207000022.
25
! Robert Joseph. Garofalo, ed., Folk Songs and Dances in Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger, vol. 4 (Silver Spring: Whirlwind Music Publicatins, 2008), 48.
26
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Mark Grauer, "Grainger's Lost Letters on Lincolnshire Posy," The Instrumentalist, August 1992.
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accompaniment emulate the anxiety of the uncle. The opening portion of the story uses an articulated style, and while the lady is “lost” the style contains less articulation. This articulation returns when the lady returns to the story. (being found by her lover) The piece concludes with instructions from Grainger saying to “slow off” the tempo as the last phrase is stated in the text. (“The Lost Lady was Found”) While this movement does not provide an extravagant amount of rhythmic and harmonic variety to illustrate the text, it aptly provides musical ideas that interpret the story.
Conclusion
In the composition of Lincolnshire Posy, it seems that Grainger’s creative intent in this masterwork has two main motives. First, Grainger seeks to preserve the English folk song tradition with his detailed explanation in the original program notes. He gives precise detail as to how he went about collecting each folk song and how these movements should be rehearsed and approached from a musical standpoint. Secondly, the composer brings significance to the stories of the songs and their unique presentation from the folksingers. He uses text-painting and symbolism to bring these elements to life. In this regard, the settings of these songs are unique to Grainger’s previous folk song settings as well as the settings of other composers. The elements of rhythm, meter, dynamics and style that are employed throughout the work give Lincolnshire Posy its complex and challenging reputation. Also, these elements separate this work from any other wind band works that came before it. The masterwork status of Lincolnshire Posy was not merely earned by Grainger’s prior reputation. It is the timeless qualities of the composition that have caused it to become a seminal work in the wind band repertoire.
1
Percy Grainger was a prolific composer and pianist in the 20th century. He is especially well known for his masterful compositions and pioneering for the literature of the wind band. Grainger’s works have taken on a variety of compositional approaches across a wide range of genres. His scorings, particularly for wind band, have been described as having “a rich sonority and color which compares favorably with any celebrated example of brilliant orchestration.”1 A majority of his works, specifically his wind band works, are characterized by their inclusion of folk song melodies as source material. Within his catalog of wind band compositions, Lincolnshire Posy stands out as a masterwork in the genre. While Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy …show more content…
included folk song sources as in his other compositions, it is his unique treatment of the folk song material that distinguishes this work from his other works and those of other composers. George Percy Aldridge Grainger was born in Brighton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on July 8, 1882. His musical life began at the age of five when he began to take piano lessons with his mother, Rose. By the age of ten, Percy was advancing to the point that he had outgrown instruction from his mother. As Grainger’s life and musical career progressed, his studies brought him through Germany and Scotland before he arrived in England in 1901. Throughout this earlier period in his life, Grainger developed his folk song influence through the individuals with whom he studied. Karl Klimsche, one of Graingers teachers in Frankfurt, “revealed to Percy for the first time the beauties of English and Scottish folk-song.”2 Furthermore, Grainger once mentioned that Klimsch’s compositional theory was this: “If you have no theme or melody in your head, don’t compose at all. If you have a theme or melody, start off with it right away and the moment
1
! 197.
2!
Richard Franko Goldman, The Concert Band (New York, Toronto: Rinehart & Company, 1946), John Bird, Percy Grainger (London: Elek Books Limited, 1976), 33.
!
2
your melodic inspiration runs out stop your piece.”3 In 1915, Grainger and his mother moved to New York City.
When America entered World War I, Percy enlisted as a bandsman and purchased a soprano saxophone.4 This experience likely served as the influence for Grainger’s propensity for wind band composition. The folk song influence on his compositions provides a characteristic quality that is unique to Grainger himself. What is also unique to Grainger was his method of folk song collection. Equipped with his backpack and an Edison-Bell Phonograph, Grainger roamed the English countryside sampling folk songs directly from the people. Grainger found this to be the most favorable method of collecting. An article by Grainger in the Journal of the Folk-Song Society in 1908 outlines the benefits and process of collecting folk song samples with the phonograph. Grainger himself wrote: “I took records of over seventy songs and versions of songs in two days in Lincolnshire, and that without undue haste. But the quality of collecting opened up by the phonograph, is, perhaps, of even greater value than the quantity.” 5 The collection of folk songs is central to Grainger’s compositional method, and these songs are the melodic source of many of his greatest compositions. Until Lincolnshire Posy, Grainger’s folk song use was strictly for the melodic material. His Irish Tune from County Derry, which was set for military band in 1909, has internal lines that “reveal instinctively crafted counterpoint, colorful chromatic movement, and Grainger’s characteristic harmonic suspensions.”6 These qualities are also true of many other Grainger wind band works including Shepherd’s Hey
and
3 4
!
John Bird, Percy Grainger (London: Elek Books Limited, 1976), 33.
! Willis M. Rapp, "Percy Aldridge Grainger," in The Wind Band Masterworks of Holst, Vaughan Williams, and Grainger (Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications, 2005), 59.
5
! Percy Grainger, "Collecting with the Phonograph," Journal of the Folk-Song Society, 3rd ser., 3, no. 12 (May 1908): 150.
6
! Mark Aldrich, A Catalog of Folk Song Settings for Wind Band (Galesville, MD: Meridith Music Publications, 2004), 122.
!
3
Molly on the Shore. Lincolnshire Posy is yet another example of these characteristics. However, there are unique features of rhythm, style and textual symbolism within the folk song setting of this Grainger work that give Lincolnshire Posy its reputation as a wind band masterwork. Between 1905-1906, Percy Grainger collected a large number of folk songs in North Lincolnshire, England. Some years later, in 1937, “the American Bandmaster Association commissioned Percy Grainger to compose two new works for their 1937 conference.”7 One of these two works turned out to be Lincolnshire Posy. The name of this work is derived from the place in which the folk songs were collected (North Lincolnshire, England) and a term for a collection of wildflowers (posy). The work is comprised of six movements that use seven folk songs as the melodic source material. Grainger “regarded each movement as a ‘portrait’ of the singer who had first sung it to him, back in rural Lincolnshire in 1905.”8 This ‘portrait-like’ regard is portrayed in how Grainger once wrote how “Folksong, by and large, is ‘narrative song’... repetition never occurs in the folksinger’s performance, but rather, a kaleidoscopic flow of greater or slighter variety.”9 Frederick Fennell praised “the beauty, the challenge, the pathos the excitement and the thrill of high originality that is the music in Lincolnshire Posy.”10 The work was premiered on March 7, 1937, before a Milwaukee audience of over 7,000. The original premier programmed only five of the six movements, and the band only performed three of the five movements that were programmed. Two months later, the piece was premiered in its entirety
7
! Frank Battisti, The Twentieth Century American Wind Band Ensemble: History, Development and Literature (Fort Lauderdale: Meredith Music Publications, 1995), 67.
8 9
!
Wilfrid Mellers, Percy Grainger. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), 106.
! Robert Joseph. Garofalo, ed., Folk Songs and Dances in Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger, vol. 4 (Silver Spring: Whirlwind Music Publicatins, 2008), 38.
10!
Frederick Fennell, Foreword to the Full Score Edition (included as an introduction to Frederick Fennell’s edition of the full score of Lincolnshire Posy).
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4
in Town Hall, New York. As the work was continuously performed in the following months, it was met with great reviews. The harmonic characteristics of Grainger’s previous works are evident in Lincolnshire Posy, but the “most innovative element... is without doubt rhythm.”11 The reason for the rhythmic complexity is because Grainger notated the folk songs in the manner in which they were sung to him. The disregard for the bar line is combined with textual symbolism within each movement that pays tribute to the individual stories of the folk songs themselves. This unique form of setting the folk songs gives Lincolnshire Posy its ‘masterwork’ qualities.
I. Lisbon/Dublin Bay (Sailor’s Song)
The first movement of Lincolnshire Posy is currently called ‘Lisbon’, but it was referred to as ‘Dublin Bay’ in the premiere performance and the original condensed score. 12 The folk songs utilized throughout this movement are “Dublin Bay” and “The Duke of Marlborough.” The original program notes from the premiere include notes of a unique story of the folk song’s collection from Mr. Deane of Hibbaldstowe. The text of the folk song provides a typical seafaring song where “a sailor must go out to sea and his sweetheart wants to go with him.”13 This story of love and the sea is portrayed through the musical ideas in the first movement. The melodic material, like many of the other movements, is presented as a reflection of the verses of the folk song text. There are only four verses of the original five, and this is due to Mr. Deane’s lapse of memory in recalling the text of the fourth verse. Because Grainger’s setting portrayed the text, the musical section that would have represented the fourth verse is nonexistent. “The
11
! Robert Joseph. Garofalo, ed., Folk Songs and Dances in Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger, vol. 4 (Silver Spring: Whirlwind Music Publicatins, 2008), 28.
12 13!
!
Percy Grainger, Lincolnshire Posy for Military Band, (Mainz: Schott Music, 1940). Garofalo, 42.
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5
Duke of Marlborough” is quoted as counter-melodic material in fanfare-like statement. The fanfare statement occurs in a duple meter while the surrounding music is in the triplet 6/8 time. The following musical example illustrates this quotation.
Example 1. Lisbon/Dublin Bay
This quotation perhaps represents the call of the sea and a disruption of female tranquility mentioned in the text. 14 Another example lies in the final eight measures where the phrase “I dare
14
! Michael Haithcock, Textual Symbolism in Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy: A Guide to Score Study. (Handout from a clinic at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Conference).
!
6
not answer no” is repeated and augmented as the sailor takes leave of his love and returns to his ship. Musical ideas that reflect the text continue throughout the work, and in some cases they occur more literally and more complexly than others.
Horkstow Grange (The Miser and his Man: A local tragedy)
“Horkstow Grange” also known as “John Bowlin” was collected by Grainger through the voice of Mr. George Gouldthorpe in 1905.15 This song tells the story of a foreman, John Bowlin, and a waggoner beneath him, John Steeleye Span. The story recalls one market day when John Bowlin was being physically abusive to ‘Steeleye’. The emotion of the song is saddening, and the refrain opens with the line “Pity them what see him suffer, Pity poor old Steeleye Span.” Grainger employs harmonic and dynamic emphasis to build tension in key lines of the text. This tension builds leading to measure 34 where the text states “John Bowlin’s deeds.” Throughout the movement there is unstable accompanimental material that seemingly emphasizes the confrontation and the growing emotion of bystanders in the market that are witnessing the abuse. Rhythmically, Grainger uses a dotted rhythm in measure 16, when it coincides with the word “th’floor.” This is representative of Grainger accurately portraying the manner in which the folk songs were originally sung into the phonograph. This style of setting the folk songs in Lincolnshire Posy continues in greater detail throughout the remainder of the work.
Rufford Park Poachers (Poaching Song)
“Rufford Park Poachers” was originally collected in 1906 from Mr. Joseph Taylor of whom Grainger spoke, saying that he “knew more folksongs than any of my other folksingers,
15
! Robert Joseph. Garofalo, ed., Folk Songs and Dances in Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger, vol. 4 (Silver Spring: Whirlwind Music Publicatins, 2008), 44.
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7
and sang his songs with ‘purer’ folksong tradition.”16 The story of the folk song involves a group of poachers who get into a fight with a group of game keepers in Rufford Park. Mr. Joseph Taylor could only recall and sing three stanzas of what he mentioned was a much longer folk song of at least eight stanzas. This movement provides a true example of Grainger notating the setting precisely as he heard it. The music example below demonstrates the extreme detail that Grainger utilized in transcribing from the phonograph recordings. The image represents the original notation used by Grainger while converting “Rufford Park Poachers.”
Example 2. Rufford Park Poachers
The specific dynamic markings, mixed meters, and complex rhythms emulate the nuances of the folksinger’s performance. The example also includes “slides” written in that are directly characteristic of the vocal recording. This style of setting the folk song has caused this movement to be possibly the most difficult. It was because of the complex rhythms and meters utilized in
16
! Robert Joseph. Garofalo, ed., Folk Songs and Dances in Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger, vol. 4 (Silver Spring: Whirlwind Music Publicatins, 2008), pg. 45.
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8
this movement that it was originally removed from the Milwaukee Premiere Concert.17 In addition to the literal notation of the folk singer’s performance, Grainger continues to emulate the story through the musical ideas. The opening of the movement includes a quartet playing in a canon, reflecting the ongoing conflict between the poacher and the keepers. The music build harmonically and dynamically to measure 50 where the “fight” occurs at the dynamic climax of the movement. Following this moment, the dynamic recedes as it emulates the retreat of the poachers. The quartet idea concludes the piece, representing the unresolved conflict between the two groups. The variety of complex musical ideas causes this movement to be one of the most recognizable and widely analyzed from Lincolnshire Posy.
The Brisk Young Sailor (who returned to wed his True Love)
“The brisk young Sailor” was collected by Grainger from a Mrs. Thompson in Barton-onHumber, Lincolnshire.18 The story of the folk song tells of a fair maiden in her garden who is approached by a “brisk young sailor.” He asks to marry her, and she tells him of her true love who has been gone from her for seven years. She continues to tell the sailor that she will wait for seven more if she must. The sailor then shows her a token, proving that he is her true love. He then exclaims that he has returned to marry her. Musical ideas illustrate the story from a beginning bass line that represents footsteps in the garden. A euphonium solo represents the sailor’s voice while a virtuosic woodwind passage emulates the fluttering of the woman’s eyebrows. In measures 34-40, a buoyant tutti section reflects the sailor’s delight in his lady
17
! Harry Begian, Grainger’s Approach to Conducting and Rehearsing “Rufford Park Poachers” and “Lord Melbourne” (Handout for a clinic at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Conference).
18
! Robert Joseph. Garofalo, ed., Folk Songs and Dances in Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger, vol. 4 (Silver Spring: Whirlwind Music Publicatins, 2008), 46.
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passing his test of loyalty. The closing of the movement contains a repeated section of masculine and feminine-sounding ideas representing kisses between the two lovers. 19 In conclusion, Grainger employs an unusual amen that perhaps purposefully leaves the idea that the movement has ended, but the work is not yet through.
Lord Melbourne (War Song)
“Lord Melbourne” was collected via phonograph from a Mr. George Wray at Brigg, Lincolnshire in 1906. Mr. Wray was a local drunkard and he was locally regarded as the best singer of this particular song. This war song is in fact a variant of the previously used tune,“The Duke of Marlborough.”20 Additionally, the story gives a rendition of the true life story of “John Churchill, an Englishman who became on of the greatest military commanders in history.”21 The folk song essentially outlines the military career of the general as told from his deathbed. This specific movement employs elements that are similar to “Rufford Park Poachers,” including rhythmic variations and persistent changes of meter. The distinctive musical device that is employed in this movement is the use of ‘free time’ in four separate instances. An example of this ‘free time’ is represented in the following musical example.22
19
! Michael Haithcock, “Textual Symbolism in Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy: A Guide to Score Study.” (Handout from a clinic at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Conference).
20
! Willis M. Rapp, "Percy Aldridge Grainger," in The Wind Band Masterworks of Holst, Vaughan Williams, and Grainger (Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications, 2005), 69.
21
! Robert Joseph. Garofalo, ed., Folk Songs and Dances in Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger, vol. 4 (Silver Spring: Whirlwind Music Publicatins, 2008), 47.
22
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Percy Grainger, Lincolnshire Posy for Military Band, (Mainz: Schott Music, 1940).
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Example 310. Lord Melbourne
In his forward to the “Lincolnshire Posy,” entitled, “To Bandleaders,” Grainger states that bandleaders need not be afraid of the “free time” section in this movement. He goes on to say that sections in free time be “left to the bandleader’s volition,” permitting the conductor to vary the length of the beats with the “rhythmic elasticity” often practiced by English folksingers.”23 Additionally unique to this musical example is the inclusion of Grainger’s instructions in
23
! Percy Grainger, Lincolnshire Posy for Military Band, ed. Frederick Fennell, (Boca Raton: Ludwig Masters Publications, 2010).
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English. When asked in an interview why he used English instead of Italian, he said “I've taken the view that Schumann took, that music is, after all, a local, nationalistic expression, partly because I can see that music is not practiced as a cosmopolitan art yet. I wish it would be someday. But in the meantime, it seems to me one should write in the language one understands oneself.”24 The opening ‘free time’ section is a reflection of both the emotion of the story and the drunken singing of Mr. George Wray. Simultaneously, the instrumentation used is strictly brass, which mirrors a military band. Furthermore, the ethereal transitions that are utilized are reminiscent of the story progressing from past recollection to the present. The movement ends in strict time with a drawn out restatement of the first line of the folk song.
The Lost Lady Found (Dance Song)
This particular movement is derived from the folk song “The Lost Lady Found.” It was collected by Miss Lucy E. Broadwood as it was sung to her by her nurse, Mrs. Hill. 25 The story of the song describes the kidnapping of a young girl by gypsies. When her uncle alerts the authorities, they accuse him and imprison him. The girl’s lover travels across many countries in search of her and eventually finds her in Dublin. Upon their return home, she saves her uncle from being hanged, and a celebration is had as a result.26 This dance movement employs a number of musical ideas that relate to the text. The movement begins with simple rhythmic and melodic material as it illustrates the problem of the story. Furthermore, chord punctuations in the
24
! James M. Floyd, "An Interview With Percy Grainger, 15 May 1946," Tempo 61, no. 239 (February 7, 2007): pg. 21, doi:10.1017/S0040298207000022.
25
! Robert Joseph. Garofalo, ed., Folk Songs and Dances in Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger, vol. 4 (Silver Spring: Whirlwind Music Publicatins, 2008), 48.
26
!
Mark Grauer, "Grainger's Lost Letters on Lincolnshire Posy," The Instrumentalist, August 1992.
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accompaniment emulate the anxiety of the uncle. The opening portion of the story uses an articulated style, and while the lady is “lost” the style contains less articulation. This articulation returns when the lady returns to the story. (being found by her lover) The piece concludes with instructions from Grainger saying to “slow off” the tempo as the last phrase is stated in the text. (“The Lost Lady was Found”) While this movement does not provide an extravagant amount of rhythmic and harmonic variety to illustrate the text, it aptly provides musical ideas that interpret the story.
Conclusion
In the composition of Lincolnshire Posy, it seems that Grainger’s creative intent in this masterwork has two main motives. First, Grainger seeks to preserve the English folk song tradition with his detailed explanation in the original program notes. He gives precise detail as to how he went about collecting each folk song and how these movements should be rehearsed and approached from a musical standpoint. Secondly, the composer brings significance to the stories of the songs and their unique presentation from the folksingers. He uses text-painting and symbolism to bring these elements to life. In this regard, the settings of these songs are unique to Grainger’s previous folk song settings as well as the settings of other composers. The elements of rhythm, meter, dynamics and style that are employed throughout the work give Lincolnshire Posy its complex and challenging reputation. Also, these elements separate this work from any other wind band works that came before it. The masterwork status of Lincolnshire Posy was not merely earned by Grainger’s prior reputation. It is the timeless qualities of the composition that have caused it to become a seminal work in the wind band repertoire.