What I like about Percy Grainger is that his music is full of surprises. Grainger was very creative and was very ahead of his time! "In a Nutshell Suite" for orchestra features a gigantic percussion section, which I believe was unusual at that time (it was completed and published in 1916, compare this with Varèse's "Amériques", which also has a HUGE percussion section, but it was written between 1918 and 1921 and revised in 1927). That particular suite has very mystical, magical, and very creative timbres created by the unusual choice of tuneful percussion instruments (for example the vibraphone, bass marimba etc.). Grainger's arrangements of pieces by other composers are amazing as well! He did not just simply 'arrange' or 'transcribe' those pieces for a different instrumentation, he basically created a whole new work based on those works, just like the Gershwin piece mentioned in this video. And I highly recommend the "Fantasy on Themes from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess" for two pianos!
Not to mention he started a wave of band composing using extreme polytonality, large and difficult percussion sections, saxophones, as well as establishing the Wind Ensemble as a valid form to write. In a nut shell is such a powerful piece that pushes what “tonal” music can do to the point that it blurs the line between tonal and nontonal. Love his music so much, hate his racial ideologies though.
I never knew that Gershwin and Grainger together could be so satisfying😌 It was also really cool to have the 2 recordings. The first had a better tone but I think I like the 2nd interpretation better
The facile labeling of Grainger as a racist is truly disturbing. He was an early advocate for jazz and black musical influences and famously helped to popularize compositions of black composers such as Robert Nathaniel Dett. It is shocking how little research "academics" do before they speak on such matters. It is typical for them to ignore all the nuance and context of history to fit their preferred narrative. None of this is to say his opinions would be widely accepted in 2022. However, the asinine, glib, ahistorical, and shallow practice of viewing the past through the political lens of the present will mark the end of the musical arts. It already has. Also, as much as I love Martin Jones: 0:10 is a G-flat, not a G-natural.
Grainger is labeled a racist because he was one. I know that you are fond of his music, but one has to learn to seperate the art from the artist (I say this as a Wagner fanatic). "[...] Grainger explained that he became an arranger 'thru a sense of esthetic duty', to preserve Nordic folksong, 'a record of the creative genius of our race', and to make 'British inborn musicality more widely realised internationally'. If in the same letter he was 'the only composer known to me who loves every kind of music', his overt racism led him to criticise colleagues who performed non-Nordic music, to complain of intermarriage, to recommend the theories of Houston Stewart Chamberlain, ideologue of the Nazi party, and to express overt anti-Semitism, hypocritically asserting that he had 'nothing against Jews'. Certainly he was also against Christianity, but as a virulent anti-Semite, as the editors stress, he is not 'to be excused simply as an unwitting victim of the widespread supremacist racial views of his day'. He actively refused to help the plight of suffering Jews in the second world war, and his prejudices were of an intensity comparable to those of Wagner." Quoted from Malcolm Millers review of "The All-Round Man: Selected Letters of Percy Grainger 1914-1961", edited by Malcolm Gillies and David Pear. "Grainger could never understand Quilter's desire to help [his Jewish friends during WWII]; he felt it was simply interfering with nature. He had nothing against individuals, and indeed nothing against any particular race, and he never quite claimed views of racial supremacy, though his ideas now would certainly be viewed with considerable suspicion. But he saw the Nordic races as having a thoughtfulness and kindness lacking in others, and he resented the intrusion and interference of those other races." Quoted from "Roger Quilter His Life and His Music" by Valerie Langfield. "Some of Grainger's earliest published letters contain anti-Semitic comments, for example to Karen Holten in 1905.["The Farthest North of Humanness: Letters of Percy Grainger 1901-14" edited by Kay Dreyfus] He later asserted that the Jewish race was less capable of producing good music than the Nordic races,[Grainger the Social Commentator" by David Pear] and his letter to Quilter of 25 February 1939 is cited by Gillies and Pear as an example of his racial intolerance." Wikipedia
@@mrtchaikovsky Thank you for your enlightening post. I never really knew the true facts only ever having paid passing attention to his music. I will separate the art/music from the person from now on. Similar to Michael Jackson and others like Morrissey et al. Their personal behaviour and political leanings make them unconscionable but I continue to enjoy their art for what it is. Than you!
" Problematic"? Didn't know. Do tell. I know he and the Missus hung out with Edvard and Minna Grieg and Fritz Delius and " Jelka" when they were all in Leipzig and I think later back in Grieg's Norway and Delius certainly was a " difficult " guy but never have heard anything bad about Percy Grainger.
such a beautiful piece - I have been teaching this to my grade 5 singing students but recently decided to record it myself - ruclips.net/video/n5lK0QJvYpc/видео.html Gershwin is such a legend
Only Percy Grainger would have 'woggle' as a playing direction. Lovely arrangement of a gorgeous piece.
I wish Grainger would've wrote his own paraphrase of Rhapsody in Blue for solo piano - that would’ve been spectacular.
The tune is priceless and certainly one of the most beautiful.
What I like about Percy Grainger is that his music is full of surprises. Grainger was very creative and was very ahead of his time! "In a Nutshell Suite" for orchestra features a gigantic percussion section, which I believe was unusual at that time (it was completed and published in 1916, compare this with Varèse's "Amériques", which also has a HUGE percussion section, but it was written between 1918 and 1921 and revised in 1927). That particular suite has very mystical, magical, and very creative timbres created by the unusual choice of tuneful percussion instruments (for example the vibraphone, bass marimba etc.). Grainger's arrangements of pieces by other composers are amazing as well! He did not just simply 'arrange' or 'transcribe' those pieces for a different instrumentation, he basically created a whole new work based on those works, just like the Gershwin piece mentioned in this video. And I highly recommend the "Fantasy on Themes from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess" for two pianos!
Not to mention he started a wave of band composing using extreme polytonality, large and difficult percussion sections, saxophones, as well as establishing the Wind Ensemble as a valid form to write. In a nut shell is such a powerful piece that pushes what “tonal” music can do to the point that it blurs the line between tonal and nontonal. Love his music so much, hate his racial ideologies though.
Nutshell is a marvel !
Oh how romantic! The second take is especially sublime. I’ll have to check out more of Gershwin’s work now. ^^
I never knew that Gershwin and Grainger together could be so satisfying😌 It was also really cool to have the 2 recordings. The first had a better tone but I think I like the 2nd interpretation better
I was thinking if I could do something like this in the future, a comparison of recordings. :)
I think the second version was the better performance and recording. Plus the alt ending. Very cool.
Wow so cool. To have the sheet music as the recording is playing is fantastic.
I don't have the word to describe this nor in french or in english... It is tremendous !
Surely “woggle” should be added to Grove’s Dictionary of Music ☺️
The facile labeling of Grainger as a racist is truly disturbing. He was an early advocate for jazz and black musical influences and famously helped to popularize compositions of black composers such as Robert Nathaniel Dett. It is shocking how little research "academics" do before they speak on such matters. It is typical for them to ignore all the nuance and context of history to fit their preferred narrative. None of this is to say his opinions would be widely accepted in 2022. However, the asinine, glib, ahistorical, and shallow practice of viewing the past through the political lens of the present will mark the end of the musical arts. It already has. Also, as much as I love Martin Jones: 0:10 is a G-flat, not a G-natural.
Grainger is labeled a racist because he was one. I know that you are fond of his music, but one has to learn to seperate the art from the artist (I say this as a Wagner fanatic).
"[...] Grainger explained that he became an arranger 'thru a sense of esthetic duty', to preserve Nordic folksong, 'a record of the creative genius of our race', and to make 'British inborn musicality more widely realised internationally'. If in the same letter he was 'the only composer known to me who loves every kind of music', his overt racism led him to criticise colleagues who performed non-Nordic music, to complain of intermarriage, to recommend the theories of Houston Stewart Chamberlain, ideologue of the Nazi party, and to express overt anti-Semitism, hypocritically asserting that he had 'nothing against Jews'. Certainly he was also against Christianity, but as a virulent anti-Semite, as the editors stress, he is not 'to be excused simply as an unwitting victim of the widespread supremacist racial views of his day'. He actively refused to help the plight of suffering Jews in the second world war, and his prejudices were of an intensity comparable to those of Wagner."
Quoted from Malcolm Millers review of "The All-Round Man: Selected Letters of Percy Grainger 1914-1961", edited by Malcolm Gillies and David Pear.
"Grainger could never understand Quilter's desire to help [his Jewish friends during WWII]; he felt it was simply interfering with nature. He had nothing against individuals, and indeed nothing against any particular race, and he never quite claimed views of racial supremacy, though his ideas now would certainly be viewed with considerable suspicion. But he saw the Nordic races as having a thoughtfulness and kindness lacking in others, and he resented the intrusion and interference of those other races."
Quoted from "Roger Quilter His Life and His Music" by Valerie Langfield.
"Some of Grainger's earliest published letters contain anti-Semitic comments, for example to Karen Holten in 1905.["The Farthest North of Humanness: Letters of Percy Grainger 1901-14" edited by Kay Dreyfus] He later asserted that the Jewish race was less capable of producing good music than the Nordic races,[Grainger the Social Commentator" by David Pear] and his letter to Quilter of 25 February 1939 is cited by Gillies and Pear as an example of his racial intolerance."
Wikipedia
@@mrtchaikovsky
Thank you for your enlightening post.
I never really knew the true facts only ever having paid passing attention to his music.
I will separate the art/music from the person from now on.
Similar to Michael Jackson and others like Morrissey et al.
Their personal behaviour and political leanings make them unconscionable but I continue to enjoy their art for what it is.
Than you!
absolutely beautiful melody and ending, while grainger was problematic, his transcriptions surely were not.
" Problematic"? Didn't know. Do tell. I know he and the Missus hung out with Edvard and Minna Grieg and Fritz Delius and " Jelka" when they were all in Leipzig and I think later back in Grieg's Norway and Delius certainly was a " difficult " guy but never have heard anything bad about Percy Grainger.
@@gregorypalmer5403 See my reply to DylanMayMusic.
0:36 he played those eights notes like a quarter note triplet haha wat
sounds good still
such a beautiful piece - I have been teaching this to my grade 5 singing students but recently decided to record it myself - ruclips.net/video/n5lK0QJvYpc/видео.html Gershwin is such a legend