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Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961): Shepherd's Hey

Percy Grainger is a fairly well-known composer, and his interest in collecting and arranging folksongs is also well known. As well as his compositional activities, he was a very fine pianist. No lesser a figure than Grieg transferred his endorsement as the finest interpretater of his own music to Grainger after they met a few years before Grieg's death (previously Grieg had favoured de Greef as interpreter, and severally also lauded liked the performances of Severin Eisenberger). Grainger's recording of the Grieg concerto is indeed a fine interpretation, and his affinity with folksong leant his performances of Grieg in particular a certain compelling authenticity.This recording is of a folksong arrangement by Grainger, and it was recorded by him in 1908. I particularly like - and am fascinated by - the large degree of "swing" injected into the playing. Stride jazz piano was developing at this time too, and the sort of swing is approaching that (later jazz sort of merged the swung rhythm into a more strict 4/4=12/8, whereas the earlier swung rhythms from the 1910s through 20s were only around halfway toward this outright tripletting effect).

Channel: Music
Uploaded: January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am
Author: d60944

Length: 01:52
Rating: 5.00
Views: 3717

Tags: classical folksong grainger hey percy piano recording shepherds

Video Comments

dcrules1 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

Awesome! He's a great piano player! ^^ I use to be a piano player though........

nickus32000 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

It's interesting to compare recordings by early jazz pianists like Jelly Roll Morton or James P. Johnson. I'm thinking of Johnson's Snowy Morning blues for example, his 1927 recording is rhythmically awkward, it sounds like he can't make up his mind between 4/4 and 12/8 and he goes back and forth between the two. His later recordings of the same piece from the mid 40's have the relaxed 12/8 feel.

nickus32000 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

It's an interesting topic you bring up in your heading, about the "swing" in this performance. I'm curious to know if Grainger played this piece with the same amount of swing throughout his career or did his "swing" evolve like the early jazz pianists you speak of?

XxTank435xX (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

im in middle school band and our saxophone choir played this as our ensemble. it was arranged by our co director Mr.Riojas. this is a great piece and very complex

paulostroff99 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

Wonderful! Bravo! TY.

paulostroff99 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

The most talented of all the lesser known(to the public) great pianists.Bravo! TY.

pianopera (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

Interesting theorie...but we have to make a distinction between jewish and Roma (gypsy) influences on the one hand, and Roma and local folkloric music on the other hand.A nomadic people like the Roma adapted their style to the music of the countries where they settled. Traditional Hungarian music e.g. sounds much different than the gypsy version of it, although it is partly conflated.And I'm sure there must be a connection between Czardas and Tango!

d60944 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

The influence of Eastern European folk musics on early jazz is not widely appreciated (it has tended to be viewed as a uniquely "black" thing). The migrations of Ashenazi jews to the USA brought a wealth of improvistional techniques and embellishment approaches: this idiom containing more than a soupcon of SE European gypsy content (originating in south-eastern central Europe after all). Consider the sheer number of Ashkenazi descent musicians active in the USA in the early 20th C.

pianopera (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

As for Brahms, that's part of the typical rubato that belongs to the "Czardas" and Hungarian folkloric music...he adored it. You can also hear the influence in e.g. final movement of the Piano Quartet.

pianopera (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

Well to me, this uneven treatment of notes IS related to rubato. It's just that the "swung" in the jazzy sense means something completely different for me! That's why I think that these definitions are not enough, because we all have a personal filling in.It's like Debussy and Sibelius, or Debussy and Jazz: they were contemporaries and sometimes use the same harmonies (both D. and S. to create a "Nature" style) but they're really quite separate universes...