Percy Grainger Piano in one of his acoustic recordings

 Liszt*, Percy Grainger – Second Hungarian Rhapsody
Franz Liszt - Second Hungarian Rhapsody album cover
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Label: Columbia – A6000
Series: Symphony Series

A  Second Hungarian Rhapsody - Part 1
B  Second Hungarian Rhapsody - Part 2
Record Company – Columbia Graphophone Company
Composed By – Liszt*
Piano, Soloist – Percy Grainger
A: Recorded 8 August 1917
B: Recorded 19 September 1917

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Trying to get to grips with the complex character of (George) Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961) is like walking into a hall of mirrors. He was a multi-talented man, an outstandingly gifted pianist, a composer of the greatest possible originality, a fine linguist, an inspiring teacher and lecturer, an inventor of experimental instruments. He possessed an enquiring mind and the capacity to follow his ideas through û his commitment to collecting, transcribing and recording folk-song is one such example. He had strong opinions on many subjects, which he had no hesitation in expressing; he had a passion for many disparate things û trains, health fads, extreme physical exercise û and an obsession for exploring philosophies he perceived to be connected to music, history and other life forces. But the original, enquiring mind could also lend itself to much darker urges, and these have to a great extent overshadowed his very real achievements. He was a liberal thinker whose ethnomusicological interests were genuine and profound, yet who wrote articles displaying deep racist tendencies. His sexual preferences (some of which are bizarre even by todayÆs standards) were graphically expounded to his future wife, Ella Str÷m, in his peculiarly personal semi-invented language, yet didnÆt prevent their marriage, which indeed appears to have been happy. Both his playing and his compositions reflect accurately this inconsistent yet brilliant personality.

As a pianist he was not only hugely accomplished but also practical. His playing edition of GriegÆs piano concerto is a goldmine of clever ideas and arrangements that facilitate GriegÆs occasionally awkward writing without compromising the text. Although he suffered badly from performing nerves, his recordings show him to be quixotic but charismatic, unafraid to take risks, and û given his capacity for bombast û surprisingly unaffected. During his lifetime his fame as a pianist overshadowed his fame as a composer, a fact which caused him considerable distress: it would have distressed him a good deal more if he knew that his reputation, except to a handful of forward-thinking enthusiasts, had until recently rested on essentially lightweight compositions such as æCountry GardensÆ.

Interest is rising in the baffling, contradictory, creative, opinionated, passionate, often supremely generous and undoubtedly much loved man that was Percy Grainger. The jury will be out on many counts for some time to come, but posterity will surely agree with Harold SchonbergÆs assessment of him as a pianist: æone of the keyboard originals û a pianist who forged his own style and expressed it with amazing skill, personality and vigour à whose interpretations never sounded forced à one of the most gifted pianists of the centuryÆ.

GraingerÆs compositional high jinks are held in increasing esteem and affection by the musical world and the general public alike. His forays into Bach are fascinatingly diverse. The Toccata in D minor reworks the monumental piano realizations of the work by Busoni and Tausig, yet, to my mind, beautifully achieves its own balance and structural grandeur. The two Fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier are oddities indeed! Perhaps they hark back to a time when it was felt that Baroque and Classical works needed tarting up to appeal to more modern ears û the way Grieg æenhancedÆ Mozart in his two-piano versions of certain sonatas. BachÆs E major Fugue is usually played with gravitas and an appropriately sober tempo û Grainger requires a much more upbeat approach in every way. The hint of Rule Brittania in the last line (normally discreetly voiced to deflect attention) must have tickled his fancy. Markings like Allegro energico, Bunched (for extra-loud fingering, using several fingers on the one key), stridente, giocoso û let alone the fff markings as the five marvellous stretti finally culminate û soon destroy any preconceptions one may harbour about a suitably vocal character for the gently scalic subject of this fugue. Sostenuto pedals underpin textures and tenths stretch the hand as well as the confines of the original Bach counterpoint! This is piano music, and make no mistake! Octave couplings may be common on the harpsichord, but one adds them to Bach performance on the piano in the expectation of sanctimonious chastisement at the very least û eternal damnation for oneÆs tastelessness the more likely outcome. Percy, bless him, had no such scruples, and his Bach fugues provide the broadminded with fresh emotional vistas. His Sheep, too, visit new pastures. BachÆs thirds suggested bells to him û so he developed the idea, opening his effusion with tinkling tenths in the treble. Cocktail-hour harmonies ensue, but the carefully marked rubatos and dynamics in his score ensure that the overlay of blithe charm belies an underlying seriousness of purpose.

Toccata and Fugue in D minor for organ BWV565
Arranged Percy Grainger, after Tausig and Busoni

This piece must have been transcribed more often than almost any other: orchestral versions by Stokowski and Sir Henry Wood, numerous arrangements for brass band, several for two pianists and at least thirty for solo piano. The paradox is that its authenticity is in some doubt among scholars, but whether after all this time the authorship of this grandly expressive and at times flamboyant piece should have an effect on its popularity is a moot point. Tausig and Busoni both annotated their transcriptions for piano with copious directions to the performer, and Grainger has borrowed these and added his own to make a score that is both intensely creative and enticing to the player. Although Grainger frequently played his transcription, no manuscript copy exists. Leslie Howard has provided an accurate performing text, based on GraingerÆs recordings of the work, and an attenuated selection of bits of passagework in GraingerÆs hand, perhaps used for practice, and held in the Grainger Museum in Melbourne. FriedmanÆs version is a perhaps less adventurous but is nevertheless thoroughly pianistic: his aim throughout is to use the full sonority of the piano, and his transcription has above all nobility and a dramatic expressiveness.

Blithe Bells (Sheep may safely graze)
Arranged Percy Grainger
This enduringly popular aria comes from the hunting Cantata æWas mir behagt, ist nur die muntre JagdÆ (æWhat really pleases me is the lively huntÆ) written for the birthday of Duke Christian of Weissenfels. It naturally sets out to flatter and to please, and the aria æSchafe k÷nnen sicher weidenÆ refers to his benign rule and not, as is sometimes assumed, to Jesus as the Good Shepherd. æSheep may safely graze where a good shepherd is watching over them. When a ruler governs well, one can feel the peace and tranquility which make for a happy country.Æ The aria is sung in the cantata by Pales, the god/goddess who looks after sheep and shepherds, and the gentle rocking accompaniment of two flutes and continuo is thought to echo the sound of sheep bells. Whilst Friedman stays close to the original in his warm and evocative transcription of the aria, Grainger chooses to have æa free rambleÆ through it, delivering more a paraphrase than a transcription. His idiosyncratic harmonies and phrasing, the extreme voicing and the myriad directions to the performer mean that this is more Grainger than Bach û but his confidence carries the listener with him and turns initial surprise into delight.

Fugue in A minor BWV865 (from Das wohltemperierte Clavier Book 1)
Arranged Percy Grainger
Although we are used today to hearing the two books of Preludes and Fugues played as a set, they were not written in strict order, nor did all the fugues necessarily belong indivisibly to their designated preludes. Their beauty lies not so much in the logical progression but in the extraordinary variety of style. As such they are ideal candidates for study, and Bach probably used them, along with the inventions and sinfonias, æto teach clear playing in two or three obligato parts, good inventions, and a cantabile manner of playingÆ. Grainger certainly used them in his highly successful piano classes in America, working with four players on two pianos and encouraging the students to explore the possibilities of each individual voice. Grainger then united the two piano version into one score: John Pickard, in his introduction to the arrangement of the A minor fugue, paints an irresistible picture of Grainger setting out to transcribe utterly faithfully BachÆs original text, and being gradually overtaken by a wild longing to add, decorate and embroider, until æthe printed copy is entirely abandoned in favour of GraingerÆs own à versionÆ û a remarkable insight into the workings of this astonishingly original composer.