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).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• piano
• recording
• classical
• percy
• grainger
• shepherds
• hey
• folksong

[webrarian]

Any chance of a credit - after all, you have used my transfer without asking...

[d60944]

@webrarian Some of my recordings have come to me via other people (often second- or third-hand). This is one of them, and I don't know the original source of this one. It's not I have an original or CD of. Are you sure it is your transfer? How would someone have obtained it? (I tried to send you a message, but you have them blocked on your account)

[d60944]

No, the rubato itself is not something I was referring to as related to jazz (though for some classic 19th C rubato you can do worse than Fats Waller in "The Clothes Line Ballet"). I was talking about the deliberate uneven treatment of quavers (or are they semiquavers?) where the first of each pair is lengthened and the second shortened. I am also sort of reminded of Brahms's adoption of a sort of preemptive synocopation in his playing of his own Hungarian Dance, the syncope also sort of "swung"

[d60944]

I respectfully disagree that early jazz piano and classical piano have nothing in common. People like James P Johnson and Fats Waller were classically trained, and their music owes a great deal to the styles of classical piano music from the turn of the century. Particularly with respect to keyboard sonority and embellishment approach. One of the things I will get round to doing is posting various early jazz recordings to illustrate 19th century classical piano approaches there as well. Soon...

[brianCIM]

@JackGibbonsHQ and you are spot on Jack re: Gershwin's recordings and his treatment of duplets. ARGH! So frustrating! of course this is not jazz but Grainger was a fanatical fan of Jazz and Gershwin and perhaps that "swinging" style was incorporated naturally. I don't think Grainger, who was incredibly fastidious about the interpretation of and the origin of folk-songs(he was one of the first folk song collectors to record and collect on cylinders) said, "ok let's make this baby swing." lol

[JackGibbonsHQ]

@d60944 You are spot on talking about that ever so slightly 'swung' rhythm of these early Grainger recordings. You can find a very similar type approach in some of Gershwin's electrical recordings made in 1926 and 1928. Glad someone else notices this as well as me! (I think some people here have misunderstood your comments, even though clearly you're talking about a natural rhythmic treatment of duplets and not suggesting that Shepherd's Hey is jazz!).

[keepinguptheday]

Being an English morris dance tune it naturally has rhythmic variations related to the steps of the eponymous morris dance, Shepherd's Hey, as written down by Cecil Sharp from morris musicians at Bampton, Stow-on-the-Wold, Cheltenham and Bidford. Also in the Ducklington repertoire . Grainger is playing it too fast to dance to in this recording. It is an inspired version nevertheless.

[dimsimlord]

I wonder if all the people in the comments talking about the jazz influences in this piece know it's actually an English folk song and thus has nothing to do with jazz whatsoever.

[alanslife1]

this is my favorite composer

i love all his work

irish tune from country derry is my favorite song from him

i remember being a sixth grader in my band class listening to this

after a couple of years we actually payed his music

the piece we played was called the lost lady found

it has inspired me to become a better musician

[KawhackitaRag]

Certainly there is lots of classical piano music in jazz and pop piano of the 1920s. The latter has been quite neglected due to the bias a large number of morons (excuse me, critics) have against pop music, especially old pop music.

Great 20's and 30's pop pianists to listen to include Frank Banta, Pauline Alpert, Edythe Baker, Adam Carroll, Raie Da Costa, Willie Eckstein, George Gershwin, Billy Mayerl, Patricia Rossborough, and Lee Sims.

They are all on Youtube.

[KawhackitaRag]

...On their solo piano audio recordings from the 1920's, it was typically rarely used, and only for slower tempos, but still sounds natural on these.

It is not my fault if you do not understand the authentic piano styles of the 1920's.

Try playing like Lemuel Fowler, who easily shifts back and forth between straight-eights and swung eighths (on BOTH his recordings and rolls), or another pianist (I forgot his name), who plays "swing eighths" in one hand, and "triplet eighths" in the other!

[KawhackitaRag]

Having been weaned upon straight-eighths piano roll stylists of the late teens and early 20s such as Clarence M. Jones, Clarence A. Johnson, Pete Wendling, and J. Russel Robinson, I do believe I have a grasp upon how this style is supposed to sound, and what it is supposed to convey.