Percy Grainger plays Lotus Land by Cyril Scott

Percy Grainger plays Cyril Scott, Lotus Land Op. 47 No. 1., in a 1929 Duo-Art reproducing piano roll recording. It is played on a ca. 1929
Chickering Duo-Art that I recently restored. Grainger was a close friend of Scott, and they even recorded some two-piano music together, so this is a version that Scott heard and approved of. It is considered by some (like the Pianola Institute) to be one of the best Duo-Art recordings ever made.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Cyril
• Scott
• Percy
• Grainger
• Lotus
• Land
• Duo
• Art
• reproducing
• piano
• roll
• Chickering

[bigcity233]

This is a great recording! I read somewhere that Grainger was very involved in perfecting his Duo-Art recordings.

[bartolomochristofari]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I also heard that Grainger was very involved in the expression editing. One quote from him is that the DA represented him not as he actually played, but as he "would like to play."

[DuoArtDanOz]

I have heard of Draw mounted DA's but this is the 1st one ive seen....thanks for sharing a great roll and player.

[bartolomochristofari]

Yes, the drawer is unusual for the DA, but quite nice for requiring no design changes to the action and instrument scale. Chickering apparently licensed the DA system late and kept the drawer almost identical to the Ampico, but the rest of the player is typical Duo-Art. This is also the only one I've ever seen.

[banananer16]

Hang on, this piano looks and sounds really familiar...

Oh well, thanks for posting this, dad.

[PrettyGoodies1]

Grainger's approach to this piece is not exactly what I would wish. But this video is absolutely fascinating regardless!

[Blackgeoff1]

@coasterman16 I agree, totally

[VIDE0DR0ME]

Yes, this version sounds suitably dreamy. But critically speaking, Percy Grainger took liberties with the actual score. Grainger arpeggiated the chords on the left hand (and sometimes together with the right hand), which was not what the composer indicated. Grainger also took liberties with the tempo, which is permissible to some extent.

[owatson322utube]

Wonderful to hear this fascinating work by a truly fascinating composer. Grainger was a pianist of such remarkable brilliance so it is fantastic that we still have extant recordings of him playing. Delightful!

[jabajabamaster]

It's almost as he is playing here and now.

[drmrh01]

Highly interesting. Valuable. Better than most performances out there. What more is there to say?

[leroyosmon]

As a past board member of the Percy Grainger International Society I am happy to find this on Youtube, however, with that said, it is not representative of Grainger's ability. It is rather 'stiff'. There are recordings of Percy doing this 'live' that are considerably more musical. But I do understand the historical importance and thank you for post it on Youtube.

[FrankMento]

Very nice, especially that this is an historical performance. This is the first opportunity I have had to listen to a work by Cyril Scott whose writings I deeply appreciate.

[aknabea]

Very nice and the Chickering is a very nice sounding piano. Lovely!

Thanks for sharing.