This recording uses the specific instruments Grainger requested, including a Hammond organ, tin whistles, Swiss hand bells, bass saxophone, and steel marimbaphone.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Grainger considered the wind band a superior medium for transcribing early music compared to the symphony orchestra.
Compositional Technique
Grainger invented his own English vocabulary for his scores, using terms like 'reedy', 'gracefully', 'angrily', and 'louden/soften'.
Performer Biography
The Royal Norwegian Navy Band, one of Norway's five professional military bands, gives up to 150 performances annually and has won a 'Norwegian GRAMMY' (Spellemannprisen).
Composer's Artistic Vision
Grainger was a pioneer in electronic music, developing a concept of 'free music' and 'free music machines' to liberate music from regular rhythms and pitches.
Composer Biography
Percy Grainger, the composer, left Australia for Europe with his mother at age 13, first studying in Frankfurt before touring as a concert pianist.
Compositional Technique
Grainger developed 'elastic scoring,' a technique allowing his music to be performed with almost any combination of wind instruments.
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