Percy Grainger - Colonial Song (1912/1918)

[@EmilianoManna]

Grainger's scores are a joy for the eyes!

[@breadenjoyer7986]

This is indisputably the greatest work for wind band I have ever gotten the pleasure to play. This piece makes me think of music and the lives it changes.

[@youmeandgravity]

Grainger is one of the only composers who doesn't sideline the bassoons with bass instruments the whole song

[@danielbazin242]

Yes

[@andrewhofmann]

and bass clarinets

[@alisynsprague5563]

Rip I got to play the bassoon part

[@mitchparker6319]

Paul Hindemith

[@WocklessGamingforAnimeMoms]

_Please turn up the Basson_ *I can't hear The Bassoon*

[@gracegorman3306]

That last long note goes through the whole band like a ghost. It came in from the corridor, through the horns and clarinets, then through the brass, then through me, then through the flutes and oboes, and out into the car park. It left me with goose pimples and my hair standing on end.

[@benblessing]

"then through me" emphasis 😀 you are not wrong

[@kalebzhu9947]

This piece makes me yearn for something I can’t quite place my finger on.

[@danielgalvez7953]

This song makes me feel nostalgic about the time I played it at the Kennedy Centre in D.C. in high school. I was infatuated with a flute girl in my band at the time; I would consider us friends; I did hang out wither her and two other girls every day at lunch. My trip to D.C. was so uncomfortable for me; the song/other songs I played there, the rest of my band, the hall itself! it was all so overwhelming with its prestige(I'm not very good at my instrument, so I stayed quiet during our performance ashamedly, and let the rest of my amazing band do a fantastic job). On top of that, the girl I had feelings for felt out of reach for me because she was a year ahead of me and it seemed as though all her other friends had precedence of being in her immediate presence; at the time I was sure it was the worst trip I had ever taken. It was a very difficult and confusing few days; I often found myself getting frustrated at the people around me, but even more so at myself for feeling the way I did and taking it out on the girl I cared for. I don't know why, but I miss being there, I miss the feeling of being overwhelmed and being in strife. And I share the feeling, @Kaleb Zhu.

[@wormswithteeth]

@@danielgalvez7953 We can relate to stories like that. Love is a lot.

[@PabluchoViision]

@@danielgalvez7953 Daniel, you’ve articulated beautifully the complex mix of feelings you had at that time, love and longing and discomfort and shame and hopelessness. All of them brought alive for you once more by this tender, melancholy music. It was hard to go through, but it was all about being alive and I get that you miss it.

[@wyattwahlgren8883]

This is really beautiful. The baritone part is lovely. The soprano sax part is lovely. The ending is perfect. I love the combination of instruments, and I love this piece!

[@MakrickDMT]

I play baritone and let me tell u hitting those high notes is hella hard especially without a mouth piece that helps hit higher notes

[@evanmulvey3778]

If I ever die, this is the song I want to play at my funeral. Pure serenity and peace, but powerful, triumphant, and moving. My favorite grainger piece

[@Wasabialt]

If?

[@jackwoodruff7889]

I don’t care what anyone else thinks… that soprano sax solo is BEAUTIFUL and I get chills every time I listen to it.

[@KleinkMusic]

Grainger has and solidly continues to be my favorite composer and arranger for wind band literature.

[@spencersmith2798]

One of his very best works...I never tire of hearing it.

[@daveluttinen2547]

What a delightful piece of music! Thank you for posting. Grainger's music is delightful and this did not disappoint.

[@juansanabria6794]

1:51,leaving this here for personal reasons

[@halfsteppiano8818]

2:50-3:13...the little mordent in the woodwind parts and the buildup gets me every time

[@adlfm]

Love how warm it sounds on an orchestra

[@cjams115]

The funny thing about Grainger was that he didn’t really like orchestras and thought that wind symphonies were actually superior and had more expression than a traditional orchestra. This is why almost all of his pieces are purely wind instruments and no strings.

[@mrewan6221]

@@cjams115 Check out his essay at the front of the score for _Lincolnshire Posy_ . Yes, he thought wind bands had great potential, but he also accepted that much of the time neither the conductors not the players would be capable of achieving it!

[@Mezzotenor]

Fascinating study in instrumentation/orchestration. I wasn't expecting the use of sarrusophones or harp & piano - quite grandiose.

[@carolcollins4878]

I know Percy also wanted to play music with no notes just continuous sounds, so ahead of his time. I love him. He also made a suit out of towels. Now that is an innovative thinker

[@Dr_E_Yekley]

Is this the type of stuff that conductors look at when conducting bands? That's super cool, the way that certain instruments are annotated to help hear them better.

[@Cmaj7]

It's what a conductor would look at, for this piece. But from what I've heard from my conductors is that they hate these "condensed scores" and would much rather have the full score with all the instruments laid out.

[@NickSievers1]

I'm conducting this soon, and this score is a nightmare... This piece would have much better performances if there was a better score. But it sure is so beautiful anyway!!

[@Dr_E_Yekley]

​@@NickSievers1 Good luck my friend! Some of my best memories come from playing Grainger pieces with my school's Wind Ensemble. He sure knows how to make these instruments sound at their best. You, as a conductor, have a great taste in music, and I'm sure your students will appreciate getting to play something like this.

[@MrGer2295]

So Beautiful ! ! ! Thank you for posting !

[@aaronhernandez5625]

I love his music, thanks so much for posting this

[@blahkayonaFriday]

a noble and gentle piece of music, this should replace Pomp and Circumstance at graduations

[@AmericanIdiot2002]

I was just thinking the same thing

[@tonylinden3819]

Yes please.

[@grahamnordquist8874]

I mean, yeah, it would sound good, but it requires a very good euphonium player who has to play in an extreme register for some of the time, and it would just kill their embouchure if they had to play it multiple times

[@LydsTherinNotamon]

This is not processional nor recessional music. Pomp and Circumstance is a march.

[@brianbaumgarn5795]

I think you have a great idea. At 67 I tired of Elgar years ago.

[@inzaneindamembrane1016]

UGGGHH one of my favorite classical pieces, absolutely amazing

[@percy445]

wish we could get a non-condensed score, i really wantt see how everything fits togehter individually

[@mlefeb]

Get the edition by R. Mark Rogers! He is the man

[@langjones3846]

I've always thought the theme that starts with a falling third would make a wonderful national anthem for Australia.

[@jessturner6886]

Lang Jones like the chorus to Waltzing Matilda? 🤔

[@langjones3846]

@@jessturner6886 lol, not quite. :)

[@jessturner6886]

Maybe not the best subject matter for a national anthem, eh? ;-)

[@langjones3846]

@@jessturner6886 That is the problem. :)

[@Digital_Turtle_]

I read somewhere that the melody, which originated in his piece "Australian Up-country Song," should have been the Australian national anthem himself.

[@Aright231]

That harp gliss at the end is just...magic. Gives it such a Disney quality. Percy must have written this about Australia.

[@Lyork]

and how about that fading major 3rd till the end!

[@danielgalvez7953]

He wrote it originally as a solo piano piece for his mother, it may be about Australia.

[@raelopez7671]

Some of the elements are sampled in Gum Suckers March.

[@mrewan6221]

And _Australian Up-Country Tune_ (and the choral verson _Australian Up-Country Song_ ).

[@markdisanzo3796]

My god, that ending.

[@timauger]

Very evocative.

[@bambino100011]

I always preferred hearing the alto sax solo instead of the soprano sax…. Alto has a nice dark centered tone. Soprano sounds way too bright for my taste. I know others are fine with the soprano. :)

[@uvn6210]

I think that's kinda what Grainger was going for. He famously loved the saxes and double reeds and it shows in how he wrote his music! He more or less thought of the soprano sax as being violin-like on terms of vibrato, so this interpretation is actually pretty on-point even though that note is very flat!

[@mrewan6221]

@@uvn6210 When he was in the United States Army Band, he taught himself the basics of all the "new" non-orchestral instruments. But his regular instrument (when not piano) was soprano sax.

[@nate7251]

grainger is a gift

[@Pigeonswain]

I love your profile picture

[@VallaMusic]

superb piece of music

[@dschooo]

4:38 Personal stamp for an audition excerpt

[@reev9759]

One of the few, if not his only, original melodies.

[@mrewan6221]

Hard to disagree with that, although he always admitted that he was "arranging", or "setting" pieces, and always gave credit to the singer from whom he collected the tune. The other big work that is probably mostly original is _The Warriors_ .

[@reev9759]

@@mrewan6221 oh, I'm unfamiliar with the Warriors. Thank you for mentioning it.

[@goldenpooper4326]

I just noticed that in the first bar and on the top line there is a Db instead of Eb

[@mrewan6221]

Guess you mean Fb? It's just a minor printing error. Should definitely be an Eb, to match the lower staff.

[@joaopaulochavespinto9685]

I love Grainger as much as the other guy but... what was he thinking when he decided that he would make such a high note on the string bass at the end. I've never played such a high note in any piece of the orquestral repertoire!

[@kylewaselewski]

E4 is not that high at all for string bass....

[@joaopaulochavespinto9685]

@@kylewaselewski but it is an harmonic, I think it doesn't show there in the score but in my part it says that. The only way to play that harmonic is to do the 6° hamornic on the E string tuned in Eb (which was what i did), or, if you tune the whole bass a half-tone lower (like requested in the score), the 5° hamonic on the A string. Whic are both kinda awkward to play in the kind of atmosphere at the end and also not very consistent especially in the E string.

[@coloraturaElise]

He had a reason for everything he did. I would guess that he wanted that very peculiar color there.

[@zacharymckinnon6832]

well its just bassons and string bass at the end fading into nothing. The only instrument that can not only match the bassoon color at that volume and fade to nothing would be string bass. It makes since from an orchestration standpoint. It sucks, but it just be like that sometime

[@themajor2072]

I’ve actually come across some comparable register demands in 20th Century music, even some harmonics in works like Agon. As for this specific instance, even if you must play it as a harmonic (and I would argue there is no way an audience is ever gonna tell the difference, especially not while you’re blending with horns, but that’s beside the point), having a 4 lever C extension will completely eliminate the need for a retune (unless you count using the E flat lever as “retuning”, but I don’t). The tone of the harmonic, being a high harmonic on a low string, is very much dull by comparison to the bright and clear sheen of the harmonics on the higher strings, but it does consistently sound and honestly it doesn’t need to be the most resonant note while it’s blending with the far fuller sound of the horns or when you are actively phrasing to niente.

[@sethwexler6910]

Just another masterpiece from Graingers pen.

[@virtuallyskitz1]

Steel marimba? ie vibraphone? He seemed to love composing “theme and variations”, getting more and more inventive as the piece progressed.

[@grantmansfield5144]

why the hell is this piece in a different key than the piano version

[@Cmaj7]

It's easier for pianists to play with more black keys (4 sharps for E major), but easier for bands with fewer accidentals (3 flats for Eb Major, and fewer for the clarinets, trumpets, etc.) so I suspect that's the reason.

[@grantmansfield5144]

Cmaj7 oh yeah, that makes sense. I can’t imagine playing this on piano in Eb.

[@josephsummer777]

In general, writing for band tonally it is best to write in flat keys to accommodate the many band instruments pitched in E-flat, B-flat and F. French horns are pitched in F.

[@josephsummer777]

To continue: trumpets and clarinets are typically in B flat. Saxes in various flat keys. trombones and flutes in C. Piccolo trumpets and clarinets and alto clarinets are in E flat. Tubas are written in C but often the big B-flat tuba is being used. mellophones in E-flat, played by French hornists

[@mrewan6221]

@@grantmansfield5144 I spent a lot of time playing bassoon in bands, and am more comfortable playing in flat keys, because they were easier for brass and transposing reeds. So when I play the piano version (on harmonium), I just read it in Eb! (I've since played in theatre pits, and am a lot better with sharp keys now, because - strings.)

[@esocphantom1203]

1:51

[@esocphantom1203]

4:38

[@CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji]

Nice

[@red_elezen]

Does anyone know the context/story behind it

[@rafaeltapia8275]

What a beautiful Piece, Soprano Sax soloist is pretty flat throughout and using an excessive amount of vibrato, but other than that Great performance!

[@nicolashoggard.2647]

I feel as if interpretation in this piece can go a long way, I think the soloist did great, in regards to the excessive vibrato. I feel the tone given is almost "whiney" in a sense.

[@angelaw7004]

3:12

[@hudsoncampos5976]

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@Colo-OrdinaryFiesta]

Sounds like a bit of a mashup of ye banks a braes and also Australian up country tune

[@NFGolf]

I don't like playing this but it sounds awesome

[@streetmayonnaise1806]

Nathan Fankhanel For me, it's so fun to play this lol

[@wesowen6624]

I think Grainger wanted vibrato but not that much vibrato

[@TheGymSavant]

Saxophone vibrato was intended to be more alike string vibrato when Grainger composed this. I think it's just how he intended.

[@Aright231]

It has grown on me, I feel like that vibrato makes everything more nostalgic.

[@waffleman-]

sounds like ich bin der welt abhanden gekommen

[@erwinwoodedge4885]

As bombastic as colonialism itself...

[@langjones3846]

The music is not at all bombastic. What on earth were you hearing.

[@TickleMeElmo55]

I'm confident you don't know what bombastic actually means.

[@bandmusic3614]

I have to mute the audio everytime it gets to the high note in the sax solo

[@izbellzz]

2:25 3:11

[@jessturner6886]

Contra Sarrusophone. Noice.

[@Jeo-fq1zw]

Dare I "say"......ear candy....

[@Akenoismine]

Grainger>

[@ruslan.denshaev]

Bassoons only 😊

[@mrewan6221]

… and stopped horns. And string bass. (I'm not having a go at bassoon; I play the instrument had have played this piece. But horns and string bass are probably the bassoon's closest friends, so mustn't leave them out.)

[@josesaavedra4443]

Man, the Soprano Sax player is really overdoing that horrible vibrato.

[@DarthVaderXXII]

Probably because in the score, Grainger calls for lots of vibrato. Everything that the composer calls for is generally intended to be exaggerated.

[@coloraturaElise]

And then there's the intonation issue on the long top note near the end of the solo. It's a long note...tune it! The guy's a good enough musician to hear and fix that.

[@TheGymSavant]

It's not really that out of tune. It's a tad flat but it isn't distractingly out of tune.

[@coloraturaElise]

@@Noah-wv4td He sat on it long enough to fix it.

[@FLX_AU]

I disagree.

[@eliiphim]

sometimes i forget that granger was incredibly racist lol

[@franciscor3758]

What?! How do you know?

[@eliiphim]

@@franciscor3758 if you’ve ever noticed that the words he writes for expression in his music and thought that they seemed a bit weird, that is because he was very conservative linguistically and thought that people of color (and also people of lower classes i think?) were “tainting” the English language, so he was very purist about it lol.

[@franciscor3758]

@@eliiphim Ive played a couple grainier pieces with the original writing but I never read anything weird. Do you know specific examples?

[@eliiphim]

@@franciscor3758at the beginning, there are words and phrases like “accompanyingly” and “well to the fore”

[@mrewan6221]

@@franciscor3758 He wrote an essay on "Blue-Eyed English" (and published it at the start of one of his scores?). He advocates removing all Italian (and any Latin-derived, Slavic, etc) words from English, and replacing them with Germanic words, preferably Old-English or Nordic. If you look at his folk-song collections/arrangements, there's lot from England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden. But you'll find it hard to find very much French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Russian, etc, etc.

[@monkeyman1ooo183]

1:01

[@madelinekuhl8989]

1:13