Salute To Percy Grainger / Various Salute To Percy Grainger / Various CD

A composer with an extraordinary ear for sonority, original in his outlook, sometimes misunderstood, now revered, Percy Grainger is one of Australia's most unique sons, and, in the words of Sir Peter Pears, one of it's "most independent and single-minded spirits". Many of these recordings, of vocal and chamber orchestra pieces, were made by Decca in 1968 and 1972 and issued, together with a 1927 recording of Grainger playing his Country Gardens and of Peter Pears and Osian Ellis performing Six Dukes wenta-fishin' in two volumes, with the title Salute to Percy Grainger. The title is retained for this anthology and to it is added Sir John Eliot Gardiner's Deutsche Grammophon recording of the Warriors, presenting nearly two hours of some of Grainger's finest utterances in some of their earliest (and best) performances to be captured on record. Ten of these items [CD2: 1-10] make their first appearance on CD. The performers are a Who's Who of great Decca artists. Benjamin Britten and Steuart Bedford share the conducting duties on the Decca recordings, and the vocalists include Sir Peter Pears, Anna Reynolds and John Shirley-Quirk, together with the Ambrosian Singers and the Wandsworth Boys' Choir. The notes are written by celebrities too - Sir Peter Pears and Grainger scholar, John Bird - and include affectionate reminiscences. Complete song texts are included.

1. Shepherd's Hey 2. Willow Willow 3. I'm Seventeen Come Sunday 4. Bold William Taylor 5. There Was a Pig Went Out to Dig 6. My Robin Is to the Greenwood Gone 7. Lord Maxwell's Goodnight 8. 'The Duke of Marlborough' Fanfare 9. Let's Dance Gay in Green Meadow 10. Scotch Strathspey and Reel 11. The Pretty Maid Milkin' Her Cow 12. The Sprig of Thyme 13. Lisbon 14. The Lost Lady Found 15. Shallow Brown 16. Molly on the Shore 17. Shenandoah 18. Irish Tune from County Derry, 'Danny Boy' 19. Brigg Fair 20. Green Bushes 21. Under a Bridge 22. Dollar and a Half a Day 23. The Merry King 24. Six Dukes Went A-Fishin' 25. Stormy 26. The Three Ravens 27. Died for Love 28. Country Gardens 29. The Power of Love 30. The Hunter in His Career 31. The Warriors