Bird, John - Percy Grainger

This acclaimed biography of Percy Grainger gives the first circumstantial account of one of the strangest figures in twentieth-century music. Behind the glittering public image lay a tragic and chaotic personal life -- mother-domination, sexual unorthodoxy, eccentric athleticism, a demonic spiritual drive, and a wildly inconsistent personal philosophy. This book beautifully balances the brilliance with the turbulence. First published in 1976 but long unavailable, this new edition has been very extensively revised, updated, and reset. A list of published compositions, a current discography of performances by Grainger, and a selection of his seminal writings complete what has already proved to be a standard work.

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CONTENTS

List of Illustrations
Prefatory Notes by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears
Appreciaton by Leopold Stokowski
Author's Preface
1 `Bubbles'
2 Doctors and Dustbin Lids
3 `Perks' joins the Frankfurt Gang
4 Saint and Sinner
5 Grettir the Strong Flexes his Muscles
6 `The years before the war were Hell'
7 The Twisted Genius and the Dinkum Aussie
8 Packed Houses and Zulu Warriors
9 `I am an Australian, not a Corsican'
10 Unto Brigg Fair
11 The Little Half-Viking
12 `Poor put-upon Percy'
13 `Adieu Old World! I would hail a New World'
14 `Your mad side has ruined us'
15 Beatless Music, Blue-Eyed English, and a Nordic Princess
16 `The measure of my artistic defeat'
17 `I shall go back to the joys of my teen-years'
18 `Your loving but defeated, Percy'
Select Source List
Appendix A. Catalogue of Grainger's Published Original Compositions and Arrangements
Appendix B. Statements on `Free Music'
Appendix C. Preface to Spoon River, American Folk-Music Setting No. 2
Appendix D. Discography: Performances by Grainger
Appendix E. Catalogue of Duo-Art Piano Rolls made by Grainger
Appendix F. Select Bibliography: Performances of Grainger's Works by Others
Index