Musical MNers! Who is this composer?

[GrannyOgre]

And what is the name of this piece?

It’s a movement from an orchestral suite of English (I think) folk dances. I have a feeling there is an arrangement for piano too. The composer is 20th century.

In C major, the melody would be something like DE C F DE C D EFGEF EF G (octave below) G C.

If anyone can work it out from that I will be massively impressed and very grateful for the solution to my ear worm 😂

Rhespigi?
From Ancient Airs and Dances.

Should be 'Respighi'

It's Shepherd's Hey! Percy grainger

Thanks!

Not Respighi. It’s definitely a British composer. Someone along the lines of Arnold, Britten, Walton, Vaughan Williams. Although I think it is actually a traditional folk dance as well.

Yes, @Maureenthemagicunicorn! Thank you! The ear worm 🐛 is defeated 😂

@Maureenthemagicunicorn That is some extremely impressive identification!

Well done guys. Grainger was Australian tho 😁

True, @Bimblesalong 😂 But he was one of the most influential composers in the revival of traditional British folk music. The ear worm has now taken revenge on his behalf and put this in my head which is a thousand times worse 😂

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XIwY-JaXAhA

You've made me find out what it sounds like now!

Here it is if anyone else is curious. It’s based on a traditional Morris Dance tune.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cLlSNHc6bsg

Glad to find other Grainger fans. My father brought some fragments of his music to this country and founded the Grainger society. We had an arrangement of the Bridal Song made for church organ for my wedding. Lovely stuff.

Oh this takes me back! Percy Grainger music was very popular on my mother's choice of radio channels when I was little back in the late 50s early 60s. Lovely to hear it again. 💗
Interesting @Bimblesalong - tell us more?

This is the society in its current form: https://percygrainger.org/. Both elderly founders still enjoying Percy’s music.

Thank you @Bimblesalong I will check it out. 🙂

LOVE Grainger! Have you come across the March Jig ('Maguire's Kick')? It's so vivacious!

I love it all - grew up with it constantly on records, reel-to-reel and also on the piano. I play a lot now.
Dad went out to White Plains just before Ella Grainger died. I must check in with him about who he met.

We attended a super concert locally by John Lavender, a pianist specialising in Grainger’s music.
Thanks for the thread.

Love this.
Only on MN ❤️🤗

This is all very wholesome, isn’t it? 😊

Absolutely! total shepherd’s hey earworm!

I do love the Colonial Song for a chill out on the piano tho.

It is indeed very wholesome 😂

This thread has reminded me that I have never been to Cecil Sharp House, The English Folk Dance & Song Society, where Percy Grainger found many of the traditional songs and dances that he arranged in the archives. I feel inspired by this thread to sign up for one of their workshops now!

@GrannyOgre this is also something I would like to do.
just FaceTimed dad over something different and asked him about White Plains. We were living in Canada for a few months with his work. He had wanted to visit White Plains, Ella was still alive but elderly and Stuart M was living there. He went with my little brother who was about 8 at the time. They stayed overnight and Ella got up for the loo and accidentally walked into the room they were sleeping in!

the conversation prompted dad to mention a book Grainger had written about his mother, which he had signed. Dad has kindly offered it to me. 😊

Thanks for prompting some
lovely conversations. I’m off to the piano to play through my PG piano songbook. I’ll start with Shepherds Hey!

@Bimblesalong John Lavender accompanied me when I was taking my ABRSM violin exams in the 1980s! Every now and then I hear him on R3 in a Grainger piano duet recording - think other pianist is Penelope Thwaites.

@HarpQuartet gosh how wonderful. He really does an amazing job with Grainger.

One of my great sadnesses about the pandemic was missing a special Grainger concert by the LSO. Dad’s too old to travel now, so it would have been one of the last things in London (altho he attends concerts local to where my parents live).

I should tell you Dad also met Delius’s amenuensis, Fenby, who made a special arrangement of a Delius piece for his string group at university. Special memories.

OP, because of this thread I’ve added a few Percy Graingers to my Spotify classical list.
I'm embarrassed to admit I’d never heard of him before, though of course I did know Country Gardens (happy memories of rude versions back in school!)

It’s lovely to find some new (to me!) music. Thanks!😊

Oh my goodness, John Lavender was my piano teacher 30 years ago! (I know it must be him as he played Grainger on two pianos with Penelope Thwaites.)
Please could you post where this concert was – I’d love to be able to hear him play again in person, but can’t find any useful info online about him anywhere.