Lincolnshire Posy
Percy Aldridge GRAINGER
(1882-1961)
Grainger was something of a musical eccentric in many people's eyes, but his genius for taking the language of English folk song and turning it into musical gems was unsurpassed. 'Lincolnshire Posy' is a musical bunch of flowers based on folk songs collected in Lincolnshire, England, and each movement is a musical portrait of the singer who sang its underlying melody.
In
December 1936 Grainger received a letter from the American Bandmasters
Association inviting him to write two works for the eighth annual convention in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in March 1937. He decided to make a new arrangement of The
Lads of Wamphray March, as well as a suite for wind band, based on the folk
songs he collected in Lincolnshire, thirty years before. Three of the six
movements for the suite were finished within four days. After feverishly writing
out all parts without a score, he rehearsed the piece with success at the Ernest
Williams School of Music in Brooklyn, and rushed off to Milwaukee.
Grainger
himself conducted the premiere on 7 March 1937, on which occasion only three of
the six movements were played. The premiere resulted in a great fiasco. The band
was composed of local professional musicians who had a great deal of difficulty
playing the irregular rhythms and 'free time'-bars. In the preface of the
subsequent published score, Grainger explains to bandleaders that the only
players likely to balk at those rhythms were seasoned bandsmen, who 'think
more of their beer than of their music'. Three months later, the Goldman
Band performed the full piece, with great success. Percy Grainger, who had lost
faith in the piece till that time, was delighted.
Although
the music is based on existing melodies, Grainger adapted the songs in such a
personal way that Lincolnshire Posy can't be called a mere selection of
arrangements. In the program notes Grainger explains his intentions:
gEach
number is intended to be a kind of musical portrait of the singer who sang its
underlying melodyc a musical portrait of the singer's personality no less than
of his habits of songc his regular or irregular wonts of rhythm, his
preference for gaunt or ornately arabesque delivery, his contrasts of legato and
staccato, his tendency towards breadth or delicacy of toneh.
Lisbon Bay' is a brisk sailor's song with a pronounced lilt. 'Horkstow Grange', the second movement, is named for a pleasantly situated 18th-century farm house that stands beside the minor road to South Ferriby, just south of where the mighty Humber Bridge now stands - Horkstow has its own tiny suspension bridge.
Subtitled
'The Miser and his Man' - a local Tragedy, the 'Poachers' tune is a requiem for
an oppressive overseer and his man', who couldn't take the abuse any longer and
used a club on the miser.
The
'Brisk Young Sailor' is a simple tune that tells of one 'who returned to wed his
True Love.'' 'Lord Melbourne' is a war song with the lyrics '`I am a noble
Englishman, Lord Melbourne is my name. I never lost any battle, but won great
victory.''
The
delightful set is completed with 'The Lost Lady Found', a dance song that tells
the story of a woman stolen by gypsies. Her uncle is suspected of doing away
with her in order to acquire her estate. Her sweetheart, searching everywhere,
eventually finds her in Dublin. Returning home, the pair arrives in time to
prevent the uncle's hanging for the alleged crime. The town rejoices. This last
tune was actually not collected by Grainger, but by Lucy E. Broadwood, secretary
of the Folk Song Society.