Lincolnshire Posy, a folk song suite for band by Australian-born composer Percy Grainger (1882-1961), reveals ancient sounds from the English countryside.
In 1905, Grainger, who adapted England as his homeland, traveled to remote villages with pencil, notebook, and phonograph in hand. His efforts to preserve the raw, exotic sounds of the isolated countryside mirrored the work of other composers at the time, including Ralph Vaughan Williams (in England) and Zoltán Kodály and Béla Bartók (in Hungary). The wax cylinders which contain the musical seeds of Lincolnshire Posy are stored at the Library of Congress. Conductor Jerry Junkin plays them here.
Hailing his subjects as “kings and queens of song,” Percy Grainger insisted that “No concert singer I ever heard approached these rural warblers in variety of tone-quality, range of dynamics, rhythmic resourcefulness and individuality of style.”
In his program note, Grainger wrote,
Lincolnshire Posy, as a whole work, was conceived and scored by me direct for wind band early in 1937. Five, out of the six, movements of which it is made up existed in no other finished form, though most of these movements (as is the case with almost all my compositions and settings, for whatever medium) were indebted, more or less, to unfinished sketches for a variety of mediums covering many years (in this case, the sketches date from 1905 to 1937). These indebtednesses are stated in the score.
This bunch of “musical wildflowers” (hence the title) is based on folksongs collected in Lincolnshire, England (one notated by Miss Lucy E. Broadwood; the other five noted by me, mainly in the years 1905-1906, and with the help of the phonograph), and the work is dedicated to the old folksingers who sang so sweetly to me. Indeed, each number is intended to be a kind of musical portrait of the singer who sang its underlying melody — a musical portrait of the singer’s personality no less than of his habits of song — his regular or irregular wonts of rhythm, his preference for gaunt or ornately arabesqued delivery, his contrasts of legato and staccato, his tendency towards breadth or delicacy of tone.
The first movement, Lisbon (originally titled “Dublin Bay”) is a jaunty sea shanty in 6/8 time. The folk song’s words tell of a young sailor who is preparing to leave his love and travel to Lisbon. Grainger wrote about a Mr. Deane who sang him the song:
I found him in the hospital ward of the workhouse, with a great gash in his head – he having fallen down stairs. He was very proud of his wound, and insisted that he was far too weak to sing. ‘All right, Mr Deane,’ I said to him, ‘you needn’t sing yourself; but I would like you to hear some records made by other singers in these parts.’ He had not heard half the record through before he said, impulsively: ‘I’ll sing for you, yoong mahn.’ So the phonograph was propped up on his bed, and in between the second and third verse he spoke these words into the record: ‘It’s pleasein’ muh.’ Which shows how very much folksinging is part of the folksinger’s natural life.
The second movement, Horkstow Grange, begins with quiet majesty and reaches a wrenching climax. In the middle of the movement, the solo trumpet intones the town crier who recounts a tale involving a fatal feud between an old man and his assistant. Capturing the freedom of the folk style, the meter becomes irregular, shifting between 4/4 and 5/4 time.
A mysterious and mournful canon opens the third movement, Rufford Park Poachers. The ballad tells the story of the 1851 Ruffed Park battle between wealthy landowning gamesmen and poachers. Alternating meters echo the old singer’s faltering delivery and the haziness of memory with the passing of time.
The fourth movement, The Brisk Young Sailor, is a sunny dialogue between a young boy and his sweetheart. The baritone horn emerges as a prominent voice. The unabashed exuberance of the singer is captured by dancing sextuplet arpeggios in the clarinets, flutes, and piccolo.
Beginning in free, unmetered time with a blazing brass chorale, the fifth movement (Lord Melbourne) is punctuated with the sounds of military drums. It is a spirited “war song” which ends in triumph.
The final movement, The Lost Lady Found, is a lilting ballad in 3/4 time. Its infectious, repeating melody moves from one instrumental choir to another in a series of dazzling variations. The ballad tells the story of a lady who is kidnapped. Villagers suspect her uncle of foul play, and they are moments away from executing him at the gallows when she returns. In the final moments, church bells ring out in joyful celebration.
Lincolnshire Posy was commissioned by the American Bandmasters Association. It was premiered on March 7, 1937 by the Milwaukee Symphonic Band. The ensemble included members from local factory worker bands representing such beer makers as Blatz Brewery and Pabst Blue Ribbon.
This performance features Jerry Junkin and the Dallas Wind Symphony:
I. Lisbon:
II. Horkstow Grange:
III. Rufford Park Poachers:
IV. The Brisk Young Sailor:
V. Lord Melbourne:
VI. The Lost Lady Found:
Recordings
- Grainger: Lincolnshire Posy, Jerry Junkin, Dallas Wind Symphony Reference Recordings
- The University of Illinois Symphonic Band, Dr. Harry Begian
Featured Image: “A Distant View of Lincoln Cathedral”(c. 1820), Peter De Wint