Percy Grainger was a globe-trotting pianist: born in Australia, he worked in London and later moved to the United States, serving in the army band during World War I. With inspiration from English folk songs, he wrote and arranged many exceptional pieces which have become classics for the wind band.

In 1905, Grainger travelled around Lincolnshire, England, to record folk songs using the newly invented phonograph. Thirty years later, he turned these recordings into six songs for wind band, calling it a “bunch of musical wildflowers”, or Lincolnshire Posy. Although each song uses a simple “theme and variations” form, Grainger’s creative orchestration (choice of instruments) and irregular rhythms combine to make a unique “musical portrait” of each folk singer.

The first movement is a lively tune in which another folk song, The Duke of Marlborough, appears suddenly as a counter-melody. See if you can hear it in the horns.

The second movement is a sentimental song, developed with the rich chromatic chords that Grainger loved. Listen for examples of his chromaticism, or use of notes outside the regular key (scale), towards the climatic ending.

The third movement is a haunting song of the violence between poachers and groundskeepers. This complex and powerful movement shows off the many colourful sounds of the wind band. Listen closely for a soprano saxophone solo, double-tongued trumpet, and an unusual duet which happens twice: a canon (the melody played with itself) between piccolo/clarinet and oboe/bassoon.

Here is a recording of the original folk singer of Rufford Park Poachers:

The fourth movement is a fast and cheerful tune with some very challenging woodwind parts! Listen for lightning-quick sextuplets and another canon between oboe and soprano saxophone. The movement ends with yet another of Grainger’s characteristic dissonances.

The fifth movement is a drinking song, and showcases the power of the wind band’s brass instruments. Not only is the movement written in mixed meter, meaning the number of beats changes between 4, 5, and even 2 1/2, there are also sections in which the conductor leads without a steady beat. Listen for the frequent tempo changes – do they make a “drunken” sound?

The final movement has a very similar melody to Green Bushes, a popular folk song that had been used in several other wind band pieces, including English composer Vaughan Williams’s English Folk Song Suite, and even Grainger’s own Green Bushes.