Colonial Song is a musical composition written by Australian composer Percy Grainger

Percy Grainger

George Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many...

. Although Grainger created versions for different types of musical ensembles, its most commonly used version today is for concert band.

Background

Grainger initially wrote Colonial Song in 1911 as a piano piece as a gift to his mother, Rose. Of his piece, Grainger wrote that it was “an attempt to write a melody as typical of the Australian countryside as Stephen Foster

Stephen Foster

Stephen Collins Foster , known as the "father of American music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century...

’s exquisite songs are typical of rural America.” Although the piece seems to have been intended as part of a series of ‘Sentimentals,’ Grainger never wrote any other pieces in this series. Unlike many of Grainger’s other compositions, the melodies of Colonial Song are not based on folk song, but are original melodies.

Versions

Although originally written as a piano solo, Grainger arranged Colonial song in several other versions. Among the versions published during Grainger’s life include:

• 2 voices, harp, orchestra.
• Military band.
• Violin, cello, piano.
• Theater orchestra.
• Small orchestra.
• Piano

Early reception

Early reception of Colonial Song was not positive. Fellow composer Henry Balfour Gardiner

Henry Balfour Gardiner

Henry Balfour Gardiner was an English musician, composer, and teacher. Between his conventional education at Charterhouse School and New College, Oxford, where he obtained only a pass degree, Gardiner was a piano student at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt am Main where he was taught by Knorr...

 disliked the piece, as did critics. Upon hearing the piece in 1914, Sir Thomas Beecham

Thomas Beecham

Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras...

 wrote: “My dear Grainger, you have achieved the almost impossible! You have written the worst piece of modern times.” However, Colonial Song was received more positively in America. During his service in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

, Grainger re-worked the piece for military band.

Later reception

By the end of the twentieth century, Colonial Song had gained acceptance among wind band conductors. Frank Battisti

Frank Battisti

Frank Battisti is the Conductor Emeritus of the New England Conservatory of Music Wind Ensemble.-Career:Battisti founded and conducted the NEC Wind Ensemble for 30 years. The ensemble is recognized as being one of the premiere ensembles of its kind in the United States and throughout the world...

 included Colonial Song in a list of 73 "meritorious" compositions. Noted conductor Frederick Fennell

Frederick Fennell

Frederick Fennell was an internationally recognized conductor, and one of the primary figures in promoting the wind ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and greatly affected the field of music education in the USA and abroad...

identified it as ‘basic band repertoire’ in The Instrumentalist. By the late twentieth century, Colonial Song had been recorded by several college and university wind ensembles.

Selected bibliography

Battisti, Frank L. The Winds of Change: The Evolution of the Contemporary American Wind Band/Ensemble and its Conductor. Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications, 2002.

Bird, John. Percy Grainger. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Fennell, Frederick. “Basic band repertory: Colonial Song by Percy Grainger.” The Instrumentalist 37 (March 1983): 14-19.

Lewis, Thomas P., ed. A Source Guide to the Music of Percy Grainger. White Plains, NY: Pro/Am Music Resources, 1991.

Slattery, Thomas C. Percy Grainger: The Inveterate Innovator. Evanston: The Instrumentalist Co., 1974.