Grainger: Lincolnshire Posy

Music for Concert Band, played by one of the finest military bands, the Central Band of the RAF. All of the music featured here was originally composed for wind band including the ever-popular Holst Suites, Vaughan Williams’ English Folk Suite and an array of works by Percy Grainger.

The essence of Grainger’s music is most evident in his piano pieces, having taken ownership of traditional and popular influences and rejecting outdated conventions.

Grainger’s ingenious variation, textures and moods can be heard throughout, ranging from the fantastically popular Country Gardens to the elaborate fantasy on Porgy and Bess.

The legendary brass section of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, long recognised for its power, dynamism and lyricism, takes centre stage in the latest release from the Grammy®-winning CSO Resound label. Cheered for their performances and recordings of Mahler, Bruckner and Strauss, the CSO Brass turns its focus to works by Gabrieli, William Walton and J.S. Bach, as well as symphonic works arranged for brass and percussion by Silvestre Revueltas (Sensemayá) and Prokofi ev (Three Scenes from Romeo and Juliet). Percy Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy, beloved by generations of wind ensemble devotees, is transcribed here in a stunning arrangement by San Francisco Symphony trombonist, Timothy Higgins. Virtuoso arrangements by Joseph Kreines of three scenes from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and Walton’s Crown Imperial feature the entire brass ensemble in thrilling fashion.

A musical force in Chicago and around the world, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of the fi nest international orchestras. Its expansive catalogue of more than 900 recordings has earned 62 Grammy Awards—more than any other orchestra in the world.

Showcasing the wind band music of Percy Grainger, including favourites Lincolnshire Posy and Irish Tune from County Derry (“Danny Boy”).

Australia considers Grainger its greatest composer; the U.S., where he lived most of his life, praises him as a music educator, composer and arranger of band music; and England considers him supremely important in the preservation and arrangement of British folk songs.

Grainger’s gems are performed to perfection by America’s only full-time professional wind band, conducted by Jerry Junkin. Grainger specified many unusual, optional instruments, and this recording has them all.

With this addition to Naxos’s popular Wind Band Classics series the Ensemble explores the music of four musical trendsetters — Hindemith, whose exhilarating Symphony convinced other leading composers that the wind band is a legitimate medium for serious music; Holst, whose First Suite is regarded as a cornerstone of the band repertoire; Schwantner, whose …and the mountains rising nowhere calls for amplified contrabass, piano and 46 percussion instruments; and Grainger, whose Lincolnshire Posy is considered a pinnacle among his folk-music settings.