Kathryn Faul 17 November 2014 TAs: Luisa Cartagena, Brittany Ware MUSIC 101
An Analysis of of Lincolnshire Posy Lincolnshire Posy is a piece written for Wind Band around early 1937 by Percy Grainger. The piece is based off of English Folksongs that were sang to Grainger. Each movement is meant to be a musical portrait of a different folksong as well as the singer of their piece including their tonality, their rhythmic tendencies, and their individual style.
Each movement is extremely different from the movement before essentially being its own piece with its own style and feel. They all contrast in terms of articulation, tempo, meter, rhythm, and delivery among other things. The first movement places heavy emphasis on its “flat key” sound and gradually
deepens through the addition of instruments such as saxophones and lower brass. The dynamics are subtle and the movement paints a clear picture as to the singer it is depicting. The second movement is homophonic and changes meter frequently and irregularly preventing a steady flow in an attempt on Grainger’s part to capture the rhythmic irregularities of the original singer’s
performance. The opening harmonies in this movement continually gain intensity as the piece goes on and the melodies repeat. In this movement there is a natural clash that occurs through the blaring use of three trumpets and four horns.
In the third movement contains the use of soprano saxophone in an attempt by Grainger to convince band leaders and directors of how wonderful he believed the instrument to be. There are five versions of the melody that appear with the biggest difference each time being a change of mode. One statement of the melody contains a saxophone solo and then the piece moves into a syncopated and chromatic rendition of the original melody. The fourth movement replicates an almost chamber ensemble-like style. It is often considered to be one of the most difficult movements as it has a fast tempo and a dire need for accuracy among fast sextuplet patterns and other difficult passages. The fifth movement is often described as being rhythmically difficult and contains much rhythmic irregularity as well as articulation changes. It also contains a lot of range difficulty for the musicians as it goes into a higher range for some instruments than most are used to. The last movement changes feel relatively often going from hopeful and loving to agitated and staccato to cause a sense of urgency.
The piece originally premiered on March 7, 1937 with the Milwaukee Symphonic Band in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The American Bandmasters Association Associati on commissioned commissioned the piece from from Grainger Grainger because because at that point in time time there was very little literature for wind bands aside from various marches. Grainger collected the folk songs that he used for the piece on wax cylinders and then began to arrange them adding his own twist to each hoping to really capture the style of each individual original singer. The last movement was not finished in
time for th e premier of the piece and two movements were omitted by Grainger’s choice. The full piece wasn’t premiered until three months later under the
conducting of Edwin Franco Goldman.
Lincolnshire Posy was developed from six different English Folksongs that were collected over a period of time. The six original folksongs are Dublin Bay (which was retitled as “Lisbon”), Harkstow Grange , Rufford Park Poachers, The
Brisk Young Sailor, The Duke of Marlboro (retitled as “Lord Melbourne”) , and The Lost Lady Found. As the piece was originally needed due to a lack of literature for wind band it certainly accomplished its goal and is now often played by wind bands and similar ensembles across the world. Lincolnshire Posy helped to spread the idea of composing for wind bands (especially pieces other than the typical marches).
The piece is titled Lincolnshire Posy because Grainger originally got the wax cylinder recordings in Lincolnshire, England 30 years prior and often referred to the original singers as his “musical wildflowers that sung so sweetly” (hence
the posy part of the title). Although 5 of the movements were originally noted by Grainger one was noted by Lucy E. Broadwood. When Grainger originally scored the piece and wrote out individual parts he did so in a very short period of time and made many errors in the scores which he would then fix during rehearsals. He also only wrote out a type of condensed score and a full score wasn’t made
until much later. Overall Lincolnshire Posy is an extremely intricate piece known
for its level of difficulty and need for accuracy. It was one of the first pieces composed of its kind and certainly set the standard for future wind band compositions to come. It is contrasting in nature and definitely accomplished its goal of maintaining true to the original recordings of the folksongs and describing the character and style of each of the folksingers.
Bibliography
Audio Recordings Recordings Grainger, Percy , Lincolnshire Posy, Central Band of the Royal Air Force, Naxos Music Library, November 20, 2014 This recording is by the Central Band of the Royal Air Force and takes few liberties as to straying from the score and/or what Grainger had originally wanted. Grainger, Percy , Lincolnshire Posy, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass, Naxos Music Library, November 20, 2014 This recording is by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass and tends to follow Grainger’s score more than other recordings. Grainger, Percy , Lincolnshire Posy, The United States Marine Band, Naxos Music Library, November 20, 2014 This recording is by the United States Marine Band and tends to take more drastic tempos than Grainger had wanted, especially in the third movement going much faster than is typically taken. Journals Berz, William L. "A Comparative Analysis of Conductors' Tempo Selections in Recordings of Percy Grainger's "Lincolnshire Posy"." Journal of Band Research 41.2 (2006): 36-54. ProQuest. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. This journal discusess various tempos used in (up to) 22 different recordings of Percy Grainger's Lincolnshire Posy by various conductors. It was shown that the tempos varied greatly but were often slower in some parts than what Grainger had written in the score. Bourne, Warren. "Folksong and More in Grainger's "A Lincolnshire Posy"." Australasian Music Research 5 (2000): 105-12. ProQuest. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. This journal gives an in- depth analysis of Percy Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy with detailed descriptions of each movement. Thwaites, Penelope. "Rediscovering Percy Grainger." Musical Opinion 01 2011: 18-9. ProQuest. Web. 20 Nov. 2014 .
This journal provides an in-depth biography and analysis of Percy Grainger and his music. Books Birdwell, John C. The Utilization of Folk Song Elements in Selected Works by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Percy Grainger with Subsequent Treatment Exemplified in the Wind Band Music of David Stanhope., 1996. Print. This book discusses the use of Percy Grainger’s music among other composers in a wind band setting. Crane, D G, and Percy Grainger. Percy Grainger's Lincolnshire Posy: Historical Background and Analysis. , 1986. Print. This book provides the history of Lincolnshire Posy as well as a musical analysis of the piece as a whole as well as each of its movements. Grainger, Percy, Malcolm Gillies, David Pear, and Mark Carroll. Self-portrait of Percy Grainger. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print. This book gives a biography of Percy Grainger as well as personal insight into his life and his feelings about not only his compositions but his life in general.
