Yesterday a group of us were invited by Pete Lawler of the band Weddings Parties Anything to visit the Percy Grainger museum here in Melbourne. A group of us grabbed local bike share bikes ($2.70 for 24 hours!) and mandatory helmets ($5 at the local 7-Eleven, with a $3 rebate if you return your helmet!) and headed towards the university. We were met by Monica Syrette and Brian Allison, curators at the museum, who explained a little about the museum and Grainger before we began our viewing.
Grainger was a turn of the last century composer, most known for some band arrangements that almost every school band learns.
He was also a lot of other things—among them a famous concert pianist who played worldwide. Band students aren't told about all the varied aspects of his life, however he stipulated that it should all be laid bare when his life's work was presented in this biographical museum. His idea was that every aspect of a creative person’s life has some bearing on their work. So this museum has rooms about his dad, who built bridges and civic buildings around Australia (when he was sober), and his mother, whose dresses are on display. It’s an admirable idea—to include more context in the presentation of an artist’s work—though how much of his attachment to his mum and her tragic suicide shows up in his composing is questionable.
In his later years, Grainger developed an aversion to English words with Latin roots—so the word “museum” was, in this system, to be replaced with the term “Hoard House”. He hoped this was what all museums would henceforth be called. I agree. The Guggenheim Hoard House, the Hoard House of Modern Art—let’s be honest about what these places are.
Here he is with his nice head of hair:
He lived in England for a while and is remembered there as a folk song collector, and some of his compositions show this influence. One of his famous tunes was called “Lincolnshire Posy”. In the U.S. he is remembered as a concert pianist and composer. and in Australia he is virtually unknown (this could be disputed, as most in Australia are at least familiar with his arrangement of the folk tune “Country Gardens”). We have, it seems, many biographies.
He had many diverse interests and felt that artists were always in danger of being pigeonholed for one thing—I have to agree. Here is a quote from him:
“The artist is not (as so many so called ‘inartistic’ people seem to like to believe) a being supernaturally gifted with skill for some branch of art. To sing, make music, paint, draw, carve and dance is natural to all humanity, and it is only a lopsided civilisation, mad on ‘specialisation’, that scares the ‘tame cats’ of humanity into abandoning their natural right to an allround manysided life.”
Source
Here’s another quote—a sort of early idea regarding emergent art forms:
“I don’t especially value ‘originality’ in art, as I consider the communal development of folksongs is no whit inferior to the original achievement of a great outstanding ‘original’ genius. It is the universal that pulls me in all matters and I am more thrilled by these points that all people have in common than in the special achievements and specialness of individuals.”
Source
He was the definition of an iconoclast. At one point he and his wife had the idea to design clothing made of towels.
This was not just some idle wacky whim. Grainger had a thorough justification for these outfits:
“My mother was devoted to Lafcadio Hearn’s stories of Japan and she worshipped many aspects of Japanese civilization—for instance its cleanliness. And she and I often discussed the filthiness of European clothes: men’s coats in which the sweat of years is allowed to gather, our shoes that bring the dirt of the streets into our homes. And around 1910 (after we had both been fired by the beauty of Maori and South Sea island clothes and fabrics seen in museums in New Zealand and Australia) my mother mooted the idea of clothes made of Turkish towels – cool in summer, warm in the winter, and washable at all times.”
Source
He actually wore these outfits while teaching and writing, and he was assisted in making them by both his mother and his wife.
“Between 1910 and 1914 I wore these clothes while giving many of my lessons in London and continually during my composing holidays in Denmark. In 1932 or 1933 my wife and I took up again this idea of clothing made of towelling and when in Australia in 1934 and 1935 we were amazed by the beauty of the bath towels on sale in Australia—some imported from England, Chekoslovakia and America, but most of them (and among them the most beautiful ones) manufactured in Australia.”
Source
And here he proposes a proto-Bauhaus idea—the beauty and practicality of machine-made objects:
“Here was a chance to show what could be done with the beauty born of machinery—a beauty as rich and subtle, in its own way, as anything made by hand or loom. The problem was to use the towels with as little cutting and sewing as possible, and in this skill my wife shone.”
Source
He was enamored with the creative work of the Maori people of New Zealand, which inspired Grainger to make and model his own beadwork.
Now, you might be thinking, “Hold on, this guy is crazy!” You might also be thinking, “This guy is straight?” One could say he simply had the courage to indulge in his own very forward and original ideas. The kinky sex part will come later.
In later years he got fed up with performing, claiming—like Glenn Gould would many years later—that the music he conceived was not translating accurately into scores or performance. The music he was writing was getting quite complicated, and was often scored for unusual instruments. Here’s a piece for an imaginary ballet:
So he began to build some mechanical instruments.
Here is a proposed instrument that employs a sewing machine and a hand drill—which seems to be attached to some oscillators:
His idea was to “free” music. Some of his compositions at this time were free of a central tonality and were in this sense way ahead of their time. These avenues of inquiry eventually led to the invention of a host of oddball electronic instruments—including one that plays via rolls of cardboard, which he called the Kangaroo Pouch machine. Here it is in the Graingers’ house in White Plains, NY:
In this photo you can see how it works a little better:
The cardboard rolls scrolled from one side to the other, and the sheets were cut much like a range of hills and valleys. Small rollers ran along the crests of these “hills”, which caused the attached arms of various levers to go up and down and effect a change in the pitch of 4 oscillators. The resulting music was a bit like a series of sirens, all going up and down at different times. Not as unpleasant as it might sound. You can hear a recording here.
Following Grainger’s wish that nothing in his life be left out in the Hoard House we come to the biggest surprise—the "Lust Branch". He left a trunk that he stipulated wasn't to be opened until 10 years after his death, so the University held a big ceremony for the trunk opening. What kind of wonders and unpublished musical scores might be inside?
When they opened it up it was filled with, amongst other things, bloody shirts, a large collection of whips, diagrams showing various ways to be whipped, and photos of his naked backside covered in bloody whip welts.
...they quickly put it all back in the box. But by deeming that the lust collection be included in the Hoard House it was clear that he wasn’t ashamed of his both sadistic and masochistic leanings.
“I am a sadist & a flagellant—my highest sexual delight is to whip a beloved woman’s body… To a lesser degree I enjoy being whipped myself (& before marriage used to whip myself every few weeks)…”
Source
He knew the contents of the box would cause an uproar, but he wasn’t trying to hide it and didn’t seem to think it was sinful or anything like that. His wife even aided him in his painful desires or was the willing victim in some cases one might assume—so it was a family arrangement. Here he wrote to his future bride, "I shall thoroly thoroly (sic) understand if you cannot in any way see yr way to follow up this hot wish of mine." (Source) But she did manage his hot wish, and they got married in a ceremony that capped a concert at the Hollywood Bowl!
Grainger had what we would now define as a dark side. Ever since he was a boy he was enamored of Norse myths and tales, and he felt that these were obviously the product of an extremely creative people. Not to take anything away from the Scandanavians, but Grainger had a theory that Northern people were more creative than Southern. By Southern he meant the Mediterranean people. He felt that Italian composers and operas were overrated—this included the Semitic people and composers whose symphonies were popular.
Grainger went so far as to take a series of pictures of the eyes of composers and musicians he came in contact with to show that the blue-eyed ones were superior. Oddly, this odd theory or prejudice didn’t diminish his respect and admiration for other groups outside of those he disdained—he was a big Duke Ellington fan in later years, for example. He brought the Ellington big band down to his classes at NYU to expound on the ingenious and novel approaches the Duke had taken to arrangements. This was well before jazz was taken seriously in academia.
To further these ends Grainger went so far as to develop “Blue-Eyed English”—a version of the English language purged of all Latinisms. Of course, so much of our language has Latin roots that what he ended up with was something truly bizarre. I’ll wrap this post up with this glossary “translation” of many common words into Blue-Eyed English:
|
English |
Blue-Eyed English |
|
abstraction |
thot-withdrawness |
|
address |
whither-write |
|
admiration |
worthprizement |
|
admittedly |
owned-up-to-ly |
|
agony |
rack-pain |
|
amateur |
fun-job |
|
amazed |
wonder-struck |
|
amuse |
befunny |
|
application |
put-to-use-ness |
|
argument |
talk-wrestlement |
|
arithmetic |
tally-lore |
|
arrive |
at-come |
|
artist |
art-man |
|
artistic |
art-some |
|
attitude |
mind-slant |
|
attractive |
on-draw-some |
|
audience |
listen-host |
|
author |
book-wright |
|
balanced |
evenweighted |
|
brilliant |
bright-shining |
|
centre |
ring-core |
|
certain |
outsingled |
|
characteristic |
type-true |
|
charity |
weal-helpsome |
|
circumstances |
roundringments |
|
civilisation |
town-skill-th |
|
climatic |
weather-kindsome |
|
combined |
linked-together |
|
competition |
vie-ment |
|
composer |
tone-wright |
|
concert |
tone-feast |
|
consoling |
mind-balming |
|
content |
enoughed |
|
contribution |
in-pay-ment |
|
couple |
two-some |
|
creation |
begetting |
|
cruelty |
cruel-hoods |
|
culture |
soultith |
|
defendant |
sued-man |
|
democracy |
chance-for-all-dom |
|
desert |
sand-waste |
|
desirability |
wish-for-ableness |
|
desirable |
wish-worthy |
|
different |
othersome |
|
disagree |
twi-lean |
|
divorce |
wed-endment |
|
education |
mind-tilth |
|
effort |
try-deed |
|
endure |
thole |
|
energetic |
go-getsome |
|
enjoy |
joy-feel |
|
especially |
out-of-the-way |
|
exception |
out-countedness |
|
excitement |
up-het-ment |
|
experience |
been-thru-someness |
|
expression |
face-look |
|
failure |
out-loss |
|
family |
breed-group |
|
figuratively |
speak-likementishly |
|
for instance |
for sample |
|
furnishing |
house-gearing |
|
genius |
over-soul |
|
history |
past-lore |
|
humanitarianism |
mankindliness |
|
humanity |
mankind-some |
|
ignorance |
un-knowledge |
|
imagine |
mind-fancy |
|
impatient |
hurry-itchy |
|
impersonal |
un-one-body-some |
|
impression |
mind-print |
|
indispensable |
un-do-withoutable |
|
individualism |
self-enoughness |
|
instinct |
nature-urge |
|
insurmountable |
unclimb-over-able |
|
interested |
mind-stirred |
|
interloper |
tween-loper |
|
introspective |
inward-turned |
|
legal |
law-some |
|
literature |
book-art |
|
manifestation |
forth-showing |
|
metal |
wrought-ore |
|
mischievousness |
scaith-will |
|
moment |
time-speck |
|
morality |
ought-code |
|
music |
tonery |
|
musical composition |
tone-work |
|
musical instrument |
tone-tool |
|
national |
landfolkish |
|
nature |
mantype |
|
negativity |
nayfulness |
|
normal |
mean-some |
|
occupy |
bestand |
|
origin |
whence-come-ness |
|
parent |
birth-giver |
|
passage |
tone-stretch |
|
passionate |
fury-feel-thy |
|
patient |
bide-willing |
|
personality |
who-th |
|
popular |
folk-pleasesome |
|
possibility |
might-be-ness |
|
practise |
work-out |
|
presence |
at-ness |
|
program |
tone-bill-of-fare |
|
pronounce |
word-sound |
|
proportion |
part-against-part-metement |
|
protégé |
boon-taker |
|
protest |
grumble-shout |
|
question |
ask-ment |
|
quotation |
quote-ment |
|
reaction |
gainst-stir |
|
realise |
real-know |
|
rebellious |
uprisesome |
|
receive |
fain-take |
|
recital |
song-show |
|
regrettable |
rue-worthy |
|
religious |
god-worshipsome |
|
remembered |
called-to-mind |
|
repetition |
again-&-again-ness |
|
reveal |
un-hide |
|
sadism |
cruel-hood-worship |
|
sanctioned |
law-hallowed |
|
satisfaction |
mind-fulfilment |
|
second |
twaid |
|
secretive |
hide-fain |
|
sentence |
word-chain |
|
society |
pomp-world |
|
soldier |
fight-for-pay-man |
|
special |
out-singled |
|
statue |
shape-art-piece |
|
success |
out-winth |
|
successful |
fightwinsome |
|
suicide |
self-killing |
|
surface |
top-layer |
|
surgery |
cut-cure-craft |
|
systematic |
plan-born |
|
telegram |
wire-sendment |
|
theatre |
play-house |
|
tolerant |
mild-mooded |
|
tragedy |
doom-play |
|
transparent |
see-thru-able |
|
university |
all-school |
