orig. George Percy Grainger
born July 8, 1882, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
died Feb. 20, 1961, White Plains, N.Y., U.S.
Australian-born U.S. composer and pianist.
After studying music in Frankfurt, he established himself as a piano virtuoso in England, while also pursuing ethnomusicological interest, collecting folk tunes in England and Denmark. He moved to the U.S. permanently in 1914, teaching in Chicago and New York, but invested much energy in establishing an ethnomusicological centre at the University of Melbourne. Though an inveterate experimenter in the realms of timbre, rhythm, harmony, and texture, he is known for his tuneful short works for orchestra, piano, and concert band, including Country Gardens , Molly on the Shore , Mock Morris , and Lincolnshire Posy .