Percy Grainger: Sketch of a New Aesthetic of Folk Music by Graham Freeman A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Music University of Toronto © Copyright by Graham Freeman, 2008 ii ABSTRACT Percy Grainger: Sketch of a New Aesthetic of Folk Music Doctor of Philosophy, 2008 Graham Freeman Graduate Department of Music University of Toronto Percy Grainger collected English folk song only for a short period between 1905 and 1909 as part of the revival of interest in all things English among antiquarians, folklorists, and nationalists. Grainger’s publication of his transcriptions and analysis in the Journal of the Folk Song Society in 1908 is considered by many to be one of the most insightful and groundbreaking examinations of English folk song of its time, far removed from the dilettante activities of many other collectors. His article was, however, harshly criticized by the Editorial Committee of the Journal, and Grainger subsequently never again published any significant transcriptions of English folk music. Grainger’s English folk song transcriptions have received their fair share of attention from ethnomusicologists. Thus far, however, no one has examined the connections between this aspect of his musical activities and his modernist philosophy of music. I contend that Grainger’s article in the Journal contains the seeds of what would eventually become his mature, though never fully realized, musical aesthetic, and that it was this aesthetic that allowed him to examine English folk song in a manner never before imagined by other collectors. This dissertation follows the thread of his aesthetic throughout his numerous musical interests in order to demonstrate the potency of his philosophy as manifest in his examination of folk song in the Journal. To this end, I bring to bear a wide range of critical methodologies, including those of ethnomusicology, aesthetics, and critical theory. Grainger iii never spelled out with any clarity the fundamental tenets of his aesthetic, but I believe that such an aesthetic can be reconstructed through a broad examination of his writings and his music. Grainger shares his role in this dissertation with many other characters including Benjamin Britten, Evald Tang Kristensen, Cecil Sharp, Bela Bartok, Ferruccio Busoni, and even Jacques Derrida, often even ceding his place in the spotlight to them. This is, however, a crucial occurrence, for as my examination demonstrates, this fully realized version of his aesthetic means that Grainger emerges as a far more important and revolutionary thinker in the history of music than he has thus far been considered. iv For Sean. Back to sleep, love. There's a good boy. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The people I need to thank for their assistance, both direct and otherwise, in the completion of this dissertation are legion. First and foremost I thank my advisor Prof. James Kippen, who over the course of a number of years has offered me wisdom, guidance, resources, and freedom to produce the dissertation I wanted to write. None of this work would exist if not for his benevolent yet rigorous guidance, and I am very much indebted to him. I also thank my advisory committee, Prof. Robin Elliott and Prof. John Haines, for their invaluable assistance, perceptive comments, and editing of my work. This was the team that brought this dissertation to fruition and to whom I owe much. I am also grateful to Prof. Gregory Johnston, who over the course of a number of years has been an unofficial advisor, a career councillor, and a great friend. This work was funded in its early stages by an Ontario Graduate Scholarship award and in its final stages by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The financial support delivered by these programs has been of tremendous assistance, and I thank them for their investment in and support of my work. The guardians of all things Grainger have been extremely kind and generous over the years. Stewart Manville both guided me through the Grainger material in New York and provided hospitality during my stay there. In Melbourne, the staff at the Grainger Museum fulfilled many requests and answered many questions, both in person and via email. I am very grateful for the expert assistance from Monica Syrette, Jennifer Hill, and Astrid Krautschneider from the Grainger Museum at the University of Melbourne. I am also very grateful for the support and encouragement given to me by Prof. Michael Christoforidis and vi Prof. Kerry Murphy at the University of Melbourne during the "Grainger at 125" conference in December of 2007. Many other people have played significant roles during my journey. The library staff at the Faculty of Music Library at the University of Toronto were always willing to offer their expert assistance at tracking down rare materials for me. The Graduate Administrator at the Faculty of Music, Susan Ironside, helped cut me free from many administrative tangles of my own creation, assistance without which I might never have finished my degree. Further, my many fellow students at the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto were always interested in hearing about my work and supportive of what they heard. Graduate student life is not always an easy one, but I am very grateful for the informal support network that exists in that environment. Thanks go especially to Stephanie Conn, Meghan Forsyth, and Roseen Giles for the many emails and coffee-fuelled conversations that provided great clarity and humour during particularly dark and frustrating periods. Also, many thanks to the staff at Lang Michener LLP, the firm at which my wife works, for providing technical assistance at unusual hours during the editing of this work. I am very grateful to my parents and to my sister for instilling in me a love of music at a very early age and for listening to many endless hours of practice, much of which must surely have been very unpleasant. Special thanks go as well to my in-laws, the Kydd family, for their unrelenting support and encouragement throughout. Finally, the big cadence. My wife, Emilie Kydd, was the one who persuaded me to go back to school, and to continue there, before we were married. During that time, we have both undergone many changes, altered plans, tremendous disappointment, and great success. I owe everything in here to her and to her unwavering support. I am who I am today, for vii better or worse, because of her, and I cannot find words powerful enough to offer her my thanks. Emilie was also my front line editor, and she not only brought clarity to my writing, but forced me to think about my work in many new and helpful ways. This dissertation is almost as much her work as it is mine. My son, Sean, made his appearance in the first few months of my doctoral work. He brought a joy to my life unmatched by anything else, even the frustration of trying to get this work done with a toddler around. The sheer joy of watching Sean discover the world around him, dance to the music he loves, and read the same books over and over for hours on end made even the most torturous moments of this dissertation bearable. That being said, additional thanks again to Emilie for scooping him up on occasion, taking him away, and giving me space to get this work done. viii Note to Reader: Percy Grainger's use of the English language was fascinating, unique, and often wayward. I have retained his spelling in excerpts from all his writings, hopefully not at the expense of clarity. Given the frequency with which the reader will encounter Grainger's poor spelling, I have avoided the use of [sic], lest my editorial insertions threaten to dominate the entire passage. All excerpts requiring copyright permission have been cleared by publishers and copyright holders. This information is contained in the List of Examples. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Acknowledgments v Table of Contents ix List of Examples xii INTRODUCTION 1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 1 CHAPTER ONE 12 BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL AND MUSICAL ASSESSMENT 15 GRAINGER AS PROTO-ETHNOMUSICOLOGIST 32 FOLK ASSESSMENT AND CRITICISM 37 Marxist Folk Criticism 38 Contemporary Folk Criticism 43 GRAINGER ON GRAINGER 49 CHAPTER TWO 53 INTRODUCTION 53 SABINE BARING-GOULD 54 FRANK KIDSON 62 ANNE GEDDES GILCHRIST 72 LUCY BROADWOOD 82 CECIL SHARP 91 CONCLUSION 101 x CHAPTER THREE 103 GRAINGER MEETS FOLK SONG – THE SOURCES 105 GRAINGER AND NOTATION 107 Precedents for Grainger’s Method 107 Béla Bartók 112 Transcription After Grainger 117 THE PHONOGRAPH AND RECORDING TECHNOLOGY 134 Grainger and the Edison Phonograph 140 GRAINGER, THE ARCHIVE, AND THE INSCRIBING OF IDENTITY 144 CONCLUSION 156 CHAPTER FOUR 158 FREE MUSIC 160 Melody 161 Form 164 Rhythm 169 Polyphony 171 Formalism 172 Machine-Music and Platonic Forms 177 GRAINGER’S MUSICAL AESTHETICS 182 Grainger’s Philosophy of The Art of the Folk 182 The Nordic Ideal, Racialism, and Racism 187 Additional Musical Context: Busoni, Grainger and Futurism 192 The Changing Compositional Methodologies of Modernism, or The Failure of Free Music 199 THE AESTHETICS OF "COLLECTING WITH THE PHONOGRAPH" 204 Background, Caveat, and the Democracy of the Phonograph 204 The Fetish of the Song 208 Transcriptions, Ontology, and the Folk Song of the Future 229 The Art of English Folk Song 234 CONCLUSION 236 xi CHAPTER FIVE 237 PERCY GRAINGER AND EVALD TANG KRISTENSEN 238 Evald Tang Kristensen 240 Grainger and Kristensen in Denmark 245 THE STYLE OF GRAINGER’S FOLK SONG SETTINGS 252 PERCY GRAINGER, BENJAMIN BRITTEN, AND FOLK SONG 268 CONCLUSION 278 CONCLUSION 280 BIBLIOGRAPHY 288 xii LIST OF EXAMPLES 2.1: Anne Gilchrist's Modal Chart 77 Used with the permission of The EFDSS 2.2: Analysis of Gilchrist's Chart 78 2.3: "Na Cried Iad" 78 Used with the permission of The EFDSS 2.4: "Am Faca" 79 Used with the permission of The EFDSS 2.5: "Fair Margaret and Sweet William" 100 Used with permission.