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Percy Grainger's relationship with the saxophone was both joyous and
far-reaching. He included the saxophone (sometimes singly, other times
within a complete family) in many of his orchestral, chamber, band and solo
works. Grainger was convinced of the ideal musical qualities of the
saxophone from his very first encounter with the instrument. In a 1943
round letter to his friends, he reminisced:
Around 1904, Balfour Gardiner & I heard our first
sax-reed (a tenor) near Frome, Somerset. A man in a country band played one to us.
AndI knew then & there that I was hearing the world's finest wind-tone-tool
- the most voice-like, the most mankind-typed.
His enthusiasm was such that he owned both a soprano and baritone, and he
enlisted in a World War I armed forces band playing the soprano saxophone!
His extensive public writing about the saxophone was effusive in praise,
extolling its virtues to the highest degree. A typical example comes from
the preface to Lincolnshire Posy, in which Grainger asserts: "...to my ears
the saxophone is the most expressive of all wind instruments - the one
closest to the human voice. And surely all musical instruments should be
rated according to their tonal closeness to man's own voice!..."
Grainger was especially interested in the sonority of instrumental
families, and his particular favorite was the family of saxophones. For
many years he wanted to write for saxophone ensemble, but was unable to find
an appropriate group to try out his works. In the summer of 1943 Grainger
had a particularly strong and interested group with which to work, and he
enthusiastically wrote out saxophone ensemble parts to many of his own
arrangements and original settings.
This version of Lisbon, (better known as the first movement of Lincolnshire
Posy) was written by Grainger on August 2, 1943 while on the summer faculty
of Interlochen.
This is an unedited edition. All of Grainger's markings and indications as
originally found on the parts and the score have been retained. Nothing has
been added or deleted. In preserving the unique flavor and quality of
Grainger's writing, it is my hope that players today will continue to imbue
the music with the spirit and enjoyment for which Grainger was known.
Paul Cohen
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