Kathryn Faul

17 November 2014
TAs: Luisa Cartagena, Brittany Ware
MUSIC 101

An Analysis 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
Graingers part to capture the rhythmic irregularities of the original singers
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 commissioned the piece from Grainger because at that point in 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 the premier of the piece and two movements were omitted by Graingers
choice. The full piece wasnt 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 wasnt 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
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
Graingers 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 Graingers 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 Graingers 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.