Move Records Australian classical & art music, est. 1968
Front cover art for Tuneful Percussion

Tuneful Percussion

One of International Record Review’s “Best Discs of 2000”, and nominated for Best Classical CD at the 2001 ARIA Awards. Woof! play Grainger’s complete music for tuneful percussion on authentic instruments, including his own staff bells and steel marimba, with many works previously unrecorded.

  • CatalogueMD 3222
  • Released1 Aug 2000
  • Playing time54 minutes 7 seconds
  • Recorded at Move Records Studio

Listen & tracks

1 of 31 tracks have a preview · 16 works · 54:07

  1. 1 Shepherd’s Hey Percy Grainger 1:59
  2. 2 Gamelan Anklung (Berong Pengètjèt) Traditional 3:33
  3. 3 Irish Tune from County Derry Percy Grainger 3:39
  4. 4 The Lonely Desert Man sees the Tents of the Happy Tribes Percy Grainger 2:32
  5. 5 Blithe Bells Johann Sebastian Bach 4:43
  6. 6 Eastern Intermezzo Percy Grainger 2:02
  7. 7 Crying for the Moon Ella Grainger 2:01
  8. 8 Arrival Platform Humlet Percy Grainger 2:41
  9. 9 Estampes Claude Debussy Pagodes 7:16
  10. 10 Bahariyale v. Palaniyandi Traditional 3:51
  11. 11 Sailor’s Song Percy Grainger 2:02
  12. 12 London Bridge Balfour Gardiner 2:36
  13. 13 Miroirs Maurice Ravel La Vallée des Cloches 5:56
  14. 14 Sekar Gadung Traditional 4:13
  15. 15 Under en bro Traditional 3:00
  16. 16 Country Gardens Cecil J. Sharp 2:03

Nominated for Best Classical CD at the 2001 ARIA Awards!

It took musicians about 60 years to realise the beautiful possibilities of the Saxophone family. How long will it be before the rich quality of the percussion section will be used in full?

So said the ever before-his-time Percy Grainger in 1926. The famous Australian composer’s lifelong fascination with percussion began in Paris in 1900, when he was struck by the clear tones of Balinese and Javanese gong orchestras. He later designed his own ‘tuneful’ percussion, including a set of staff bells and a steel marimba, deposited in his Melbourne museum in the mid 1930s.

Rarely used since and never before recorded, those instruments take centre stage here in Grainger’s complete music for percussion. With help from the Grainger Museum and recently discovered manuscripts, the Woof! percussion quartet offers an unusual and authentic listening experience.

Reviews

Move Records has released a charming and fascinating disc of the composer’s music that I believe comes closer to Percy’s spirit than anything on Chandos’s first 16 volumes … not only a delightful CD – and one of the best sounding that I’ve heard from Move – but also an important one.

one of the most engaging CDs I’ve encountered in years … fascinating liner notes

remarkable arrangements … excellent liner notes … 3 stars (exceptional)

This impeccable, crystal-clear recording allows every detail to be heard … a tintinnabulation to delight the ear … Pure pleasure!

this delightful disc … adds up to a very satisfying whole … fine performances … enormous variety … recorded sound is excellent.

What does this well-known composer have to do with percussion music? Quite a bit as it turns out, thanks to the efforts of the Woof! percussion ensemble

Woof! performs the 16 titles splendidly … excellent booklet notes … A real find!

clearly a labour of love … this is a fine album filled with uniquely delightful music … the booklet is a model of clarity.

Great music, great playing … this CD is finely produced. The extraordinary wide palette of sounds – percussive and others – has been exquisitely captured.

an extremely fine Melbourne-produced disc that is as unusual as it is delightful.

well-produced disc … dazzling … Grainger’s very own creations are expertly deployed by Woof! in this varied program of folksong arrangements, transcriptions of ethnic music and original compositions.

This CD recording is unique … diverse … has an immense variety of instrumentation very finely performed … a definite must

there are many fine moments on the CD … a lot to enjoy.

constantly diverting music … fascinating liner notes … one of the most engaging CDs I’ve encountered in years.

a valuable resource for teachers in schools, either in the percussion studio or to illustrate an aspect of the classroom music syllabus.

Artists

Photograph of Woof!

Woof!

ensemble

Woof! is a Melboune-based percussion ensemble and has been broadcast both on 3MBS FM and ABC Classic FM. It has premiered a number of Australian works and its membership is drawn from all over Australia.

Photograph of Percy Grainger

Percy Grainger

composer

Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882–1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. A brilliant folk-song collector and arranger, he was also a restless experimenter whose work ranged from tuneful percussion to Free Music machines that foreshadowed electronic synthesis.

Photograph of Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

composer

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) was a German composer and organist of the late Baroque. His sacred and secular music for choir, orchestra, organ and solo instruments remains among the foundations of the Western concert and church repertory.

Photograph of Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy

composer

Claude Debussy (1862–1918) was a French composer whose harmony, colour and flexible sense of key reshaped European music at the turn of the twentieth century. Piano, orchestral and chamber works from his maturity remain central to the repertoire.

Photograph of Maurice Ravel

Maurice Ravel

composer

Many consider Maurice Ravel a major composer for the piano as well as a genius of orchestration. It remains a surprise how few works make up his total output for the instrument: all his piano compositions can be performed in under two and a half hours.

No photograph: Balfour Gardiner

Balfour Gardiner

composer

No photograph: Ella Grainger

Ella Grainger

composer

No photograph: Chalon Ragsdale

Chalon Ragsdale

composer

No photograph: Cecil J. Sharp

Cecil J. Sharp

composer

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Compact disc

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Also available to download from the iTunes Store.

Performers

Technical credits

  • Contributor Tracey Patten
  • Producer Martin Wright
  • Recording Engineer Martin Wright
  • Mixing Engineer Martin Wright
    Vaughan McAlley
    Woof!
  • Mastering Engineer Thomas Grubb
    Vaughan McAlley
  • Co-Producer Woof!
  • Venue Move Records Studio
  • Thanks to Alessandro Servadei
    Arts Victoria
    Gerald Gentry
    Mark Knoop
    Michael Lichnovsky
    Vaughan McAlley
    Victorian College of the Arts
  • Credit Jim Pavlidis

Details

List price
$25.00 AUD
Total playing time
54 minutes 7 seconds
Release date
Categories
Australian, Classical, Folk music
Musical work copyright
© 2000 Move Records
Sound recording copyright
℗ 2000 Move Records
Catalogue
MD 3222
EAN
9314574322224

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