This release is a tribute to the pianism of Percy Grainger, who died 50 years ago. Grainger was the most reluctant of virtuosos, always wishing that he he would be remembered primarily as a composer, yet his fame as an executant and the large number of recordings he made, attest to his greatness as a pianist.

Very few of Grainger’s recordings are currently available, and indeed many have never been transferred to CD before, so this set is a discographic landmark which finally reveals, in state-of-the-art transfers by Ward Marston, the true glory of Grainger the performer.

The repertoire includes Schumann Sonata No.2 and Études symphoniques, Chopin Sonatas Nos 2 & 3, Brahms Sonata No.3, and works by, among others, Bach, Debussy, Grieg, Liszt, Scott and, of course, Grainger himself.

His particular passions of Bach and Grieg are well represented (he become a close friend and favoured interpreter of the latter in that composer’s last years) but there are also ground-breaking performances of some of the great warhorses of the 19th century. In particular, Grainger’s recording of the Chopin B minor Sonata, the first ever of that work, has long been regarded as one of the classics of the Gramophone.

Finally, there are 26 tracks of Grainger playing Grainger - surely these definitive performances alone attest to the timeless importance of this ouvre.

Contents:
CD 1 (79’09)
Acoustic Recordings
The Gramophone Company Ltd 1908
HMV 1914
Columbia Graphophone Company, U.S.A. 1917–1924

CD 2 (77'12)
Acoustic Recordings
Columbia Graphophone Company, U.S.A. 1917–1924 (continued)

CD 3 (76'19)
Electrical Recordings
Columbia Phonograph Company, U.S.A 1925–1931

CD 4 (77'37)
Electrical Recordings
Columbia Phonograph Company, U.S.A 1925–1931 (continued)

CD 5 (79'48)
Electrical Recordings
Columbia Phonograph Company, U.S.A 1925–1931 (continued)
Decca, USA 1945

Total duration: 6 hours 30 minutes