(Re)Discovering Percy Grainger

By Anke Hoeppner-Ryan (University of Sydney)

In late 2018, after more than three decades as a professional opera singer and more than a decade of adjunct lecturing at the University of Sydney, I prepared to transition to a full-time lecturing role, aiming to mentor young singers and explore classical music’s relevance to contemporary issues. During this period, Victorian journalist and singer Michael Gillies Smith introduced me to an ambitious project by librettist, composer, and director Michael McNeill and composer and arranger John Mathews: an opera centred around the life of Australian composer Percy Grainger.

Michael, John, and I met in Sydney to learn more about the project when the libretto of the two-act opera, which includes 11 scenes in Act 1 and 12 in Act 2, and several composed scenes from Act 1, were completed. Some scenes had already been workshopped in Victoria before I learned about the project at the beginning of the work’s writing using a vocal piano score. John was currently busy orchestrating the scenes for chamber orchestra.

Michael, the originator of Percy—The Opera, recounted his journey in creating the piece, which began in 2014 after feeling creatively lost. Inspired by Grainger’s music, Michael dedicated a year to studying his life and works. Michael decided early on that the opera format would best capture the opera’s narrative, exploring Grainger’s journey from Australia to the international stage and touching on his relationships, struggles, and creative processes. He aimed to reach an audience that is not necessarily opera-experienced.

Michael selected key scenes from Grainger’s life, focusing on moments that revealed aspects of his character and relationships, including his complex dynamic with his mother, Rose. He deliberately avoided sensationalizing certain aspects, such as Grainger’s self-flagellation, instead highlighting lesser-known facets of his personality.

Michael realized that merely incorporating Grainger’s language into the libretto was insufficient. Grainger’s music and the compositions that had influenced him needed to be integrated into the score. Michael reached out to the composer and arranger John Mathews. John took on the project and was later joined by composer Margery Smith, whose extensive knowledge and skills were invaluable in completing the project on time.

John extensively researched Grainger’s music and writing. This research broadened his understanding of Grainger’s music beyond the few pieces he initially knew. At first, John approached the opera as more of an arranger, incorporating Grainger’s music into the score. He gradually transitioned to a composer’s mindset, blending Grainger’s melodies with his own writing, aiming to maintain a balance between a homage to Grainger and his own voice.

I invited Professor Stephen Mould to review the score. Stephen, an esteemed opera conductor with a robust professional background—notably serving as head of music at Opera Australia from 2004 to 2008—possesses a scholarly interest in opera curation. Intrigued by Percy—The Opera’s pronounced reliance on the pastiche style—a stylistic hallmark reminiscent of Grainger’s oeuvre—Stephen discerns it as a salient feature contributing to its artistic integrity. Acknowledging the recent international trend towards pasticcio operas, Stephen believes Percy—The Opera to be an excellent example, providing an insightful musical fabric into the examination of the many aspects of Grainger. Stephen highlights ingenious touches within the opera, for instance, the cast mimicking the sound of a moving train. This concept is based on a work by Grainger, inspired by a train journey in Scandinavia, where he became fascinated with locomotion. Stephen also notes the inclusion of sound files in the score. He sees this as an embodiment of Grainger’s lifelong pursuit of “free music,” a practice Stephen believes could be expanded further.

The opera features a large ensemble of 25 characters, each with a personal connection to Grainger, alongside a SATB Chorus and a chamber orchestra. Next to the substantial title role of Grainger and that of his mother Rose, we meet his father John, Nellie Mitchell (Melba), the members of the “Frankfurt Gang”—Cyril Scott, Roger Quilter, Norman O’Neill, and Balfour Gardiner—Prof Karl Klimsch and Prof Mueller from the Hoch-Konservatorium in Frankfurt, Ada Crossley, Karen Holten, Edvard and Nina Grieg, Herman and Alfhild Sandby, Frederick and Jelka Delius, Ella Ström, Thomas Beecham, Burnet Cross, Anselm Hughes, and Rocco Resta.

We decided to produce the first act as a collaborative learning project in the form of a workshop. Students would work alongside professionals to gain real-world experience and practical knowledge while contributing to a project. We cast the roles with a mixture of professional singers and postgraduate and undergraduate students. Graduate Gavin Brown took the lead.

Given the limited resources of producing a workshop with such a large ensemble, we suggested rewriting the score from chamber orchestra to two pianos. Our request was artistically supported by the notion that concert pianist Grainger frequently played duets with his mother and had a penchant for arranging his compositions for multiple pianos and pianists. More poignantly, using two pianos as the primary soundscape for the piece is evocative of Grainger’s upbringing in a Victorian drawing room. Everything originated within this environment—his musical preferences, his sexual inclinations, his fascination with S&M and his unwavering independence and distinctively eccentric approach to life.

Michael initially wanted to direct the workshop himself. However, his ill health and the tyranny of distance meant that Professor Narelle Yeo, a director with extensive experience directing opera and musical theatre, took on the project. Two weeks before the scheduled commencement of production in January 2021, our plans halted as Sydney entered a COVID19 lockdown. Subsequently, another setback ensued at the close of 2021 due to the pandemic's continued effects.

Instead of yielding to these challenges, we urged John, later joined by Margery Smith, to compose the second act and complete the opera. Confronted with the realities of casting a third set of performers and production team, we obtained permission to incorporate the workshop into the coursework of the 2022 opera program at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, exclusively featuring postgraduate students. Renowned opera singer Barry Ryan, who has an extensive record of premiering Australian works and lecturing in voice and performance, assumed the director role. Postgraduate student Omid Moheb-Zadeh assumed the conducting lead under Stephen’s mentorship. Alexander Young took on the title role.

Persistent performance restrictions for singers and the impact of upper respiratory infections on the large cast necessitated a change in the workshop format to produce seven filmed scenes from Act 1 and an archival recording of a musical rehearsal running through most of the opera. Dr David Kim-Boyle oversaw the technical aspects of filming and recording. With a clear understanding of any Australian performance company’s challenges in producing the work, we sought support from the Grainger Museum to share knowledge about this unique masterpiece. Its style lends itself to a theatre production. It also harbours the opportunity to develop immersive educational programs for schools or young adults about the remarkable Australian composer Grainger, his freedom of thinking, and the concept of free music.

One final comment. As the project progressed, my initial apprehension towards Grainger’s idiosyncrasies faded in favour of his music, ingenuity, and life force. He finally “got me” when, out of necessity, we spliced a few seconds of his original recording of Grieg’s piano concerto A minor, op. 16 into the recording of scene 8 at 04:08-04:48 min. It all makes perfect sense now. Hearing the incredible strength, energy, and passion, I am completely awed by this free spirit.