Molly on the Shore, BFMS 23: Study Score

Percy Grainger, much like his contemporary Bela Bartok, was intensely interested in folk music and became a member of the English Folk-Song Society soon after his arrival in London in the first decade of the 20th century. He produced numerous works based upon folk music from the British isles, with more than 45 items in his "British Folk-Music Settings" alone. As with many titles in the series, Molly on the Shore exists in multiple arrangements - "dished-up" by the composer himself.

The first version (BFMS 1), composed in 1907, was for string quartet, followed up with arrangements for violin and piano (1907) and orchestra (1914). The present band setting was done around 1920 and published as No.23. Grainger's 1920 score was a "compressed full score" which did not precisely notate each part in detail as a conventional full score does. The score offered here is a newly edited and engraved edition prepared by Richard W. Sargeant Jr. based upon both the original 1920 score and the actual band parts issued at the same time. Those interested in Grainger's unique orchestrational palette can now see in it full detail.