Percy Grainger (1882-1961) was an Australian-born composer, pianist and collector of folk music, one of the most individual figures in twentieth-century music. Born in Melbourne, he made an international career as a virtuoso pianist before settling for much of his life in the United States.

His best-known works include Country Gardens, Lincolnshire Posy, Molly on the Shore and numerous settings of folk songs and dances. He also experimented with unusual instruments, free music ideas and idiosyncratic notation.

Grainger’s music can be exuberant, tender, eccentric and brilliantly scored. He had a deep love of folk melody, but treated it with imaginative freedom rather than museum glass.

His personality and ideas could be difficult, but his finest music remains fresh and unmistakable. Grainger sounds like no committee, no school and no tidy footnote: a musical weather system with boots on.