Country Gardens by Percy Grainger
Based on the folk song “The Vicar of Bray,” this piece was originally arranged for piano. Grainger’s original setting for piano became his most popular work during his lifetime. The published version broke all selling records, and generated much of Grainger’s income up to his death in 1961. The wind band writing requires fluency and agility from woodwinds and trumpets, with its considerable rhythmic intricacy and precision problems. Nevertheless, this is without doubt Grainger’s finest version of this much-played work.
