Howards End

George Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and... innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many adaptations of other composers' works. Although much of his work was experimental and unusual, the piece with which he is most generally associated is his piano arrangement of the folk-dance tune "Country Gardens". Grainger left Australia at the age of 13 to attend the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt. Between 1901 and 1914 he was based in London, where he established himself first as a society pianist and later as a concert performer, composer and collector of original folk melodies. As his reputation grew he met many of the significant figures in European music, forming important friendships with Frederick Delius and Edvard Grieg. He became a champion of Nordic music and culture, his enthusiasm for which he often expressed in private letters in explicitly racist and anti-Semitic terms.
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Rotherfield Peppard is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire. It is just over 3 miles west of Henley-on-Thames, about 5 miles north of Reading, Berkshire and just over 1 mile west of the village of Rotherfield Greys. The village gives its name to the Reading... electoral ward of Peppard. Rotherfield derives from the Old English redrefeld meaning "cattle lands". Within the parish is the open land of Peppard Common, once used for grazing and small timber. The Church of England parish church of All Saints was Norman, but was almost completely rebuilt in 1874. All Saints' is now a Grade II* listed building. The ecclesiastical parish is part of the united benefice of Rotherfield Peppard, Kidmore End and Sonning Common. Providence Chapel was founded in 1795. It later became Peppard Congregational Church. It is now Springwater Church. Blount's Court is an early 19th century house with neoclassical features. However, its interior includes a 15th century doorway and 16th century panelling.
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