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Country Gardens (Schmid revised orchestration): Full Orchestra Oversized Score

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Country Gardens (Schmid revised orchestration) Cover Image
Country Gardens (Schmid revised orchestration): Full Orchestra Oversized Score

Country Gardens (Schmid revised orchestration): Full Orchestra Oversized Score

By Percy Aldridge Grainger, ed./arr. by Adolf Schmid/ R. Mark Rogers

Item: 36-A936301OS
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One of Percy Aldridge Grainger's most popular encores was improvisations on English Morris Dance tunes that he programmed as COUNTRY GARDENS. An instant hit, Grainger finalized this setting in spring 1918, and after publication in 1919, the sales of the sheet music broke publishing records and brought in the sort of steady income that is the envy of composers everywhere. While he used the funds to subsidize the careers of many fellow artists, Grainger became so identified with this rather lightweight piece that he came to despise it. Publisher G. Schirmer, wishing to capitalize on the popularity of Country Gardens, assigned Adolf Schmid, one of their in-house writers, to create this excellent orchestral version published in 1925. Schmid was an Austrian-American composer of some stature who, as a staff writer for the firm G. Schirmer, created orchestral versions of Grainger's Irish Tune from County Derry and Children's March, as well as music by numerous other composers. Schmid's orchestration served as the source material for a band version of Country Gardens that appeared in 1931, attributed to Tom Clark. The following note appeared on the concert band "Synoptic Score" (a most un-Grainger-like term): "String-Bass and Harp (or any other) parts from Adolf Schmid's Arrangement of this number for orchestra (Galaxy No. 269) may be used with this band arrangement," affirming the relationship between Schmid's orchestration and Clark's band version. This edition has been revised and edited by R. Mark Rogers. Instrumentation: 2(2nd dPicc).2.2.2: 4.2.3.1: Timp.Perc(4-5): Hp.Pno(opt.): Str(9.8.7.6.5 in set). 11x14 oversized full score.

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Additional Details
Series: Kalmus Oversized Score Library
Publisher: Keiser Productions, Inc.
ISBN10: 8-898107-41-2
ISBN13: 979-8-898107-41-3
UPC: 605258968241
SKU: 36-A936301OS
Instrumentation: 2(2nd dPicc).2.2.2: 4.2.3.1: Timp.Perc(4-5): Hp.Pno(opt.): Str(9.8.7.6.5 in set).

More about this title

About the Composer: Percy Aldridge Grainger

Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882, 1961) was an Australian-born composer and pianist whose career spanned both concert performance and serious orchestral writing. He developed an intense interest in folk music, traveling throughout England and Scandinavia to collect and transcribe traditional tunes. His arrangements of these melodies became his most enduring legacy, even as he pursued more ambitious compositional goals that often went unrecognized during his lifetime.

Grainger's relationship with Country Gardens became famously fraught. What began as a successful encore piece based on English Morris Dance tunes evolved into his financial mainstay after its 1918 publication, but the work's popularity as a "lightweight" number overshadowed his serious contributions to the repertoire. He channeled the considerable income from the piece into supporting other artists and funding experimental musical projects, viewing the composition itself with increasing ambivalence. Yet the work's persistent appeal to orchestras and audiences worldwide testifies to Grainger's gift for capturing the spirit of traditional music with genuine warmth and orchestral sophistication.

Why we love this

Schmid's 1925 orchestration captures the infectious charm of Grainger's original without the heaviness that sometimes weighs down later arrangements. The orchestration breathes, with clear sectional writing that allows each family of instruments to shine while maintaining the folk-tune's accessibility. Conductors return to this version because it remains performable by good amateur and semi-professional orchestras while never feeling simplified.

What to expect

Sunlit and unpretentious, with a sense of gentle humor and affection for the English dance tunes at its heart. The orchestration dances between bright, folk-like simplicity and moments of witty orchestral sophistication, never losing sight of the tune's irresistible gait.

Who it's for

This Schmid orchestration works for orchestras at the intermediate to advanced amateur level, community orchestras, and advanced school orchestras seeking a genuinely likeable encore. The oversized score format makes it especially useful for conductors who need clear sight lines and legible detail during rehearsal.

How to get the most out of it

  • Keep the Morris dance rhythms buoyant and light; this music should dance, not march. Avoid the temptation to make it stately or overly legit.
  • Balance the folk melody so it sings through whichever section carries it, but never let it overshadow the kaleidoscopic supporting colors in the strings and winds.
  • Schmid's original orchestration is relatively transparent; resist doubling or reinforcing lines beyond what is written. The clarity is the arrangement's strength.
  • Attend to the percussion writing as its own melodic voice, not mere accompaniment. The triangle, glockenspiel, and timpani rolls are integral to the arrangement's character.

How to use it

Program this as a mid-concert or final-piece encore to balance heavier repertoire; audiences respond to its directness and tunefulness. It works equally well as the opening number on a pops or family concert, where its accessibility and orchestral variety engage listeners immediately.

Skills your students will build

  • Hearing and maintaining dance-like rhythmic vitality across an ensemble
  • Balancing melody and accompaniment in a transparent orchestration
  • Responding to rapid color shifts between instrumental families
  • Reading a full orchestra score with clear sectional independence

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