Country Gardens (Schmid revised orchestration) Cover Image

Country Gardens (Schmid revised orchestration): Full Orchestra, Conductor Score & Parts

$100.00 USD
$100.00 USD
Skip to product information
Country Gardens (Schmid revised orchestration) Cover Image
Country Gardens (Schmid revised orchestration): Full Orchestra, Conductor Score & Parts

Country Gardens (Schmid revised orchestration): Full Orchestra, Conductor Score & Parts

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

Item: 36-A936390
$100.00
Shipped

One moment…

Related Items

Country Gardens (Schmid revised orchestration): Full Orchestra, Conductor Score

$15.00
View
Description
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).

Country Gardens (Schmid revised orchestration): Full Orchestra, Conductor Score & Parts isn't in MakeMusic Cloud just yet...but it could be. Let us know you'd like to see it, and you'll help shape what comes next. In the meantime, start a free trial and dive into thousands of interactive titles your students can play along with today.

Request This Title

Tell us you want it.

Start Your Free Trial

Explore everything that's ready to play right now.
Sample Pages

No sample pages found.
Sample Audio
No sample audio found.
Sample Video
No sample videos found.
Additional Details
Series: Kalmus Masterworks Library
Publisher: Keiser Productions, Inc.
UPC: 659359535758
SKU: 36-A936390
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 pianist and composer whose appetite for musical experimentation matched his virtuosity at the keyboard. He championed folk music and contemporary classical works with equal passion, collecting and arranging English and Scandinavian folk melodies throughout his career. His arrangements brought popular melodies to concert halls while maintaining a composer's voice that was unmistakably his own.

Grainger's relationship with Country Gardens reveals the tension between popular success and artistic ambition. Though he resented the piece's overwhelming popularity, it became his financial foundation and allowed him to support younger composers and experimental music initiatives. His legacy extends far beyond this single work; his influence on twentieth-century orchestration, his championing of female composers, and his tireless documentation of folk traditions shaped music education and concert programming for generations.

Why we love this

Schmid's 1925 orchestration transforms Grainger's beloved encore into a vehicle that engages every section of your orchestra with genuine musical purpose. The scoring distributes the famous melody and its playful countermelodies across woodwinds, brass, and strings in ways that reward careful ensemble balance, making this piece as rewarding to conduct as it is for audiences to hear. Unlike many light orchestral works, the orchestration asks something substantive from each player while maintaining the infectious joy that made Country Gardens a publishing phenomenon.

What to expect

Country Gardens sparkles with the spirit of English Morris dancing, all rhythmic vitality and infectious melodic turns. The Schmid orchestration captures both the popular appeal of Grainger's original conception and the craftsmanship of a trained orchestrator, creating a piece that feels light and celebratory while avoiding frivolity.

Who it's for

Orchestras seeking a crowd-pleasing encore that remains musically honest and offers conductors genuine interpretive choices. Community orchestras, youth orchestras, and semi-professional ensembles will find the scoring manageable yet engaging, with optional parts (piano, harp) allowing flexible instrumentation without sacrificing the work's integrity.

How to get the most out of it

  • Shape the principal melody with clear phrasing and lift; the piece's charm depends on buoyancy rather than legato weight.
  • Balance the harp (when used) to support harmonic color without drowning the orchestral texture; it's a seasoning, not the main ingredient.
  • Bring out contrasting lines in the woodwinds during the middle sections; Schmid's orchestration creates genuine counterpoint that shouldn't dissolve into accompaniment.
  • Keep tempo consistent and energetic throughout; any sluggishness will expose the repetitive harmonic structure rather than let it serve the piece's folk-dance character.

How to use it

Program this as a finale when you need the audience to leave smiling, or place it after a substantial symphonic work to provide contrast and release tension. The piece works particularly well on pops concerts, end-of-season celebrations, or family concert programs where you want to demonstrate orchestral color and ensemble precision without requiring the audience to sit through heavy drama.

Skills your students will build

  • Balancing competing melodic lines across multiple instrumental choirs
  • Maintaining rhythmic precision in dance-derived meters and articulations
  • Ensemble blend and intonation in sustained harmonic accompaniment
  • Understanding orchestration as arrangement (comparing Grainger's original conception to Schmid's full orchestra treatment)
  • Conducting light repertoire with energy and clear phrase direction

You May Also Like