Nightingale and the Two Sisters, The

Percy Aldridge Grainger

Percy Aldridge Grainger (arr. Joseph Kreines)

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General Info

Year: 1931
Duration: c. 4:18
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Aeolus
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $40.00

Instrumentation

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Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The Nightingale and the Two Sisters is the third movement from Grainger’s Danish Folk-Music Suite arranged by Joseph Kreines. The music from the Suite is based on Danish folk-songs Grainger collected in Jutland (northern Denmark) from 1922-1927. Along with Danish folklorist, Evald Tang Kristensen, Percy Grainger sought to compare the singing habits of Danish countryside singers with those of English folk-singers who had been previously recorded. Their findings revealed amazing similarities between the two peoples’ singing.

The work is actually constructed using two songs: The Nightingale and The Two Sisters.”The words of “he Nightingale refer to a small bird (mightingale) singing sweetly from a large tree near a grand castle. A knight passing by hears the sweet singing and is surprised as it is near midnight. Further verses reveal that the nightingale is actually a maiden who was turned into a nightingale by the evil spells from her wicked step-mother. Wanting to cast out the evil spells, the knight takes hold of the nightingale who at that point has shape-changed into a dragon. While holding the dragon, the knight cuts her with his sword and the evil spell is bled, leaving a “beautiful maiden as fair as a flower.”

The Two Sisters verses explore the story of two sisters - one old, one young. The tale of evil jealousy unfolds as the elder sister pushes her younger sister into the water to drown because she wants for herself the gentleman to whom the younger sister is bethrothed. Following the drowning, two fiddle makers find the younger sister’s corpse and decide to make fiddle strings of her hair and violin pegs of her fingers. Later, the elder sister is burnt alive at her own wedding after the crafted violin is played, revealing the truth of the sister’s murderous wrong-doing.

- Program Note from the Coppell North Honor Winds concert program, 12 February 2016

Media

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State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

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Coppell (Texas) Middle School North Honor Winds (Jeremy Lindquist, conductor) - 12 February 2015 (2016 TMEA Conference, San Antonio)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Irish Tune from County Derry (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Klarfeld) (1918/2014/2020)
Molly on the Shore (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Sheehan) (1920/2020)
O Mensch, Bewein' Dein Sünde Gross (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger; ed. Brand and Brion) (1724?/1937-1942/1987)
Prelude in the Dorian Mode (Flex instrumentation) (as scorer)
Shepherd's Hey (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Fisher) (1918/2020)
Two Movements from "Lincolnshire Posy" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Sweeney) (1937/2019)

All Wind Works

Angelus ad Virginem (as arranger) (1940s)
The Annunciation Carol
The Annunciation Carol (tr. Grainger) (13th Cent./1942/1993)
Arrival Platform Humlet (arr. Eichenberger) (1912/)
Arrival Platform Humlet (tr. Simpson) (1912/1916/1995)
Arrival Platform Humlet (tr. Patterson) (1916/2011)
Australian Up-Country Tune (arr. Bainum) (1930/1970)
Bell Piece (ed. Duffy and Ould) (1935/1953/1991)
Blithe Bells (1931)
Blithe Bells (arr. Jager) (1931/1989)
Blithe Bells (ed. Ould) (1931/2013)
A Bridal Lullaby (arr. Hartley)
Brigg Fair (arr. Ballenger) (1905/1991)
British Waterside (arr. Moss) (1921)
British Waterside (arr. Wilson) (1921/1998)
Children's March (rev. Erickson) (1919/1971)
Children's March (rev. Rogers) (1919/1995)
Children's March (arr. Wagner) (1919/2000)
Choral No 2 for Organ (as scorer; ed. Rogers) (1890/1941/20--?)
Colonial Song (1912/1918)
Colonial Song (ed. Rogers) (1918/1997)
Colonial Song (ed. Topolewski) (1918/2001)
Colonial Song (arr. Wagner) (1919/2014)
Country Gardens (1918/1990)
Country Gardens (arr. Sousa, Brion and Schissel) (1918/1953)
Country Gardens (arr. Karrick) (1918/2013)
Country Gardens (arr. Clark) (1918/1931)
County Derry Air (ed. Ould)
The Cutting of the Hay (arr. Wilson)
Danish Folk Music Suite (arr. Kreines) (1926-41/1950/)
Danny Deever (arr. Carpenter)
Danny Deever (tr. Ragsdale). See: Three Tragic Ballads
Died for Love
Died for Love (arr. Conway) (1912/2011?)
Down Longford Way & Shenandoah (as orchestrator; arr. Osmon) (1928/1935/1990)
The Duke of Marlborough Fanfare (1939)
The Duke of Marlborough Fanfare (ed. Hunsberger) (1939/2000)
The Duke of Marlborough Fanfare (arr. Ragsdale) (1939/1995)
Early One Morning (arr. Kreines). See: Two Grainger Melodies
Eastern Intermezzo (arr. Warshaw) (1899/1922/)
Faeroe Island Dance (1946//1954/1969)
Father and Daughter. See: Three Tragic Ballads
Folk Tune (as arranger) (1923/1942)
Four Grainger Songs (arr. Svanoe) (2003) (unpublished)
Gay but Wistful (tr. Patterson) (1916/2011)
Gay But Wistful. See also: Tune in a Popular London Style
A Grainger Threesome (arr. Ragsdale) (2007)
Green Bushes (1906/2007) (tr. Pappajohn)
Green Bushes. See also: Themes from "Green Bushes"
Gumsucker's March (arr. Rogers) (1914/1942/1996)
Handel in the Strand (arr. Brion and Schissel) (1912/2001)
Handel in the Strand (arr. Goldman) (1912/1961)
Handel in the Strand (arr. Rohrer) (1912/2015)
Harlem 125th Street Walkabout (arr. Hartley)
Harvest Hymn (tr. Kreines) (1940/1983)
Hill Song No. 1 (1902)
Hill Song No. 1 (adapt. Rogers) (1901/1922/1923/1997)
Hill-Song Nr. 1 (trans. Clark) (1901/1922/1923/2019)
Hill Song No. 2 (arr. Rogers) (1907/1929/1990)
Horkstow Grange from "Lincolnshire Posy" (adapt. Sweeney) (1937/2008)
The Hunter in His Career (arr. Robinson)
The Immovable Do (1940)
I'm Seventeen Come Sunday (tr. Daehn) (1905-12/1987)
I'm Seventeen Come Sunday (arr. Wagner) (1905-12/1999)
In a Nutshell (tr. Patterson) (1916/2011)
In Dahomey (arr. Miller)
Irish Tune (arr. Stotter) (1918)
Irish Tune from County Derry (1918)
Irish Tune from County Derry (arr. Clark and Schmidt) (1918/2001)
Irish Tune from County Derry (arr. Erickson) (1918/1970)
Irish Tune from County Derry (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Klarfeld) (1918/2014/2020)
Irish Tune from County Derry (arr. Kreines) (1918/1996)
Irish Tune from County Derry (ed. Renshaw) (1918)
Irish Tune from County Derry (ed. Rogers) (1918/1994)
Irish Tune from County Derry/Shepherd's Hey (tr. Stamp) (1918/2021)
The Jungle Book Suite (arr. Ragsdale) (2011)
Jutish Medley (arr. Kreines) (1923-1929/)
Lads of Wamphray March (1905/1941)
Lads of Wamphray March (ed. Kreines) (1905/1937/2003)
Lads of Wamphray Ballad (arr. Ragsdale) (1905/2018)
Lincolnshire Posy (1937/1940)
Lincolnshire Posy (ed. Fennell) (1937/1987/2010)
Lincolnshire Posy (ed. Fennell; rev. Rogers) (1937/1987/2010/2020)
Lincolnshire Posy (arr. Higgins) (1937/2008)
Lincolnshire Posy (arr. Osika) (1937/)
Lisbon from "Lincolnshire Posy" (adapt. Sweeney) (1937/2017)
Lord Maxwell's Goodnight (orch. Wilson)
Lord Peter's Stable Boy (1925/1930)
Lord Peter's Stable Boy (arr. Kreines)
Lost Lady Found (arr. Sweeney) (1937/2011)
March (as arranger) (1946)
Marching Song of Democracy (1917/1948/1991)
Marching Song of Democracy (ed. Brion) (1917/1948/1991)
Marching Tune (2013) (arr. Story)
The Merry King (ed. Schissel) (1905/2006)
Mock Morris (arr. Kreines) (1910/1991)
Mock Morris (arr. Patterson) (1910/ )
Mock Morris (arr. Perna) (1910/2010/2016)
Mock Morris (arr. Simpson) (2010/1993)
Molly on the Shore (ed. Rogers) (1920/1998)
Molly on the Shore (ed. Clark and Schmidt) (1920/2002)
Molly on the Shore (arr. Johnston) (1920/2011)
Molly on the Shore (tr. Ragsdale) (1920/1978)
My Dark-Haired Maid (ed. Ragsdale) (1899)
My Robin Is to the Greenwood Gone (arr. Strum) (1912/1999)
Near Woodstock Town (arr. Cramer) (2004)
Nightingale and the Two Sisters, The (arr. Kreines) (1931)
Northern March. See: Youthful Suite
O Mensch, Bewein' Dein Sünde Gross (Flex instrumentation) (setting) (1724?/1937-1942/1987)
Pagodes from "Estampes" (as arranger) (1903/1928/1996)
A Percy Grainger Portrait (arr. Wagner) (2010)
Percy Grainger Suite (arr. Kreines) (1983)
A Percy Grainger Suite (arr. Erickson) (1996)
The Power of Rome and the Christian Heart (1947/1953)
Prelude in the Dorian Mode (Flex instrumentation) (as scorer)
Scotch Strathspey and Reel (arr. Osmon) (1901-1911/1982)
Sehet was die liebe tut (as arranger) (1937)
Sheep Shearing Song (as arranger) (1904/1923/1942/2017)
Shenandoah (arr. Osmon)
Shepherd's Hey (1918)
Shepherd's Hey (arr. Clark) (1918/2001)
Shepherd's Hey (ed. Rogers) (1918/1994)
Shepherd's Hey (arr. De Stefano) (1918/2012)
Shepherd's Hey (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Fisher) (1918/2020)
Spoon River (1919-29/1940s)
Spoon River (arr. Bainum) (1922/1967/2009)
Spoon River (ed. Carson & Naylor) (1922/2010)
Spoon River (arr. Sheldon) (1922)
Spoon River (arr. Story) (1922/2014)
Six Dukes Went A-Fishin' (arr. Kreines)
The Sussex Mummers' Christmas Carol (scored Goldman) (1916/1965)
The Sussex Mummers' Christmas Carol (arr. Clark) (1916/1996)
The Sussex Mummers' Christmas Carol (arr. Simpson) (1916/1988)
The Sussex Mummers' Christmas Carol (arr. Stotter) (1911/1916/2006)
Themes from "Green Bushes" (arr. L. Daehn) (1906/1987)
This is Not My Plaid (arr. Ragsdale) (2014)
The Three Ravens. see: Three Tragic Ballads
Three Tragic Ballads (arr. Ragsdale) (1924, 1902, 1909/2016)
- Danny Deever (1902/1909/2016)
- The Three Ravens (1902/2000)
- Father and Daughter
A Tribute to Grainger (arr. Ragsdale) (1999)
Tune in a Popular London Style (arr. Rogers) (1916/2005)
Tuscan Serenade (as arranger) (1865/1937/1994)
Two Grainger Melodies (trans. Kreines) (1912/1988)
Two Grainger Sweets - Harvest Hymn and Mock Morris (arr. Krienes)
Two Movements from "Lincolnshire Posy" (arr. Ryan) (1937/2019)
Two Movements from "Lincolnshire Posy" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Sweeney) (1937/2019)
Walking Tune (1900)
Walking Tune (arr. Daehn) (1900/1940/1988)
Walking Tune (arr. Simpson)
The Warriors (tr. Pappajohn) (1916/1998)
We Have Fed Our Sea for a Thousand Years (1911)
The Widow's Party (arr. Moon) (1923/1929/2011)
The Widow's Party (arr. Osmon) (1923/1929/2009)
Willow, Willow (1911/1992) (orch. Simpson)
Ye Banks and Braes O' Bonnie Doon (1949)
Ye Banks and Braes O' Bonnie Doon (arr. Ragsdale) (1903/1936/2008)
Ye Banks and Braes O' Bonnie Doon (arr. Sweeney) (1949/2006)
Youthful Suite (tr. Rogers) (1899/1950)
- Northern March (arr. Rogers) (c. 1900/2010)
- Rustic Dance (1899/1950/2010)
- Eastern Intermezzo
- English Waltz (1899-1901/1940-1947/1999)
Zanzibar Boat Song (arr. Hazzard) (1902/2013)

Resources

Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Percy Grainger." Accessed 18 January 2016.