In a Nutshell Suite

Percy Grainger (1882-1961) wrote the suite IN A NUTSHELL in 1916, originally scored for large orchestra, although both a solo piano and a 2-piano version followed that same year. The work consists of four movements, and in addition to the more standard percussion, it made use of several (then) novel keyboard percussion instruments made by J. C. Deagan, for which the score explicitly calls. The orchestra version premiered on June 8, 1916, at the summer Norfolk Festival, with Arthur Mees conducting and Grainger at the piano. Movements: 1. Arrival Platform Humlet; 2. Gay but Wistful; 3. Pastoral; 4. “The Gum-suckers” March. Instrumentation: 2+Picc.2+EH.2+BCl.2+CBsn: 4.3.3.1: Timp.Perc(6).Deagan Perc(8): Pno.Hp.Clst: Str (9-8-7-6-5 in set). The solo piano version is also available in LudwigMasters catalog, while the 2-piano version is also available separately from Edwin F. Kalmus as it is actually the orchestral part. Reprint edition.