G'day all, In MMD 00.02.19, Glenn Amer compared the Mastertouch 88-note
version of Percy Grainger playing his own composition "Shepherd's Hey"
with the Duo-Art recording.

I have had the [Mastertouch] 88-note version for many years and it
never fails to amaze pianists when I play it!  Percy was a great
believer in the player piano as an instrument in its own right and
never felt constrained by the limitations of a "live" pianist's
capabilities.

I have often wondered whether he recorded this piece by accompanying
himself through multiple passes or was it an extreme example of manual
interpretation?  Either way, the result is impressive, if the player
is in good shape!

The Duo-Art version, also "played" by Grainger, is limited to a two-
handed recording and even Percy couldn't make it sound as exciting as
the 88-note "recording".  I was quite disappointed when I first heard
it.  I would have been much happier if he had accompanied himself in
a four-handed version but I guess that would not have been "kosher"
for Duo-Art.

Darrell Clarke
Clarke's Corner, Adelaide
South Australia

 [ In "Catalog of Duo-Art Piano Rolls", by Charles Davis Smith, in
 [ the list of rolls by Percy Grainger, "Country Gardens" on Duo-Art
 [ 6194(-4) is noted as released in May 1919, but the song was also
 [ "re-recorded" in May 1929.  Possibly still another version was
 [ released in 1924 as Duo-Art S-31010.  -- Robbie