John Bird's acclaimed biography of the Australian-born composer and pianist Percy Grainger gives the first full account of the life and works of one of the strangest figures in twentieth-century music. Behind Grainger's highly original compositional achievements, folksong collecting, and glittering career as a virtuoso concert pianist lay a tragic and chaotic personal life--long domination by his mother, unorthodox sexual predilections, an eccentric athleticism, a demonic spiritual drive, and a wildly inconsistent personal philosophy with Anglo-Saxon obsessions such as his famous "Blue-Eyed English." A list of published compositions, a current discography of performances by Grainger, and a selection of his seminal writings complete what has already proved to be a standard work. This fully revised edition includes much new biographical material from John Bird's continuing research. Grainger's reputation and popularity as a uniquely individual composer continue to grow, and this book remains the definitive biography. "Bird charts the course of his subject admirably, dealing with Grainger's notorious sexual proclivities, in particular, with tact and compassion. He also writes vividly of Grainger's mythic physical dynamism, perverse racial views, self-destructive generosity and obsessive relationship with his mother."-- Times Literary Supplement