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Mercury Living Presence Boxed Set CD44 van55.

Famed American band conductor Frederick Fennell turned to British music in this highly enjoyable compilation of music by Percy Grainger and Eric Coates, who both lived during the first half of the twentieth century. Grainger (1882-1961), who was actually born in Australia and later became an American citizen, authorized and approved the recordings of some of his more popular compositions and arrangements. Like Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly, Grainger collected folk music and some of those pieces are represented on this CD. One of the most familiar tunes is "Irish Tune from County Derry," which is better known as the melody for "Danny Boy." It is given a particularly sensitive, lovely, and lyrical performance by the Eastman Rochester "Pops" Orchestra under Fennell.
The works are generally light and lively, expertly played by the musicians of the Eastman School of Music, where these recordings were made in 1959. The sound is typically top-notch, taken from the original triple track stereophonic tapes that were part of Mercury's "Living Presence" series.