Percy Grainger, the phonography, and the Folk Song Society

This article is a critical examination of one of the myths of rejection surrounding the career of Percy Graingerthe myth that the Folk Song Society, and specifically Cecil Sharp, discouraged Grainger's use of the phonograph and that this discouragement so dispirited him that he abandoned folk music work in Britain. It also considers Grainger's folk music work in the light of contemporary left-wing and Marxist criticism, particularly that of David Harker.