Percy Grainger (1882-1961) was an extremely eccentric character! His unusual habits included making his own clothes out of towels and keeping a daily log of his weight for decades, even though it was invariably 145 pounds. His preferred diet consisted of rice, canned peaches, and stale bread with jam. He once asked for his skeleton to be put on display after his death. Fortunately, the request wasn't honored.

Grainger was fascinated by a concept that he called "free music." He wanted to create music that sang and danced in its own way, outside the limits of traditional melodic, harmonic and rhythmic patterns. He also made brilliant studies of folk music from the British Isles, Scandinavia and elsewhere. He somehow combined these influences to write music that is highly original and often very beautiful. His admirers are fiercely loyal, and they have founded their own international organization, The Percy Grainger Society.