The work debuted with three of the movements on March 7, 1937 by the Milwaukee Symphonic Band, a group composed of members from several bands including the Blatz Brewery and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer factory worker bands in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Unlike other composers that attempted to alter and modernize folk music for band, such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Grainger wished to maintain the exact sense of stylizing that he experienced from the singers.
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Grainger