Percy Grainger -- Friend of Duke Ellington the Giant of Jazz

Perhaps Grainger's most endearing characteristic was the manner in which his musical canvas became a vast, virgin territory open to all outside influences. He was perhaps the first composer genuinely to believe that a jazz band was no less significant than a symphony orchestra, that a squeeze box could be as expressive as a grand piano, and to prefer playing in cinemas to concert halls. Above all, he believed that music was a universal art: "As a democratic Australian, I long to see everyone somewhat of a musician, not a world divided between undeveloped amateurs and overdeveloped prigs.