George Percy Grainger was born on July 8, 1882 at Brighton, Melbourne, only child of John Harry Grainger, architect, and his wife Rosa (Rose) Annie, née Aldridge, of Adelaide.

Percy Grainger's parents, his mother particularly, had little doubt that he would be an artist. The boy obliged by showing precocious talent in both graphic and musical arts, the first of which developed under his father's, the second under his mother's tutelage. He had three months formal schooling at the Misses Turner's Preparatory School for Boys in Caroline Street, South Yarra, probably in 1893 or 1894. His piano studies continued from 1892 with Louis Pabst, then, after Pabst's departure for Europe in 1894, with his pupil Adelaide Burkitt. He studied harmony for a brief period, possibly with Julius Herz. His first composition, a birthday gift for his mother, dates from 1893.

Percy first came before the public eye as a pianist at a Risvegliato concert in the Masonic Hall, Melbourne, on July 9, 1894. Various other public performances included three appearances at Walter James Turner's People's Promenade Concerts at the Exhibition Building in October 1894. The boy's 'exceptional talent' was repeatedly noted.

Although there were performances of his music from as early as 1902, the Balfour Gardiner Choral and Orchestral Concerts of 1912 and 1913 really brought Grainger before the public as a composer, and as conductor of his own music. Success was instantaneous. Schott & Co., London, began publishing his music as fast as he could prepare it. There were numerous performances throughout Britain and in Europe, and he began to add conducting to his concert activities. In October 1911 he took the professional name of 'Percy Aldridge Grainger'.

His reputation as a composer was indelibly stamped by the success of Country Gardens, and he became known primarily as the composer of cheerfully extroverted piano pieces. In fact, he wrote very little originally for the piano. In recent years, as the growing number of recorded performances draws attention to the quantity and variety of his output, his reputation has revived and grown again. His compositions for military band are regarded as classics of the genre; his settings of British and Danish folksongs are acclaimed for their sensitivity and appropriateness.

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