RamJet gets it.
Grainger was an interesting character. He was a wonderful virtuoso, the Norwegian Composer Grieg said that Grainger "a genius that we Scandinavians cannot do other than love."
He was raised by his Mother, who had contracted syphilis from her philandering husband. Because of the closeness of the bond between the two, there had long been rumours that their relationship was incestuous;[57] in April 1922 Rose was directly challenged over this issue by her friend Lotta Hough.[67] From her last letter to Grainger, dated 29 April, it seems that this confrontation unbalanced Rose; on 30 April, while Grainger was touring on the West Coast, she jumped to her death from an office window on the 18th floor of the Aeolian Building in New York City.[68] The letter, which began "I am out of my mind and cannot think properly", asked Grainger if he had ever spoken to Lotta of "improper love". She signed the letter: "Your poor insane mother".
John Bird, Grainger's biographer, also records that during his Frankfurt years Grainger began to develop sexual appetites that were "distinctly abnormal"; by the age of 16 he had started to experiment in flagellation and other sado-masochistic practices, which he continued to pursue through most of his adult life. Bird surmises that Grainger's fascination with themes of punishment and pain derived from the harsh discipline to which Rose had subjected him as a child.
So there you go.
What have you got for us RJ?
