With the advent of viral video clips, many of which are of an embarrassing or politically-charged nature, a new appreciation for the sing-songy nature of speech, so elegantly explicated by Diana Deutsch, has become increasingly commonplace among composers. This is perhaps no more so than with this month's composer, Robert Davidson. This month's clip, from the terrific collection of Australian music for two pianists by the Viney-Grinberg Duo, features a work by Davidson which draws upon an interview with arguably the most famous Australian composer of all, Percy Grainger (who also has a few works on the disc). To say Grainger was a strange person would be an understatement, indeed. He was great pianist, a passionate fitness enthusiast (especially for walking, which he did to almost superhuman lengths), a fairly virulent antisemite, a devotee of flagellation, and an obsessive lover of Nordic culture (he spoke almost all the Nordic languages). There is a fairly accurate portrayal of him in one of Ken Russell's legitimately wonderful music films, Song of Summer (about Delius). In the interview which is the basis of the work, Grainger explains that it is a fallacy that his music is, in general, of a cheerful nature; rather this is a misapprehension on the part of those who only know those few pieces by him that actually are of a cheerful nature. He goes on to explain that, "Music is the Art of Agony," in a phrase which echos the late, great Gilda Radner.