 In April 1914 Grainger gave his first performance of Delius 's piano concerto , at a music festival in Torquay . Thomas Beecham , who was one of the festival 's guest conductors , reported to Delius that " Percy was good in the forte passages , but made far too much noise in the quieter bits " . Grainger was receiving increasing recognition as a composer ; leading musicians and orchestras were adding his works to their repertoires . His decision to leave England for America in early September 1914 , after the outbreak of the First World War , damaged his reputation among his patriotically minded British friends . Grainger wrote that the reason for this abrupt departure was " to give mother a change " – she had been unwell for years . However , according to Bird , Grainger often explained that his reason for leaving London was that " he wanted to emerge as Australia 's first composer of worth , and to have laid himself open to the possibility of being killed would have rendered his goal unattainable " . The Daily Telegraph music critic Robin Legge accused him of cowardice , and told him not to expect a welcome in England after the war , words that hurt Grainger deeply . 
