 Grainger left Australia at the age of 13 to attend the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt . Between 1901 and 1914 he was based in London , where he established himself first as a society pianist and later as a concert performer , composer and collector of original folk melodies . As his reputation grew he met many of the significant figures in European music , forming important friendships with Frederick Delius and Edvard Grieg . He became a champion of Nordic music and culture , his enthusiasm for which he often expressed in private letters . 
