In 1875 Edvard Grieg wrote incidental music for Henrik Ibsen's play, "Peer Gynt"; it premiered on February 24th of the following year. Grieg later arranged the music into two suites, Opus numbers 46 & 55. This is without a doubt Grieg's most popular work.



I figured I'd get this out of the way early on. Peer Gynt is problematic for me: on one hand, it's a clever little piece; on the other, it's so stereotypically "Grieg" that it almost makes me cringe whenever I hear it. Grieg seems to have gotten tired of it as well, refering to it at one point as garbage (I can't name sources for this, sorry; I distinctly remember reading that he called it "a piece of Danish garbage," though). Liszt reportedly told Grieg during their meeting that his music was hokey enough to be successful, yet skillful enough to be respectable. One thing's for sure: Peer Gynt seems to highlight all the hokeyness and forgo the skillfulness. At least, it does in my book. That said, I still enjoy listening to it...

The most popular parts are "In the Hall of the Mountain King," "Morning Mood," and "Anitra's Dance," (the latter known mainly via a piano transcription) so those are the samples linked below. If there are any in particular you would like to hear, speak up and I'll add them for you (not all of them, of course)! From the recording:


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Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46:
I. Morning Mood
II. Aese's Death
III. Anitra's Dance
IV. In the Hall of the Mountain King

Peer Gynt Suite No. 2, Op. 55:
I. The Abduction
II. Arabian Dance
III. Peer Gynt's Return
IV. Solveig's Song (This was originally written with lyrics to be sung by a vocalist, but is usually performed with solo violin instead, as is the case on the above-noted recording.)

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This is actually the same recording I have. I also have some issues with the suites. There are pieces I love (such as In the Hall of the Mountain King), but it tends to start dragging for me. I find that it's easiest to listen to the suites a movement at at time, rather than all in one go.

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Quote:

Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: I. Morning Mood II. Aese's Death III. Anitra's Dance IV. In the Hall of the Mountain King

'Anitra's dance' never really amount's to much though no doubt there is a programmatic reason for this treatment. Morning Mood' and 'In the Hall..' of course everyone knows, difficult do say anything that hasn't already been said. The catchy hooks are there for all to hear. 'Hokey' maybe, but at least he kept them relatively short and sweet, whereas someone like Wagner would no doubt have taken such ideas way beyond they're due musical worth, into the realms of grotesque bombast no doubt!

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http://classicalmusicmayhem.freeforums.org/handel-semele-t668.html

This is one of those pieces of music that is the victim of its own success- and so familiar it's difficult to actually hear it properly. This is the only Grieg I ever owned and I've nothing against it- but I'm afraid I never listen to it. But it is one of those works that is so immediately likeable that it is responsible for getting a lot of people interested in classical in the first place- probably it has populated more classical 'favourites' compilations than anything else!

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Rod Corkin wrote:

Quote: Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: I. Morning Mood II. Aese's Death III. Anitra's Dance IV. In the Hall of the Mountain King 'Anitra's dance' never really amount's to much though no doubt there is a programmatic reason for this treatment. Morning Mood' and 'In the Hall..' of course everyone knows, difficult do say anything that hasn't already been said. The catchy hooks are there for all to hear. 'Hokey' maybe, but at least he kept them relatively short and sweet, whereas someone like Wagner would no doubt have taken such ideas way beyond they're due musical worth, into the realms of grotesque bombast no doubt!

Wow, a decent review of Peer Gynt from the Emperor!!! I would never have thought!

I've only posted three of these tracks; I suppose I could spare one or two more if there are any in particular that look interesting to you guys. As usual, thanks for the replies!

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Sorin Eushayson wrote:

Wow, a decent review of Peer Gynt from the Emperor!!! I would never have thought!

Well that's putting a positive spin on it! I would say the piece fits into the 'pleasing divertimento' category.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin
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Rod Corkin wrote:

Sorin Eushayson wrote: Wow, a decent review of Peer Gynt from the Emperor!!! I would never have thought! Well that's putting a positive spin on it! But I still would say the piece fits into the 'pleasing divertimento' category.

Ah, that's more like it; for a minute there it almost seemed as if you liked it more than I did!

Let's compare, shall we?

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Separated at birth? (after an immensely protracted labour )

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Melmoth wrote:

Separated at birth? (after an immensely protracted labour )

Yes, apparently their mother made the trip from Norway to Germany whilst in labor, too! I do wonder just how similar they would look without their mustaches and crazy hair.

Anyone else want to comment on Peer Gynt before I move onto Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor? It's without a doubt one of the best-known pieces of music ever written!

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