''Peer Gynt'', Op. 23, is the

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

's 1867 play ''

Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five-Act (drama), act play in verse written in 1867 by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. It is one of Ibsen's best known and most widely performed plays. ''Peer Gynt'' chronicles the journey of its title character fr ...

'', written by the Norwegian composer

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

in 1875. It premiered along with the play on 24 February 1876 in Christiania (now Oslo). Grieg later created two

suite Suite may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Suite (music), a set of musical pieces considered as one composition ** Suite (Bach), a list of suites composed by J. S. Bach ** Suite (Cassadó), a mid-1920s composition by Gaspar Cassadó ** ''Suite' ...

s from his ''Peer Gynt'' music. Some of the music from these suites has received coverage in popular culture.

Background

Edvard Grieg (1843–1907) was one of the definitive leaders of Scandinavian music. Although he composed many short piano pieces and chamber works, the work Grieg did for this play by Ibsen stood out. Originally composing 90 minutes of orchestral music for the play, he later went back and extracted certain sections for the suites. Peer Gynt's travels around the world and distant lands are represented by the instruments Grieg chooses to use. When Ibsen asked Grieg to write music for the play in 1874, he reluctantly agreed. However, it was much more difficult for Grieg than he imagined, as he wrote to a friend: Letter Henrik Ibsen 1874-01-23

Nina Grieg Nina Grieg, née Hagerup (24 November 1845 – 9 December 1935) was a Danish–Norwegian lyric soprano. Early life and family Nina Hagerup was born in Bergen, Norway. Her parents were the malt inspector Herman Didrik Hagerup and the actress ...

, his wife, wrote of Edvard and his music: Even though the premiere was a "triumphant success", it prompted Grieg to complain bitterly that the Swedish management of the theatre had given him specifications as to the duration of each number and its order: For many years, the suites were the only parts of the music that were available, as the original score was not published until 1908, one year after Grieg's death, by

Johan Halvorsen Johan Halvorsen (15 March 1864 – 4 December 1935) was a Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist. Life Born in Drammen, he was an accomplished violinist from a very early age and became a prominent figure in Norwegian musical life. He r ...

.''Edvard Grieg – Thematisch-bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis'', ed. by Dan Fog, Kirsti Grinde and Øyvind Norheim. Henry Litolffs Verlag Frankfurt/Main Leipzig London New York 2008

Original score, Op. 23

Various recordings have been made of this music. Some recordings that claim to contain the complete incidental music have 33 selections; the recording conducted by

Ole Kristian Ruud Ole Kristian Ruud (born 2 October 1958) is a Norwegian conductor. Ruud was born in Lillestrøm. He studied clarinet with Richard Kjelstrup at the Norwegian Academy of Music. He studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy and made his debut in Os ...

is split into 49 items. Both recordings include several verses from the drama, read by actors. The original score contains 26

movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

: Movements indicated in bold were extracted by Grieg into two suites. * Act I ** Prelude: At the Wedding (''I brudlaupsgarden'') ** The Bridal Procession (''Brudefylgjet dreg forbi'') ** Halling (''Halling'') ** Springar (''Springdans'') * Act II ** Prelude: The Abduction of the Bride. Ingrid's Lament (''Bruderovet / Ingrids klage'') ** Peer Gynt and the Herd-Girls (''Peer Gynt og seterjentene'') ** Peer Gynt and the Woman in Green (''Peer Gynt og den grønkledde'') ** By His mount You Shall Judge Him (''På ridestellet skal storfolk kjennes'') **

In the Hall of the Mountain King "In the Hall of the Mountain King" () is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg in 1875 as incidental music for the sixth scene of act 2 in Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play ''Peer Gynt''. It was originally part of Opus 23 but was later ex ...

(''I Dovregubbens hall'') ** Dance of the Mountain King's Daughter (''Dans av Dovregubbens datter'') ** Peer Gynt hunted by the trolls (''Peer Gynt jages av troll'') ** Peer Gynt and the Boyg (''Peer Gynt og Bøygen'') * Act III ** Prelude: Deep in the Forest (''Dypt Inne I Barskogen'') ** Solveig's Song (''Solvejgs sang'') ** The Death of Åse (''Åses død'') * Act IV ** Prelude:

Morning Mood "Morning Mood" () is part of Edvard Grieg's ''Peer Gynt'', Op. 23, written in 1875 as incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play of the same name, and was also included as the first of four movements in ''Peer Gynt Suite No. 1'', Op. 46. Music ...

(''Morgenstemning'') ** The Thief and the Receiver (''Tjuven og heilaren'') ** Arabian Dance (''Arabisk dans'') ** Anitra's Dance (''Anitras dans'') ** Peer Gynt's Serenade (''Peer Gynts serenade'') ** Peer Gynt and Anitra (''Peer og Anitra'') ** Solveig's Song (Solvejgs sang) * Act V ** Prelude: Peer Gynt's Homecoming (''Peer Gynts heimfart'') ** Shipwreck (''Skipsforliset'') ** Day Scene ** Solveig sings in the hut (''Solvejg syngjer i hytta'') ** Night Scene (''Nattscene'') ** Whitsun Hymn (''Pinsesalme'') ** Solveig's Cradle Song (''Solvejgs vuggevise'') The complete score of the incidental music includes several songs and choral pieces. The complete score was believed to be lost until the 1980s and has been performed in its entirety only since then. (See the article on Ibsen's play for a list of notable productions, including concert performances of the incidental music.) It was originally orchestrated for: one

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

, two

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

s, two

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

s, two

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

s in A, two

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

s, four

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (anatomy) * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * Horns (novel), ''Horns'' (novel), a dar ...

in E, two

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

s in E, three

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

s, a

tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

, and

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

Suites

Over a decade after composing the full incidental music for Peer Gynt, Grieg extracted eight movements to make two four-movement suites. The ''Peer Gynt'' suites are among his best-known works, although they began as incidental compositions. Suite No. 1, Op. 46 was published in 1888, and Suite No. 2, Op. 55 was published in 1893. A typical rendition of both suites lasts 20 to 35 minutes.

Suite No. 1, Op. 46

Suite No. 2, Op. 55

Originally, the second suite had a fifth number, ''The Dance of the Mountain King's Daughter'', but Grieg withdrew it.

References

External links

*
"Solveig's Song"
performed by

Luisa Tetrazzini Luisa Tetrazzini (29 June 1871 – 28 April 1940) was an Italian coloratura soprano of great international fame. Tetrazzini "had a scintillating voice with a brilliant timbre and a range and agility well beyond the norm...". She enjoyed a ...

{{Authority control Incidental music 1875 compositions Stefan Zweig Collection Orchestral compositions by Edvard Grieg it:Peer Gynt#Le musiche di scena di Grieg