Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites Nos. 1 and 2 / Funeral March / Old Norwegian Melody / Bell Ringing

Featuring

Ole Kristian Ruud
Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester
Edvard Grieg

Did you know?

1/7

Performer Biography

The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the world's oldest orchestras dating back to 1765, had a close relationship with Edvard Grieg, who served as its artistic director from 1880-82 and generously donated his fortune to it.

Composer Biography

Edvard Grieg was considered a prominent European musician during his lifetime, with his music appealing to audiences in America and Australia, not just his native Norway.

Recording & Production

This recording is part of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra's project to record Edvard Grieg's complete orchestral works, marking the first time a Norwegian orchestra has undertaken such a comprehensive recording.

Compositional Technique

Grieg's "Bell Ringing" is a radical piano composition with harmonic innovations and effects that foreshadowed impressionism, creating an impression of motion from stationary bells through independent ribbons of sound.

Composition History

Grieg composed the music for Henrik Ibsen's play "Peer Gynt" after Ibsen requested his participation in 1874, needing the fee despite Grieg's initial doubts about the play and his own music.

Critical Reception

The orchestral suites from "Peer Gynt" became widely popular, but Grieg was frustrated by arrangements and performances that distorted his artistic intentions, such as "The Death of Aase" played as a polka.

Composition History

Grieg composed the "Funeral March in Memory of Rikard Nordraak" in 1866 upon learning of the death of his friend Rikard Nordraak, a Norwegian composer who influenced Grieg's artistic development.