Edvard Grieg composed Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 eleven years after the premiere of Henrik Ibsen’s dramatic play, Peer Gynt. “Morning Mood” depicts the dawn of day, birds singing and the sky opening to reveal the sunlight flooding the land. “Aase’s Death” takes Peer (Gynt) back home to his dying mother’s bedside as she passes on. “Anitra’s Dance” takes us to Morocco where the chief’s daughter tries to seduce Peer with an alluring dance, and it succeeds, resulting in Peer being robbed of all his possessions. “In the Hall of the Mountain King” brings us to a place where drunken gnomes, goblins, trolls, and the mountain king are trying to capture Peer to have him marry the king’s daughter. This work ends with a wild and exciting climax that stands as one of the most popular classical tunes in Western pop culture.
-Christopher Beckett
4 май 2024
