Grieg’s incidental music for Henrik Ibsen’s drama “Peer Gynt” contains some of his best-known compositions, such as “Morning Mood” and “In the hall of the Mountain King”. Grieg later extracted the most beautiful pieces to form two orchestral suites and arranged himself these versions for piano solo and piano four-hands. There was a surprise in store for us when we were preparing our Urtext edition. In the autograph and the first print run, the second suite contained another movement, the “Dance of the Mountain King’s Daughter”, which Grieg deleted shortly afterwards. This charming dance appears in the appendix to our edition – printed again for the first time in 120 years! The Norwegian pianist and Grieg expert Einar Steen-Nøkleberg was co-editor for our edition and also provided the new fingerings.
Content/Details
- Peer Gynt Suit no. 1 op. 46
- Morning Mood op. 46,1
- The Death of Åse op. 46,2
- Anitra's Dance op. 46,3
- In the Hall of the Mountain King op. 46,4
- Peer Gynt Suit no. 2 op. 55
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Preface
The two Peer Gynt Suites op. 46 and 55 are among the best-known compositions of Edvard Grieg (1843 – 1907). They are based on the dramatic poem Peer Gynt written in 1867 by Henrik Ibsen (1828 – 1906), which in turn contains elements of a Norwegian folktale transmitted by Peter Christian Asbjørnsen. Ibsen, who had lived in Rome since 1864, had already met Grieg at a … more
Critical Commentary
About the composer
Edvard Grieg
Most important Norwegian composer of the nineteenth century and promoter of Norwegian folk music. His lyrical character pieces in particular are well known.
| 1843 | Born in Bergen on June 15, the son of a merchant and British consul; early piano lessons with his mother, who was a pianist. |
| 1858–62 | Studies at the Leipzig Conservatory. |
| 1862 | Concerts in Norway. |
| 1863 | Copenhagen, with the support of Niels W. Gade. |
| from 1864 | Interest in Norwegian folk music, which finds its way into his compositions. |
| 1866 | Breakthrough with a concert of Norwegian music. Conductor of the Philharmonic Society. |
| 1867 | The first of a total of ten volumes of Lyric Pieces for piano, Op. 12, with relatively simple piano settings. |
| 1868/69 | Composition of the Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, which is based on Schumann’s piano concerto. |
| 1869 | “25 Norwegian Folk Melodies and Dances,” Op. 17, for piano. |
| 1873 | Begins work on the opera “Olav Trygvason,” Op. 50, after Bjørnson, which is never completed. |
| 1874 | Composition stipend from the state. |
| 1874/75 | Composition of incidental music to Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt,” Op. 23, the basis for the Peer Gynt Suites. |
| 1876 | Attends the premiere of Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” in Bayreuth. |
| 1880–82 | Conductor of the “Harmonien” musical society in Bergen. Thereafter he accepted no other positions. |
| 1883 | Visit to Bayreuth; he hears Wagner’s “Parsifal.” |
| 1884 | Composition of “From Holberg’s Time,” Op. 40, his most popular work. |
| from 1885 | He moves into his villa “Troldhaugen” (near Bergen). Composition and revision of older works in spring and summer, concert tours in fall and winter. |
| 1891 | Composition of the “Lyric Suite,” Op. 54, orchestrated in 1905. |
| 1907 | Death in Bergen on September 4. |
About the authors
Ernst-Günter Heinemann (Editor)
Dr. Ernst-Günter Heinemann, born in 1945 in Bad Marienberg (Westerwald), completed his schooling in Gießen and read musicology, philosophy and German in Marburg and Frankfurt/Main and also for some time Protestant church music. He did his doctorate on “Franz Liszts geistliche Musik. Zum Konflikt von Kunst und Engagement”.
From 1978–2010 Heinemann worked as an editor at G. Henle Publishers (in 1978 in Duisburg, from 1979 onwards in Munich). He edited a great many Urtext editions for the publishing house, including “Das Wohltemperierte Klavier”, Volume 1 by Bach and all of Debussy’s piano works. In addition, he wrote essays on Debussy, Grieg, Liszt, Mendelssohn and questions concerning general editing, as well as giving seminars on editorial practice for musicology students in Munich.
If editorial fingering isn't an issue, these are the most attractive editions of these pieces available.
Wegen des relativ schlicht gehaltenen Klaviersatzes können sich auch Amateur-Duos mit dem nordischen Faust auf Abenteuerreise begeben, ohne befürchten zu müssen, Schiffbruch zu erleiden. Und mit dem wohldurchdachten Fingersatz von Einar Steen-Nokleberg sowie dem bequemen Querformat der neuen Henle-Urtext-Ausgabe kann eigentlich gar nichts mehr schiefgehen.