Norway’s Romantic Soul
Edvard Grieg was a defining influence on Norwegian music. His compositions blend elements of his country’s folk music with features of the late Romantic era. His best known orchestral work, Peer Gynt, was originally written as stage music for the play of the same name by Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. To make the work accessible to an international audience, Grieg arranged the music into two orchestral suites and attained world fame with them. Pieces like the bewitchingly beautiful Morning Mood or the furiously intensifying In the Hall of the Mountain King are among the most often played “classical hits”.
Edvard Grieg was a defining influence on Norwegian music. His compositions blend elements of his country’s folk music with features of the late Romantic era. His best known orchestral work, Peer Gynt, was originally written as stage music for the play of the same name by Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. To make the work accessible to an international audience, Grieg arranged the music into two orchestral suites and attained world fame with them. Pieces like the bewitchingly beautiful Morning Mood or the furiously intensifying In the Hall of the Mountain King are among the most often played “classical hits”.