Edvard Grieg (1843–1907)
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 (1888)

Henrik Ibsen asked Edvard Grieg to write music for the stage adaptation of “Peer Gynt,” which (according to the composer) “hung over him like a nightmare.”

Born in 1843 into a wealthy merchant family in Bergen, Norway, Edvard Grieg showed a strong interest in music early on, especially the piano, which his mother encouraged him to learn to play. Undisciplined in all regards, instead of standard lessons, he would improvise, tapping out tunes and melodies of his own creation.

In school, they called Grieg “Mosak,” after a teacher asked the class who composed Requiem. The other students were clueless, and found it amusing that Edvard, of all people, knew the answer: Mozart.

Grieg went from tunes to chords, recalling: “…remembering the wonderful, mystical satisfaction of stretching one’s arms up to the piano and bringing forth—not a melody. Far from it! No, it had to be a chord… When I had discovered this my rapture knew no bounds… Nothing since has been able to excite me so profoundly as this.”

With few opportunities in Norway for Grieg to advance his music, he entered Germany’s prestigious Leipzig Conservatory. For ten years he studied the works of Mozart and Beethoven, and more modern composers, Mendelsohn, Schumann, and Wagner. Catching tuberculosis, which collapsed his left lung, did not deter Grieg from graduating with high marks.

After a stint in Copenhagen, Grieg returned to Norway. In 1874, Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen asked Grieg to write incidental music for the stage adaptation of the Norwegian fairy tale, “Peer Gynt.” Ibsen said: “How much music and for which scenes you will compose it I naturally leave entirely to you; in this a composer obviously must in this a composer obviously must have a completely free hand.” Grieg agreed, only to discover the project was a monster.

Ibsen’s original version, a quasi-epic poem, was not stage material. Originally four hours long, with 40 scenes, and written in verse, the dense, surreal, and meandering plot unveiled the downfall and redemption of a repugnant Faust-like protagonist (Gynt) wallowing in selfish desires.

Forbidden from marrying the girl he loves, Gynt flees to the mountains, where he’s captured by trolls who take him to their king. Numerous adventures and travels ensue, before Gynt returns to Norway, where he faces the consequences of his egocentric life during a hallucinatory finale.

Ibsen’s play was in conflict with Grieg’s lissome, polished, expressive style. Plus, he had limited access to the theater orchestra, which meant artistic compromises. He wrote: “It is a terribly difficult play for which to write music … [Peer Gynt] hangs over me like a nightmare.”

It took Grieg 18 painstaking months to write 26 movements, but he managed to pull off a miracle—Ibsen’s antagonist became more likeable, more of a charming adventurer than a creep.

“Peer Gynt” premiered on Feb. 24, 1876, in what is now Oslo, to high praise. One review claimed it had “bold originality.” Although Grieg congratulated Ibsen, he remained personally dissatisfied. For later productions, Grieg revised his score.

A decade later, he extracted eight movements to make two four-movement suites; the first—the most famous—was published in 1888. “Morning Mood,” the first movement, is actually the Prelude to Act 4 of the play, and is intended to evoke the sun breaking—not over Norwegian mountains as often assumed—but over Morocco’s Sahara desert. It remains one of the best-loved musical depictions of morning.

Beginning with a beautiful flute solo in the main theme, followed by the oboe, the strings then play a simple accompaniment for an altered main theme. For the climax, the strings dominate in an upper octave, and a mighty transitional chord is spotlighted, as the music subsides. The flute and oboes provide a recap of the main theme, and the horns and strings deftly announce the final tonic chord.

Next, “Aaes’s Death,” is dark, tragic, emotional and haunting. Gynt’s mother, who he treated poorly, is dying alone on a lonely mountain. Strings play block chords together, setting a mournful tone. There are brief pauses in the music between sequences of chords that grow slightly louder. Grieg’s music transforms morbid to heartrending.

“Anitra’s Dance” has Gynt falling for the chieftain’s beautiful Bedouin daughter as she performs a seductive, lilting, waltz-like dance. During this playful yet graceful scherzo, pizzicato strings create an increasingly chaotic, faster-pace. Basses end on a tonic chord, followed by a fast-ascending sequence by the strings, which then play the chord an octave higher, accompanied by the triangle.

“In the Hall of the Mountain King” depicts gnomes chasing Gynt. Grieg remarked, “it absolutely reeks of cow pies, exaggerated Norwegian nationalism, and trollish self-sufficiency!”

All of the instruments take turns playing the theme as the melody travels around the orchestra. The music grows more aggressive as the chase advances. The bass sections dash around, and the upper winds, along with percussion, make the chase thrilling, ending with cymbals crashing. Full of evocative drama, in Grieg’s hands, the only thing it reeks of is brilliance.