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GRIEG
Holberg Suite, Op. 40

EDVARD GRIEG
Born June 15, 1843, in Bergen, Norway;
died September 4, 1907, in Bergen, Norway

Holberg Suite, Op. 40

In December of 1884, the Norwegian city of Bergen celebrated the bicentennial of the birth of one of its most famous native sons, the writer and dramatist Ludwig Holberg (1684-1754). Holberg, whom those of a literary bent referred to as the “Moliere of the North,” was credited with not only bringing about the Age of Enlightenment in the Scandinavian countries but also founding the entire Scandinavian school of literature. Though Norwegian by birth, Holberg spent most of his lifetime in Denmark and wrote in Danish. Despite this, Norway still considered him to be one of her own cultural icons.

As part of the celebratory festivities, Edvard Grieg, who was then Norway’s preeminent composer, was called upon to provide some appropriate music.  Although Grieg had a symphony, a piano concerto, a set of incidental music to Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt, and several other larger-scaled orchestral, chamber, and stage works to his credit, he was essentially a skilled miniaturist and was far more comfortable writing songs and piano pieces—especially descriptive ones.  Apparently not inspired by any of Holberg’s literary works, he responded simply with a five-piece suite of piano music that he entitled “Aus Holbergs Zeit:  Suite im alten Stil” (From Holberg’s Time: Suite in the Olden Style).  Some four years later, around 1888, he transcribed the work for string orchestra—the version that will be heard at these concerts.

Grieg’s Holberg Suite is essentially an affectionate backward glance to the so-called “High Baroque” era, a period of music history with which Holberg’s lifetime pretty much coincided. As Grieg’s biographer David Monrad-Johansen observed, he “simply placed himself in the same milieu in which Holberg lived and worked.  He looks at the present through the spectacles of the past.” According to the composer himself, he drew much of his inspiration from the keyboard suites of the French clavecinistes of that time. For the most part, it is only the little turns of harmony, ingenious syncopations, lush inner voices, and other more modern touches with which the suite abounds that militate against it being mistaken for an eighteenth-century rather than nineteenth-century work.

The Holberg Suite consists of five movements. The opening “Preludium” (Allegro vivace) begins with a soaring ostinato figuration in the violins and violas that is soon followed by materials that are more melodic in character. Of particular note are the witty pizzicatos contributed by the cellos and basses. Next comes a “Sarabande” (Andante), a typical Baroque dance in slow, stately triple meter. This is followed by a “Gavotte” (Allegretto), another typically Baroque dance that traditionally is in 4/4 meter and begins on the third beat of the measure. This one is in ternary form and, for its contrasting middle section, Grieg inserts a musette, an old French dance in which a drone bass figures predominantly. The fourth movement is a gentle and delicate “Air” (Andante religioso) that brings to mind J.S.  Bach’s famous “Air on the G String.” The suite comes to a rousing conclusion with a bracing “Rigaudon” (Allegro con brio), a lively dance in duple meter that had its origins in Provence.  

-Kenneth C. Viant 

GRIEG
Holberg Suite, Op. 40

EDVARD GRIEG
Born June 15, 1843, in Bergen, Norway;
died September 4, 1907, in Bergen, Norway

Holberg Suite, Op. 40

In December of 1884, the Norwegian city of Bergen celebrated the bicentennial of the birth of one of its most famous native sons, the writer and dramatist Ludwig Holberg (1684-1754). Holberg, whom those of a literary bent referred to as the “Moliere of the North,” was credited with not only bringing about the Age of Enlightenment in the Scandinavian countries but also founding the entire Scandinavian school of literature. Though Norwegian by birth, Holberg spent most of his lifetime in Denmark and wrote in Danish. Despite this, Norway still considered him to be one of her own cultural icons.

As part of the celebratory festivities, Edvard Grieg, who was then Norway’s preeminent composer, was called upon to provide some appropriate music.  Although Grieg had a symphony, a piano concerto, a set of incidental music to Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt, and several other larger-scaled orchestral, chamber, and stage works to his credit, he was essentially a skilled miniaturist and was far more comfortable writing songs and piano pieces—especially descriptive ones.  Apparently not inspired by any of Holberg’s literary works, he responded simply with a five-piece suite of piano music that he entitled “Aus Holbergs Zeit:  Suite im alten Stil” (From Holberg’s Time: Suite in the Olden Style).  Some four years later, around 1888, he transcribed the work for string orchestra—the version that will be heard at these concerts.

Grieg’s Holberg Suite is essentially an affectionate backward glance to the so-called “High Baroque” era, a period of music history with which Holberg’s lifetime pretty much coincided. As Grieg’s biographer David Monrad-Johansen observed, he “simply placed himself in the same milieu in which Holberg lived and worked.  He looks at the present through the spectacles of the past.” According to the composer himself, he drew much of his inspiration from the keyboard suites of the French clavecinistes of that time. For the most part, it is only the little turns of harmony, ingenious syncopations, lush inner voices, and other more modern touches with which the suite abounds that militate against it being mistaken for an eighteenth-century rather than nineteenth-century work.

The Holberg Suite consists of five movements. The opening “Preludium” (Allegro vivace) begins with a soaring ostinato figuration in the violins and violas that is soon followed by materials that are more melodic in character. Of particular note are the witty pizzicatos contributed by the cellos and basses. Next comes a “Sarabande” (Andante), a typical Baroque dance in slow, stately triple meter. This is followed by a “Gavotte” (Allegretto), another typically Baroque dance that traditionally is in 4/4 meter and begins on the third beat of the measure. This one is in ternary form and, for its contrasting middle section, Grieg inserts a musette, an old French dance in which a drone bass figures predominantly. The fourth movement is a gentle and delicate “Air” (Andante religioso) that brings to mind J.S.  Bach’s famous “Air on the G String.” The suite comes to a rousing conclusion with a bracing “Rigaudon” (Allegro con brio), a lively dance in duple meter that had its origins in Provence.  

-Kenneth C. Viant