Sir John Barbirolli / Hallé Orchestra
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- Grieg - Death of Aase from Peer Gynt
- Grieg - Peer Gynt - Morning Mood
- Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 - Anitra's Dance
- Grieg - Peer Gynt - In the Hall of the Mountain King - David Garett
In the Hall of the Mountain King (Norwegian: I Dovregubbens hall) is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg for the sixth scene of Act II in Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, which premiered in Christiania on February 24, 1876.
It was originally part of Opus 23, but was later extracted as the final piece of Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1, Op. 46. Although a performance of the full piece runs to slightly less than 3 minutes, its easily recognizable theme has helped it attain iconic status in popular culture, where it has been arranged by many artists.
The piece is played as the eponymous Peer Gynt, in a dream-like fantasy, enters "the royal hall of the Old Man of the Dovrë (the Mountain King)." The scene's introduction continues: "There is a great crowd of troll courtiers, gnomes and goblins. The Old Man sits on his throne, with crown and sceptre, surrounded by his children and relatives. Peer Gynt stands before him. There is a tremendous uproar in the hall." The lines sung are the first lines in the scene.
Grieg himself wrote: "For the Hall of the Mountain King I have written something that so reeks of cowpats, ultra-Norwegianism, and 'to-thyself-be-enough-ness' that I can't bear to hear it, though I hope that the irony will make itself feltLyrics of the song in Peer Gynt
The troll-courtiers): Slagt ham! Kristenmands søn har dåret Dovregubbens veneste mø! Slagt ham! Slagt ham! (a troll-imp): Må jeg skjære ham i fingeren? (another troll-imp): Må jeg rive ham i håret? (a troll-maiden): Hu, hej, lad mig bide ham i låret! (a troll-witch with a ladle): Skal han lages til sod og sø? (another troll-witch, with a butcher knife): Skal han steges på spid eller brunes i gryde? (the Mountain King): Isvand i blodet!
(In English)
Slay him! The Christian's son has bewitched. The Mountain King's fairest daughter! Slay him!
Slay him! May I hack him on the fingers? May I tug him by the hair? Hu, hey, let me bite him in the haunches! Shall he be boiled into broth and bree to me ? Shall he roast on a spit or be browned in a stewpan? Ice to your blood, friends!
Peer Gynt (Grieg)
Peer Gynt, Op. 23 is the incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play of the same name, written by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg in 1875. It premiered along with the play on 24 February 1876 in Christiania (now Oslo). Later, in 1888 and 1891, Grieg extracted eight movements to make two four-movement suites: Suite No. 1, Op. 46, and Suite No. 2, Op. 55. Some of these movements have received coverage in popular culture; see Grieg's music in popular culture.Suite No. 1, Op. 46
4. In the Hall of the Mountain King (I Dovregubbens hall)
Suite No. 2, Op. 55
The Abduction of the Bride. Ingrid's Lament (Bruderovet. Ingrids klage)
Arabian Dance (Arabisk Dans)
Peer Gynt's Homecoming (Stormy Evening on the Sea) (Peer Gynts hjemfart (Stormful aften på havet))
Solveig's Song (Solveigs Sång)
(Originally, the second suite had a fifth number, The Dance of the Mountain King's Daughter, but Grieg withdrew it.)
