(1843 - 1907)
Of Scottish descent on his father’s side, Edvard Grieg was born in Bergen and studied for four years at the Leipzig Conservatoire, where he was influenced by German Romanticism. It was during later studies in Copenhagen that the importance of Norwegian folk music became apparent to him, and this realisation found early expression during the 1860s in the Humoresques and the first book of Lyric Pieces for piano. Grieg settled in Oslo in 1866 and after his Piano Concerto (1868) returned less frequently to the larger Germanic forms, although his output includes a sonata for piano, three for violin and one for cello, as well as a string quartet which Debussy admired. His marriage in 1867 to his cousin Nina Hagerup inspired many of his 180 or so songs; he continued his series of Lyric Pieces (totalling around 60) and he wrote incidental music for the theatre (Ibsen’s Peer Gynt and Bjørnsen’s Sigurd Jorsalfar). His most characterised music matches the idiom of Norwegian folk music with an almost impressionistic gift for sound-painting.
Edvard Grieg Composition Timpani and Percussion Requirements
Norwegian Dances
Timpani + 1 percussion
Clash cymbals, triangle
__________________________________________________________________________________
Peer Gynt - Complete
Timpani + 5 percussion
1) tambourine, triangle, xylophone, off stage low D bell, 2) snare drum, tam tam, 3) clash cymbals, 4) orchestral bass drum, suspended cymbal, 5) triangle
__________________________________________________________________________________
Peer Gynt Suite
Timpani + 2 percussion
Clash cymbals, orchestral bass drum, triangle
__________________________________________________________________________________
Sigfurd Jorsalfar March
Timpani + 4 percussion
1) snare drum, 2) triangle. 3) clash cymbals, 4) orchestral bass drum
__________________________________________________________________________________
Song of Norway
Timpani (doubling percussion) + 2 percussion
Timpani) bell tree, 1) drum kit, triangle, cowbell, wood block, tambourine, 2) tubular bells, glockenspiel, vibraphone, xylophone, clash cymbals, triangle, sleigh bells
__________________________________________________________________________________
Strange Music
Timpani + 1 percussion
Clash cymbals, suspended cymbal
__________________________________________________________________________________
Wedding Day at Troldhaugen
No Timpani + 3 percussion
1) glockenspiel, snare drum, 2) clash cymbals, triangle, 3) orchestral bass drum
__________________________________________________________________________________