Grieg, Bergen and the Mountain King
One of classical music’s most recognizable melodies came from a Bergen composer’s work on an Ibsen play.
Edvard Grieg was born in Bergen on 15 June 1843. His mother, Gesine, was his first piano teacher. Decades later, he wrote the music for Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt. Among its pieces is I Dovregubbens hall, known in English as In the Hall of the Mountain King.
The composition begins with a quiet motif that returns, grows and accelerates until it seems to take over everything. Even people who do not know the title have probably heard the tune somewhere. It gains another layer when we remember it was written for a theatrical scene, within a world of trolls and fantastic creatures from Norwegian literature.
Grieg’s roots in the city went beyond music that travelled around the world. His home at Troldhaugen, shared with singer Nina Grieg, is now part of a museum. A single visit can bring together the music, his life and the landscape.