Tag Archives: Edvard Grieg

Parsons Playlists: Spring-Themed Classical Music That Isn’t Vivaldi

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Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student manager Amy (class of 2025) and features spring-themed classical music.

Spring-Themed Classical Music That Isn’t Vivaldi

When many think of spring, Vivaldi’s Spring movement of his Four Seasons violin concerto is often what comes to mind. However, there is a plethora of spring-themed compositions from other artists across music eras, including Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” and Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.”

Spring anime background art

Ludwig van Beethoven – Violin Sonata No. 1 Spring Movement (Itzhak Perlman, Vladimir Ashkenazy)

Igor Stravinsky – The Rite of Spring, Pt. 1: Adoration of the Earth (Teodor Currentzis, musicAeterna)

Edvard Grieg – Lyric Pieces, Op. 43, No. 6 “To Spring” (Lang Lang)

Christian Sinding – Frühlingsrauschen (Rustle of Spring) for Piano, Op. 32, No. 3 (Dubravka Tomšič)

Claude Debussy – Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (Orchestra National de Lyon)

Camille Saint-Saëns – The Swan, Carnival of the Animals (Yo Yo Ma, Kathryn Slott)

Florence Beatrice Price – Juba Dance from Symphony No. 1 (Akiko Fujimoto, Minnesota Orchestra)

Alexander Borodin: Quartet No. 2 in D major for Strings, I. Allegro moderato (Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center)

Bedřich Smetana – The Moldau (Polish National Radio Symphony)

Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring – 1945 Suite – 1. Very slowly (LA Philharmonic)

Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring – 1943 Suite – 7. Doppio movimento (New York Philharmonic)

Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring – 1945 Suite – 2. Allegro (LA Philharmonic)

Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring – 1945 Suite – 8. Moderato: Coda (LA Philharmonic)

Here is a link to the whole playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qizSgHRRbEo&list=PLSwAwMtTLDwitnvD5pQ8hTur4eSlqiamO

Arachnophonia: “In the Hall of the Mountain King”

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Editor’s note: Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.

All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question or to additional relevant information from around the web.

Today’s installment of Arachnophonia is by student assistant Amy (class of 2025) and features “In the Hall of the Mountain King”. Thanks, Amy!

“In the Hall of the Mountain King”

In the Hall of the Mountain King - Peer Gynt

Ibsen Peer Gynt Before The King Of The Trolls Illustration By Arthur Rackham (1867-1939)

With Halloween nearing, now is the perfect time to listen to a classic “scary” piece of classical music: “In the Hall of the Mountain King” – incidental music by composer Edvard Grieg from Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt.

Peer Gynt tells the story of a man, Peer, who is in love with a girl he is not allowed to marry. After leaving home, he ends up in the hall of the Mountain King after being captured by trolls. The King of the Trolls upsets him when he refuses to marry the King’s daughter and become a troll. In the end, Peer barely makes it out by running away from the trolls. The piece “In the Hall of the Mountain King” plays when Peer insults the king, and the trolls start to chase him as he runs away.

The drama was written by Henrik Ibsen, who originally did not want the show to ever be performed. However, 7 years later, Ibsen changed his mind and asked Edvard Grieg to write the music for the production. The show premiered on February 24, 1876, in Mollergaden Theatre, Christiania, which is now Oslo, Norway. Grieg re-orchestrated the music before productions in Copenhagen, Denmark. During a revival of the show in 1902, he added new pieces to the show. The score was finally published a year after Grieg died, in 1908.

The piece starts out slow with quiet notes to simulate the quiet footsteps of Peer as he tries and sneaks away from the Troll King. The music grows louder as the trolls slowly get closer to Peer. The music swells as Peter starts running and fighting off the trolls, trying to get away.

You can listen to Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” in the CD section of the Parson’s Music Library and find the Orchestra Suites from the Music to Peer Gynt arranged for the piano in the scores section.

In the Hall of the Mountain King music notation