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”
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.
