Grieg is the chief living exponent of Norwegian music, as Ibsen is of
its literature. “Peer Gynt” is a versified drama by Henrik Ibsen, to
which Grieg has written an orchestral suite of that name, from which
arrangements for piano have been transcribed, both for two and four
hands.
The scenes, incidents, moods, and characters of Ibsen’s drama are
essentially Scandinavian; wild, gloomy, fantastic, often vague and
incoherent to the reader of more classic and polished literature. Peer
Gynt, the hero, is a lawless adventurer, of wild and uncouth
personality, undisciplined instincts and passions, and most chaotic
career.
The various parts of the Grieg suite are founded upon various scenes of
the drama, but the numbering of the different movements will mislead the
player, as the chronological progression of the drama is not always
adhered to in the music. The following is the order in which the numbers
should be presented to fit the scenes which they represent in the life
and adventures of Peer Gynt: (1) Peer Gynt and Ingrid; (2) Troll Dance;
(3) Death of Ase; (4) Arabian Dance; (5) Anitra’s Dance; (6) Solveig’s
Song; (7) Morning; (8) Storm; (9) Cradle Song. I have included in their
proper places two of the songs of Solveig, the principal heroine of the
drama, which Grieg has also set to music and which should be rendered by
soprano voice.