Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

's ''Lyric Suite'' is an orchestration of four of the six piano pieces from Book V of his ''

Lyric Pieces ''Lyric Pieces'' ( no, Lyriske stykker) is a collection of 66 short pieces for solo piano written by Edvard Grieg. They were published in 10 volumes, from 1867 ( Op. 12) to 1901 (Op. 71). The collection includes several of his best known pieces, ...

'', Op. 54. Both Grieg and the Austro-Hungarian conductor

Anton Seidl Anton Seidl (7 May 185028 March 1898) was a famous Hungarian Wagner conductor, best known for his association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and the New York Philharmonic. Biography He was born in Pest, Austria-Hungary, where ...

had a hand in the orchestration. It consists of three pieces revised by Grieg from Seidl's arrangements, and one piece arranged by Grieg alone.

History

Grieg wrote the six ''Lyric Pieces'' of Book V for piano in 1891. The original order was: * 1. ''Shepherd Boy'' (Gjætergut) * 2. ''Norwegian March'' (Gangar) * 3. ''March of the Dwarfs'' (Troldtog) * 4. ''Notturno'' * 5. ''Scherzo'' * 6. ''Bell-Ringing'' (Klokkeklang). In 1894,

, the conductor of the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

, orchestrated four of the pieces for his orchestra to play. He gave the work the title of ''Norwegian Suite''. The four pieces he chose were: * 2. ''Norwegian March'' * 3. ''March of the Dwarfs'' * 4. ''Notturno'' * 6. ''Bell-Ringing''. Seidl died in 1898. In 1905, with the assistance of Daniela Thode (1860–1940; the daughter of

Cosima Wagner Francesca Gaetana Cosima Wagner (née Liszt; 24 December 1837 – 1 April 1930) was the daughter of the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt and Franco-German romantic author Marie d'Agoult. She became the second wife of the German comp ...

by her first husband

Hans von Bülow Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for es ...

, and the grand-daughter of Franz Liszt), Grieg obtained the score of Seidl's arrangement but was dissatisfied with it in some respects. He wrote to Seidl's widow, saying that, while her late husband's work had considerable merit, it did not fully accord with his own conception of the pieces, and he had therefore revised Seidl's orchestrations. Seidl had worked alongside Richard Wagner for a number of years, making the first copy of the score of ''

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...

'', and conducting the ''Ring Cycle'' many times in Germany and America. He was undoubtedly influenced by Wagner's heavy Germanic instrumentation, which did not fit well with Grieg's lighter, more subtle and folkloristic approach.

Structure

Grieg gave his revised arrangement the title of ''Lyric Suite''. Although he did complete his revision of Seidl's arrangement of No. 6 ''Bell-Ringing'', he chose not to include it. Instead, he orchestrated the first piece, ''Shepherd Boy'', directly from the original piano score, and included it in the suite. The other three pieces were set for full orchestra, but ''Shepherd Boy'' was arranged for strings alone. Grieg slightly altered the order of the numbers in the orchestral suite by swapping No. 4 ''Notturno'' with No. 3 ''March of the Dwarfs''. The final order is: * 1. ''Shepherd Boy'' * 2. ''Norwegian March'' * 3. ''Notturno'' (originally No. 4) * 4. ''March of the Dwarfs'' (originally No. 3). He conducted the ''Lyric Suite'' a number of times in the two remaining years of his life, and it has been recorded and performed many times by other conductors. Seidl's ''Norwegian Suite'' has not survived in the repertoire. The score is now part of the Seidl Collection at Columbia University Library.

Other arrangements of ''Lyric Pieces''

In 1899, Grieg orchestrated two of the pieces from Book IX, Op. 68. * No. 4 ''Evening in the Mountains'' was set for oboe, horns and strings. : * No. 5 ''At the Cradle'' was set for strings alone. :

References

{{Authority control Suites by Edvard Grieg 1905 compositions Compositions for symphony orchestra