12 Tremendous Composers 12 Composers    

Lesson 35: Peer Gynt Suite no. 1, Op. 46 - II./III. Åse's Death/Anitra's Dance

by Edvard Grieg

Performer: Musopen Symphony

Directions

Study the musical selection for one week.

Over the week:

• Listen to the music daily.
• Read the synopsis.
• Review the vocabulary terms.
• Read about the composer.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

This lesson features the second and third movements of Edvard Grieg's 'Peer Gynt Suite no. 1, Op. 46,' entitled 'Åse's Death' and 'Anitra's Dance.' In the play, Åse is Peer Gynt's mother. Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen based the character of Åse on his own mother. The beautiful melody captures the mournful ambiance as Peer Gynt visits his mother on her deathbed. The third movement, the upbeat, plucky 'Anitra's Dance,' corresponds to a scene in the play when the daughter of a Bedouin dances for Peer Gynt in Africa.

Vocabulary

Movement: A large division of a larger composition.
Bedouin: A desert-dweller, especially a member of a nomadic Arab desert tribe.

Composer

1. Edvard Grieg soon grew used to Leipzig, Germany and was busy as could be with lessons in piano and harmony. Just as in the earlier days in school, so in Leipzig, Edvard wrote music as it sounded in his heart. In the harmony lessons he could not make himself write plain chords to the bass which was given him as an exercise. He wrote the light, airy, lovely, fanciful tunes and rhythms that were singing within him.
2. And just like the schoolmaster at home, the harmony teacher shouted at him, saying: 'No, that is all wrong!' His harmony teacher was E. F. Richter. Here is a picture of Richter.

3. But you remember that Ole Bull understood the boy's music. While here in Leipzig there were many who understood it too.
4. Bit by bit Edvard made friends who loved to listen to his pieces. One of them was Niels Gade, a fine musician in Denmark, who was a friend of Schumann's, who one time, wrote a Northern Song on the letters on Gade's name. It begins like this:

5. And Edvard too once wrote a fugue on the letters G-A-D-E.
6. So inspiring was his music study that Edvard worked very hard. He composed a great deal of music which slowly made friends for him. Robert Schumann was one who spoke kindly of the young Norwegian and his music. And so he grew and improved. Because he was true to his talent, he made many friends not only in Leipzig but throughout Europe, as we shall see.

7. You will learn someday the names of many of the people who became friends of Grieg. There were Rikard Nordraak, and later on Franz Liszt.
8. Norwegian composer Rickard Nordraak:

9. Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt:

10. Grieg became one of the group of great Norwegian artists in which Henrik Ibsen and Bjornstjerne Bjornson were prominent. Indeed, Grieg wrote the music to Ibsen's Peer Gynt. One of the great pleasures of Grieg's life was Bjornson's Patriotic Poem to his own music.
11. Here is a picture of Norwegian playwright and director Henrik Ibsen:

12. This picture shows the Norwegian writer and 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson:

13. One day, Grieg showed Gade a composition called 'In Autumn' which Gade did not like. 'It is too Norwegian,' Gade said. This pleased Grieg, although Gade told him to go home and write something better. Gade was nearly as rough as Grieg's schoolmaster.
14. But one day later a prize was offered in Sweden for an orchestral composition. Grieg's 'In Autumn' won the prize. And Gade was one of the judges. We wonder if he forgot about it! This is a picture of Gade.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Recite the Composition Information

• Recite the name of the composer and the composition.

Activity 2: Study the Music Timeline

Examine the music timeline to answer the following questions.

• What is the year of birth of the lesson composer?
• What is the year of death of the featured composer?
• How old was the composer upon death?
• Which composer (if any) directly precedes the studied composer by date of birth?
• Which composer (if any) directly succeeds the lesson composer by date of birth?
• Which other timeline composers were alive at the same time as the studied composer?

Activity 3: Map the Music

• Edvard Grieg was born in Norway, but traveled to Germany to study music as a boy.
• Trace Edvard's journey, from Norway to Germany.

Activity 4: Write a One-Page Paper About Edvard Grieg

Read these facts about Edvard Grieg and write a one-page story out of them, using your own words.

• Edvard Grieg was born June 15, 1843, near Bergen, Norway.
• His father's ancestors were Scotch folk who went to Norway after the Battle of Culloden, in 1745.
• It was Edvard Grieg's mother who gave him his first lessons.
• One of his best friends—and one who did much for him—was Ole Bull, the great violinist.
• Edvard Grieg studied at the Leipzig Conservatory.
• His teachers were the Bohemian composer Ignaz Moscheles, German composer Moritz Hauptmann (who liked his music), German musical theorist Ernst Friedrich Richter, and German organist Robert Papperitz.
• Sir Arthur Sullivan, who composed the opera, Pinafore, was one of Edvard Grieg's fellow students at Leipzig. Dudley Buck, the American composer, was there at the same time.
• Among Edvard Grieg's friends were Gade, Nordraak, Ibsen, Bjornson and Svendsen.
• He married his cousin, Mina Hagerup, who was a fine singer.
• Edvard Grieg composed for the piano, voice, violin, and for the orchestra.
• Edvard Grieg wrote music to Ibsen's Peer Gynt, at the poet's request.
• The Norwegian Government granted Edvard Grieg a pension, so that he could be free to devote himself to composition.
• Edvard Grieg died September 3, 1907.

Review

Question 1

Which composer from Denmark gave Edvard Grieg good advice about his compositions?

1 / 3

Answer 1

Niels Gade from Denmark gave Edvard Grieg good advice.

1 / 3

Question 2

Name some famous men of Edvard Grieg's country.

2 / 3

Answer 2

Famous Norwegians during Edvard Grieg's time included Norwegian composer Rickard Nordraak, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Nobel Prize winner and writer Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson.

2 / 3

Question 3

Which composition by Edvard Grieg was given first prize in the contest in Sweden?

3 / 3

Answer 3

Edvard Grieg's 'In Autumn' was given first prize in the contest in Sweden.

3 / 3

❮ ❯

1. Which composer from Denmark gave Edvard Grieg good advice about his compositions? Niels Gade from Denmark gave Edvard Grieg good advice.
2. Name some famous men of Edvard Grieg's country. Famous Norwegians during Edvard Grieg's time included Norwegian composer Rickard Nordraak, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Nobel Prize winner and writer Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson.
3. Which composition by Edvard Grieg was given first prize in the contest in Sweden? Edvard Grieg's 'In Autumn' was given first prize in the contest in Sweden.

References

Tapper, Thomas. Edvard Grieg - The Story of the Boy Who Made Music in the Land of the Midnight Sun. Philadelphia, PA. Theodore Presser Co., 1921.

'Peer Gynt (Grieg).' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Anitra.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.