Edvard Grieg Anitras Dance

My piano teacher was a great fan of Grieg and introduced me to the Lyric Pieces in my teens. Anitra's Dance is less well known than Morning, Solveig's Song or In the Hall of the Mountain King.

(Guitar Guru lesson version of Edvard Grieg - In the Hall of the Mountain King)



Anitra's Dance deserves a wider audience. Before Miss Robinson's piano lessons, I remember struggling with a classical guitar arrangement of this piece as a kid. It was hard! I am currently working on a simplified piano edition of Anitra's Dance, a rock version of the piece and a version for classical guitar ensemble. Watch this space!

In 1870 the virtuose pianist and composer, Franz Liszt, met Grieg when Grieg travelled to Rome especially to meet him. They went over Grieg's Violin Sonata No. 1, which Liszt enjoyed greatly. On his second visit, in April, Grieg brought with him the music of his Piano Concerto, and Liszt was able to sight read the whole orchestral arrangement.

Henrik Ibsen asked Grieg to compose incidental music for the premiere of play Peer Gynt. He was engaged in this from 1874-76. Many of the pieces from this work are now popular orchestral suites or piano and piano-duet arrangements.

Peer Gynt (Grieg)

Peer Gynt had its premier on 24th February 1876 in Christiania (now called Oslo). There were 29 pieces in the complete score.

Later Grieg extracted eight movements to make two suites:



Suite No. 1, Op. 46

1. Morning Mood (Morgenstemning)
2. Aase's Death (Åses død)
3. Anitra's Dance (Anitras dans)
4. In the Hall of the Mountain King (I Dovregubbens hall)

Suite No. 2, Op. 55.

1. The Abduction of the Bride. Ingrid's Lament (Bruderovet. Ingrids klage)
2. Arabian Dance (Arabisk Dans)
3. Peer Gynt's Homecoming (Stormy Evening on the Sea) (Peer Gynts hjemfart) (Stormful aften på havet)
4. Solveig's Song (Solveigs Sang)

Free scores by Edvard Grieg are available in the International Music Score Library Project, the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA), the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki) and the Mutopia Project. All of these, plus vintage scores provide a resource for modern arrangers to access and work from.

List of compositions by Edvard Grieg

* Piano Sonata in E minor, Op. 7
* Violin Sonata No. 1 in F major, Op. 8
* Concert Overture In Autumn, Op. 11
* Violin Sonata No. 2 in G major, Op. 13
* Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
* Incidental music to Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's play Sigurd Jorsalfar, Op. 22
* Incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, Op. 23
* Ballade in the Form of Variations on a Norwegian Folk Song in G minor, Op. 24
* String Quartet in G minor, Op. 27
* Album for Male Chorus, Op. 30
* Two Elegiac Melodies for Strings, Op. 34
* Four Norwegian Dances for piano four hands, Op. 35 (later orchestrated)
* Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36
* Holberg Suite for piano, later arr. for string orchestra, Op. 40
* Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45
* Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46
* Lyric Suite for Orchestra, Op. 54 (orchestration of four Lyric Pieces)
* Peer Gynt Suite No. 2, Op. 55
* Suite from Sigurd Jorsalfar, Op. 56
* Four Symphonic Dances for piano, later arr. for orchestra, Op. 64
* Haugtussa Song Cycle after Arne Garborg, Op. 67
* Slåtter (Peasant Dances) for piano, Op. 72
* Sixty-six Lyric Pieces for piano in ten books, Op. 12, 38, 43, 47, 54, 57, 62, 65, 68 and 71, including: Arietta, To the Spring, Little Bird, Butterfly, Notturno, Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, At Your Feet, Longing For Home, March of the Dwarfs, Poème érotique and Gone.