Staying on the theme of Spring (we’ll be here for a while) …
I don’t need to tell you that Spring is more than just a change of season – it’s a rebirth after death, warmth after cold, light after darkness.
It can also be so much more complex than that. Edvard Grieg‘s work, “Last Spring”, was inspired by the poetry of Aasmund Olavsson Vinje. The title sounds like the work will be a nostalgic daydream … however, the word “last” in this case refers not to the previous year, but the sense that this will be the poet’s final spring on earth. Bittersweet indeed.
Like many of Grieg’s most famous works, it was originally written for piano, and later arranged it for orchestra (in this case, just strings) by the composer.
… And if you don’t know how, Anitra will be happy to teach you.
Anitra is a character in the Norwegian play Peer Gynt, written by Henrik Isben. The play is a satire of Norway and Norwegians, their peculiarities, their mythology, and their humor (if you can call it that.) Isben asked Norway’s composer poster-child, Edvard Grieg, to write music for the play. Later, Grieg created two suites using music he wrote for the play, which have become orchestral favorites the world around. Not too shabby for a country of fishermen, whose total population today is less than 6 million.
Ask a Norwegian about Norwegian music, and without a doubt Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) will be the first composer mentioned.
Grieg’s music retains a strong hold in our culture, because he tends to write simple, 4-measure melodies that are easy to remember and fun to sing. It’s likely that you’ve heard his most-well-known piece “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” in which there is really only one melodic idea, repeated over and over again (hence, the reason you probably know it.) Today’s piece comes from the same set of pieces. “Morning Mood” follows a similarly simple form – one melody, presented a number of ways – nothing fancy, just lovely morning mood music.
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