Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite

[pianistimo]

da da daaaaah.  is that antra's dance?  anyway, was just listening on the radio and it was played much slower and more beautifully than i've always heard it (more adagio).  how could one pull this off on the piano without it sounding mournful.  does tuning the treble of the piano slightly sharper help on very melodic things like this?

[liszt1022]

da da daaaaah is Ase's Death, which is mournful.

anitra's dance is faster.

[pianistimo]

oh yes!  (*hits self in forehead) 

anyway, i was listening to this version of ase's death (btw, to get the whole ridiculous story www.nightowl.org/Classical/peer1_1.html  and i realized that i'd always played it way too fast.  it's supposed to be slow and mournful.  duh.

[alwaystheangel]

Ase's Death is my favourite from the suite.  How about you? What's your favourite piece?

[pianistimo]

yes.  the way ase troubled his mother, he deserved the long painful death.  have to read the rest of the story actually.  how did he die again?

[alwaystheangel]

that's kind of sick. Pianistimo.

[pianistimo]

no sicker than ase perching his mother on the mill-house roof. 

[alwaystheangel]

Touché, I was not aware of what he did.  I'm actually not familiar with the story at all, to be honest.

[nicco]

Now now, its called Åses death, not Ases 

Actually, some time ago i bought a book with griegs most popular pieces for piano and Åses død was translated with "The death of the ass"

[ahinton]

Now now, its called Åses death, not Ases 

Actually, some time ago i bought a book with griegs most popular pieces for piano and Åses død was translated with "The death of the ass"

I wonder if the publisher was having a laugh or being totally stupid?

This particular piece from Grieg's "Peer Gynt" music was of sufficient interest to motivate me to write a large set of piano variations on it; the resulting piece was recorded by Donna Amato on Altarus AIR-CD-9021 back in the 1990s (it's still available). Please forgive the shameless advertising...

Best,

Alistair

[cfortunato]

I think "Hall of the Mountain King" is not on y the most familiar, but may be the best.  The suite is great, though.  Is it the first soundtrack?  Even though it was a play, not a film?

[tee_dee_es]

da da daaaaah is Ase's Death, which is mournful.

anitra's dance is faster.

we have another 'da da daaaaahhh' in brahms rhapsodie op. 79 no. 1. is it somehow related?

[ahinton]

we have another 'da da daaaaahhh' in brahms rhapsodie op. 79 no. 1. is it somehow related?

A well-known parallel - but a pure coincidence, I think. I can't be absolutely sure of that, of course, but I do think that it is indeed just a piece of happenstance nevertheless...

Best,

Alistair