Grieg - Rotnamsknut Halling, op.72 no.7

[andhow04]

this is another piece from grieg's norwegian peasant dances, op72, which are free transcriptions of norwegian folk fiddle tunes.  he adapted them in different ways, and this features a contrasting middle section that nonetheless uses all the same melodic material as the opening section, but in new and unexpected ways...

this and two other grieg peices from op.72 opened a program based on ill-fated and mostly mad lovers, while this piece isn't a bridal processional per se it is an exciting concert piece and just fun to play.

[tb230]

Thanks for posting, I thought it was extremely good! I wonder if you have listened to the original Halling, you can find it in several versions on youtube. Here is one example:

Grieg needs to be played with a bit of this wildness and beat, not too academic, and I think you did that very well. 

[andhow04]

thanks for that!  yes actually when i started looking at the pieces in op72 i found a recording that has both the fiddler playing the tunes, then the pianist playing the grieg versions. the violinist is called knut buen.  i thinkt hese pieces are totally charming and will definitely be learning more, they are very rich and can be programmed in many different ways.

[tb230]

OK, if you know Knut Buen then you also have the gold standard of Harding fiddle. In Grieg's op. 66, you can find this one:

which is so beautiful.

[andhow04]

wonderful video!  here is the video of my performance.