Grieg-Ginzburg - In the Hall of the Mountain King (audio + sheet music)

"In the Hall of the Mountain King" (Norwegian: I Dovregubbens hall) is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg for the sixth scene of act 2 in Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play Peer Gynt. It was originally part of Opus 23 but was later extracted as the final piece of Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1, Op. 46. Its easily recognizable theme has helped it attain iconic status in popular culture, where it has been arranged by many artists.

The English translation of the name is not literal. Dovre is a highland place in Norway, and "gubbe" translates into (old) man or husband. "Gubbe" is used along with its female counterpart "kjerring" to differentiate male and female trolls, "trollgubbe" and "trollkjerring". In the play, Dovregubben is a troll king that Peer Gynt invents in a fantasy.

The piece is played as the title character Peer Gynt, in a dream-like fantasy, enters "Dovregubben (the troll Mountain King)'s hall". The scene's introduction continues: "There is a great crowd of troll courtiers, gnomes and goblins. Dovregubben sits on his throne, with crown and sceptre, surrounded by his children and relatives. Peer Gynt stands before him. There is a tremendous uproar in the hall." The lines sung are the first lines in the scene.

Grieg himself wrote, "For the Hall of the Mountain King I have written something that so reeks of cowpats, ultra-Norwegianism, and 'to-thyself-be-enough-ness' that I can't bear to hear it, though I hope that the irony will make itself felt." The theme of "to thyself be... enough" – avoiding the commitment implicit in the phrase "To thine own self be true" and just doing enough – is central to Peer Gynt's satire, and the phrase is discussed by Peer and the mountain king in the scene which follows the piece.

The simple theme begins slowly and quietly in the lowest registers of the orchestra, played first by the cellos, double basses, and bassoons. After being stated, the main theme is then very slightly modified with a few different ascending notes, but transposed up a perfect fifth (to the key of F-sharp major, the dominant key, but with flattened sixth) and played on different instruments.

The two groups of instruments then move in and out of different octaves until they eventually "collide" with each other at the same pitch. The tempo gradually speeds up to a prestissimo finale, and the music itself becomes increasingly loud and frenetic.

English translation of the lyrics:

Slay him! The Christian's son has bewitched
The Mountain King's fairest daughter!
Slay him!
Slay him!
May I hack him on the fingers?
May I tug him by the hair?
Hu, hey, let me bite him in the haunches!
Shall he be boiled into broth and bree to me
Shall he roast on a spit or be browned in a stewpan?
Ice to your blood, friends!

(Wikipedia)

A little bit about Ginzburg:

Grigory Romanovich Ginzburg (1904–1961) was a Jewish-born, Russian pianist.

Ginzburg first studied with his mother before being accepted as a student in Alexander Goldenweiser's class at Moscow Conservatory. In 1927 he gained fourth prize in the Warsaw International Frederick Chopin Competition. He was recognized as one of the finest musicians in the Soviet Union and toured Europe several times. He became professor at Moscow Conservatory in 1929 and was a very important teacher. Some of his well known students are Gleb Axelrod, Sergei Dorensky, Regina Shamvili and Sulamita Aronovsky.

Ginzburg is famous for his piano touch that has ties with the tradition of 19th century players such as Franz Liszt. His eclectic repertoire and his art of transcription make of him one of the most special performers in piano history.

(Wikipedia)

Please take note that the audio AND the sheet music ARE NOT mine. Change the quality to 480p if the video is blurry.

Performance by: Gleb Ivanov
(original audio:    • GRIEG - GINZBURG In the Hall of the Mounta...  )