Key note presentation at the Grieg Conference in Copenhagen August 13, 2011
Bjarte Engeset, Norway
Conductor
EDVARD GRIEG’S ORCHESTRAL STYLE
– a conductor’s point of view
Edvard Grieg (1843–1907) wrote the following after he had performed his Norwegian Peasant Dances (Slåtter) op. 72:
I played them with all my love and all my troll Magic. Jeg spillede dem med al den Kjærlighed og Troldskab, jeg ejede.
In the written introduction to Slåtter he uses similar word pairs describing the music: «their combination of nice and pure grace with bold power and untamed ferocity». In such associative word pairings, close to value-laden concepts like God and Devil, Culture and Barbarism, Grieg reveals his aesthetics.
Download the whole paper here
Paper Bjarte Engeset 2011