Presented at the Grieg Conference in Bergen May 26, 2000
Walter Lindenbaum, Germany
Dr., Associate Professor
University of Münster
PEER GYNT GOES HOLLYWOOD – ELLINGTON PLAYS GRIEG
In the first place I would like to thank the International Grieg Society for giving me the opportunity of speaking to you. However, due to the short time available to me today I am not able to deal with all of the complexities of this subject and propose instead to summarise some of the main points.
Whilst preparing a lecture for the 2. German Edvard Grieg conference I became aware that compositions by Grieg, notably „In the Hall of the Mountain King“ often find their way into rock music, especially Heavy Metal. This realisation led me to investigate other branches of music as well. So I found a CD by the Duke Ellington Orchestra entitled „Three Suites“ with recording of:
– TSCHAIKOVSKY, NUTCRACKER-SUITE
– GRIEG, PEER GYNT-SUITES 1 & 2
– ELLINGTON – STRAYHORN, SUITE THURSDAY
The recording dates from June 1960, a time during which the Duke Ellington Orchestra was pulling in record crowds at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas. They were made in Hollywood, so from an American perspective, just „next door“.
Download the whole paper here
Walter Lindenbaum paper 2000