PEER GYNT SUITE NR. 1

Edward Grieg (Bergen, 1843 -1907) is regarded as Norway's greatest composer. Music historians classify Grieg as belonging to the Norwegian 19th century national school. His art is without doubt ''naif'', fresh, candid and different. In 1874 (on holiday in Italy) Grieg met fellow Norwegian and playwright Henrick Ibsen, who commissioned him to write the music for the stage version of one of his literary works, ''Peer Gynt''. The five-act verse drama had its premiere performance in Christiania (now Oslo) in 1876. More than a decade later, Grieg used the 22 pieces of incidental music for the play (Op. 23) to produce two concert suites (Op. 46 and 55) each divided into four episodes. These continue to be his most popular works up to this very day.