Bonbons Wrapped in Snow

While still a youngster, Edvard Grieg was sent to the conservatory at Leipzig, where he had a miserable time. In later life he wrote that the rigid rules of the German style of composition highly hampered creativity and caused great musical oppression. He envisioned a new music, particularly one of solely Norwegian identity.

He returned to Norway hell-bent on establishing a fresh compositional form. He went to work with Niels Gade, then Scandinavia's most prominent composer, as well as close friend and disciple of Mendelssohn and Schumann. Grieg admitted that he learned more from Gade in a short while than he did in the three years he spent at Leipzig; but he wasn't entirely satisfied because Gade was also highly influenced by German musical theories.

A friend of Gade's introduced Grieg to the young Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak, who was at that time incorporating Norwegian folk themes into his music. Together they reasoned that the form of music which they were pursuing wasn't of the Mendelssohn/Gade/Schumann style, but rather one which would be constructed of the harmonic, temporal, and rhythmic ingredients integral to Norway's folk music itself. In this way only could a new Norwegian music be created.

I'm most certain that Grieg would have been most delighted with this release of his music played by the Netherlands Guitar Trio. Grieg was

The pieces heard here fall into that category. The Peer Gynt Suites were originally composed for solo piano and for piano four hands. The Holberg Suite began as a suite for solo piano, then was transcribed for string orchestra, and soon after retranscribed for full orchestra. The Elegiac Melodies were originally two songs, later arranged for string orchestra. This recording has the warm sense of intimacy for which Grieg strove. The trio uses three separately voiced guitars, hence presenting a most unique sonic experience. The music's harmonic structure is far more openly revealed (a chance for much satisfying scrutiny), and the orchestrations are certainly not lost or mis-voiced due to the separate timbres and ranges of the guitars. These transcriptions truly enhance the folkloristic nature of Grieg's charming compositions. Debussy was so very correct when he described Grieg's piquant melodies as ''bonbons wrapped in snow.''

While still a youngster, Edvard Grieg was sent to the conservatory at Leipzig, where he had a miserable time. In later life he wrote that the rigid rules of the German style of composition highly hampered creativity and caused great musical oppression. He envisioned a new music, particularly one of solely Norwegian identity.

He returned to Norway hell-bent on establishing a fresh compositional form. He went to work with Niels Gade, then Scandinavia's most prominent composer, as well as close friend and disciple of Mendelssohn and Schumann. Grieg admitted that he learned more from Gade in a short while than he did in the three years he spent at Leipzig; but he wasn't entirely satisfied because Gade was also highly influenced by German musical theories.

A friend of Gade's introduced Grieg to the young Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak, who was at that time incorporating Norwegian folk themes into his music. Together they reasoned that the form of music which they were pursuing wasn't of the Mendelssohn/Gade/Schumann style, but rather one which would be constructed of the harmonic, temporal, and rhythmic ingredients integral to Norway's folk music itself. In this way only could a new Norwegian music be created.

I'm most certain that Grieg would have been most delighted with this release of his music played by the Netherlands Guitar Trio. Grieg was

The pieces heard here fall into that category. The Peer Gynt Suites were originally composed for solo piano and for piano four hands. The Holberg Suite began as a suite for solo piano, then was transcribed for string orchestra, and soon after retranscribed for full orchestra. The Elegiac Melodies were originally two songs, later arranged for string orchestra. This recording has the warm sense of intimacy for which Grieg strove. The trio uses three separately voiced guitars, hence presenting a most unique sonic experience. The music's harmonic structure is far more openly revealed (a chance for much satisfying scrutiny), and the orchestrations are certainly not lost or mis-voiced due to the separate timbres and ranges of the guitars. These transcriptions truly enhance the folkloristic nature of Grieg's charming compositions. Debussy was so very correct when he described Grieg's piquant melodies as ''bonbons wrapped in snow.''