In the Hall of the Mountain King

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"In the Hall of the Mountain King"
Performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra
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"In the Hall of the Mountain King" (Norwegian: I Dovregubbens hall, lit. 'In the Dovre man's hall') is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg in 1875 as incidental music 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,[citation needed] where it has been arranged by many artists (See Grieg's music in popular culture).

The English translation of the name is not literal. Dovre is a mountainous region 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.

Setting

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The two-phrase theme, written in the key of B minor

The piece is played as the title character Peer Gynt, in a dream-like fantasy, enters "Dovregubbens (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.[1][2]

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."[3] 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.[4]

Music

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Modified theme in F♯ major

The piece is in the overall key of B minor. 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.

Lyrics of the song in Peer Gynt

Character Norwegian English
The troll-courtiers: Slagt ham! Kristenmands søn har dåret
Dovregubbens veneste mø!
Slagt ham! Slagt ham! 		Slay him! The Christian man's son has seduced
the fairest maid of the Mountain King!
Slay him! Slay him!
A troll-imp: Må jeg skjære ham i fingeren? May I hack him on the fingers?
Another troll-imp: Må jeg rive ham i håret? May I tug him by the hair?
A troll-maiden: Hu, hej, lad mig bide ham i låret! Hu, hey, let me bite him in the haunches!
A troll-witch with a ladle: Skal han lages til sod og sø? Shall he be boiled into soup and broth?
Another troll-witch, with a butcher knife: Skal han steges på spid eller brunes i gryde? Shall he roast on a spit or be browned in a stewpan?
The Mountain King: Isvand i blodet! Ice water to your blood!

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Ibsen 1985, p. 67.
  2. ^ Peer Gynt, Scene Sixth, translated by Robert Farquharson Sharp (1864–1945)
  3. ^ Ibsen 1985, p. 17.
  4. ^ Santon, Tim. "Review" (Ibsen's Peer Gynt illustrated by Arthur Rackham). Stella & Rose's Books.

Sources

  • Ibsen, Henrik (1985) [1876]. Peer Gynt. Translated by Peter Watts. Penguin.

Further reading

External links

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