Conductor Eivind Aadland has a deep familiarity with the music of fellow Norwegian Grieg and is attuned to its flourishes, nuances and beauties.

The four movements of the Lyric Suite Op 54 by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) began life in the early 1890s as part of the six-movement Lyric Pieces for solo piano. Grieg orchestrated them in 1904. We can only guess at the motivation for the sorrow that underpins the first movement, A Shepherd Boy, which is for strings alone (and harp). Solo winds (notably clarinet and flute) come to the fore in Norwegian Rustic March; while the Notturno, as the title suggest, is a gentle ‘night’ piece.

The March of the Dwarfs oscillates between Grieg’s ‘grotesque mode’ (shades of In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt) and music of pastoral calm. Klokkeklang (Bellringing), heard later in the concert, is another orchestration of a work that was originally part of the Lyric Pieces for solo piano.

Performed live as part of Ravel, Stravinsky, Grieg on 26 August 2022 at Federation Concert Hall, nipaluna / Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

PROGRAM
Edvard Grieg, Lyric Suite, Op 54

Conductor: Eivind Aadland
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra