Holberg Suite

Holberg Suite, Op. 40 more properly "From Holberg's Time", (German: Aus Holbergs Zeit, Norwegian: Fra Holbergs tid), subtitled "Suite in olden style" (Norwegian: Suite i gammel stil, German: Suite im alten Style), is a suite of five movements based on eighteenth century dance forms, written by Edvard Grieg in 1884 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Danish-Norwegian humanist playwright Ludvig Holberg.

It is an example of a piece of nineteenth century music which makes use of musical styles and forms from the preceding century. It can be compared with Franz Liszt's À la Chapelle Sixtine, S.360 (1862) and contrasted with later neoclassical works.

This suite is not as famous as the incidental music from Peer Gynt, which is usually performed as arranged in a pair of suites itself, but many critics see them as equal. The movements of the suite are:

1. Praeludium (Allegro vivace)
2. Sarabande (Andante)
3. Gavotte (Allegretto)
4. Air (Andante religioso)
5. Rigaudon (Allegro con brio)

The suite was originally composed for the piano, and a year later it was adapted for string orchestra. The Suite consists of an introduction and a set of dances. It is a charming, early essay in neo-classicism, an attempt to echo as much as was known in Grieg's time of the music of Holberg's time. After the vigorgous opening Prelude, Allegro Vivace, comes a stately Sarabande, Andante. Next is a graceful Gavotte, Allegretto, with a droning Musette as its middle section. This is followed by a lyrical Air, Andante Religioso, and the Suite then closes with a high-spirited Provencal dance, a Rigaudon, Allegro Con Brio.

External links

• Holberg Suite: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.
• Synthesized performance of string version in MP3 format at Logos Virtual Library
• Performance of piano version on YouTube (Flash required)