Finals have ended, I have now graduated, and this week finds me well rested after many an afternoon’s nap in my backyard garden. It has been so nice to take a break from my busy life and just sit and listen to the birds chirping, watch two muskrats find a snack, and smell the flowers in bloom. In the midst of my unpacking and moving some of my stuff, I ran across an old recording of me playing piano from high school.
Intrigued by my new discovery, I promptly put the cd in my stereo and pressed play. Although the recording isn’t the greatest quality, the warm, folk-dance tune of Grieg’s “Wedding Day at Troldhaugen” immediately placed me back in time and reminded me of why I fell in love with music.
I fell in love with music because of its magical ability to conjure up feelings and stories in a way no other medium can.
Some people watch movies or television shows to escape reality, but I listen to music. Music transcends time and space and forces me into the present moment. It comforts, consoles, and energizes me. One of the most influential composers in my life is Edvard Grieg, who taught me about the beauty in simplicity, and the wealth of inspiration that can be found in nature and ancestral traditions.
Grieg’s folk-song inspired nationalist music is one of the key reasons I became interested in Appalachian folk music, which I studied more in depth in college. I love how music can bind generations together and create a sense of familial/regional pride.
Grieg at the Piano, circa 1900.
I was originally drawn to Grieg’s music by his lyrical melodies and harmonic uses of open-fifths and fourths {which help create the folk music sound}. Much of Grieg’s folk-music inspiration comes from a volume of Norwegian folk songs that he found in 1868.[1] Although he has been criticized for his tendency to think in two- or four-measure phrases, I think his inspiration from the simple structure of folk songs create poetic, winsome melodies.
“I am sure my music has a taste of codfish in it.” –Edvard Grieg
Troldhaugen. *Photo Credit: Sean Hayford O’Leary, Creative Commons
The Story Behind “Wedding Day at Troldhaugen”
One of several lyric piano pieces {Op. 65 No. 6}, it was written in 1896 in honor of Grieg’s 25th wedding anniversary to his wife Nina. A happy, festive tune celebrating a wedding dominates the piece and is interspersed with a softer, reflective melody that conjures up pleasant memories of a marriage. Troldhaugen {meaning Troll’s Hill} is the name of the house Grieg built and lived in with his wife Nina. Nestled in the Norwegian countryside, Troldhaugen provided Grieg and his wife a tranquil summer escape after traveling and performing in Europe. During frequent hikes in the surrounding mountains, Grieg would hear and collect folk tunes which inspired several of his compositions.
How did you come to love music? Who were some of the most influential composers in your life?
[1] Thompson, Wendy, and Max Wade-Matthews, The Encyclopedia of Music: Instruments of the Orchestra and The Great Composers, New York: Hermes House, 2002.
Katelyn Holub 