Edvard Grieg “From Holberg’s Time: Suite in the Olden Style”

Conducted by Music Director, Peter Stafford Wilson

Edvard Grieg composed From Holberg’s Time: Suite in the Olden Style in 1884 to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of playwright Ludwig Holberg, a fellow Norwegian from Bergen. The Holberg Suite, as it is known, was originally written for piano and was premiered by Grieg himself. Because it was so well received, he adapted it for string orchestra a year later. 

Grieg borrowed from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music styles to create a Baroque-inspired sound for the Holberg Suite. The suite has five short movements: Praeludium, Sarabande, Gavotte, Air, and Rigaudon. The Praeludium energetically introduces the work and resembles a Bach Toccata. Air, the only movement in a minor key, is slow and mournful. Rigaudon is an upbeat folk style dance. (The Sarabande and Gavotte movements, not recorded here, are dances of a more stately manner.) 

We hope you enjoy the Grieg, and thank you for your ongoing support of the Westerville Symphony.

Enjoy More Recorded Performances From Our
2021 Spring String Series
Conducted by Peter Stafford Wilson