Norwegian Bridal Procession (Orch. Halvorsen)

Composer: GRIEG, Edvard
  • This piece is Johan Halvorsen’s orchestral arrangement1 of Mvt. 2, “Brudefølget drager forbi” (Bridal Procession), from Grieg’s Folkelivesbilleder (‘Pictures from Life in the Country’), Op.19, for piano (composed 1869-71).2
  • Halvorsen created this arrangement in 1903 at Grieg’s request. Orchestrations of this piece by already existed (by Delius and others), but Grieg thought a native Norwegian would better understand the work’s depiction of rural Norwegian life.3
  • Halvorsen and his orchestra performed the arrangement many times in 1903 on a Norwegian concert tour celebrating Grieg’s 60th birthday.4

Sources

  1. Øyvin Dybsand, liner notes to Johan Halvorsen: Orchestral Works Vol. 4, Melina Mandozzi, Ilze Klava, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Neeme Järvi, Chandos 10710, CD, 2012.
  2. John Horton and Nils Grinde, “Grieg, Edvard,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed October 16, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000011757.
  3. Øyvin Dybsand, liner notes to Johan Halvorsen: Orchestral Works Vol. 4.
  4. Ibid.

Cut IDs

21447