ISABEL I'ANSON (Soprano)
LESLIE ENGLAND (Pianoforte)
THE WIRELESS Symphony ORCHESTRA
Conducted by PERCY PITT
ORCHESTRA
Overture, ' In Autumn '
First Spring (For Strings)
Norwegian Wedding Procession
IN the opening Overture, which developed from the theme of one of the Composer's songs, we have an impression of scenes and moods at the fall of the year in Norway. Grieg's native country. The music is richly coloured, and its rhythms are often exhilarating.'
There is an Introduction (Slowish), in which
Strings and Woodwind call to each other, the Melody having a characteristically Criegian shape. This leads into a quick and agitated portion. Strings and Wind having a dozen bars of urgent minor music, that bring us to a still more furious pace and to the First Main Tune, with its insistent prancing rhythm.
A quiet bit leads to the Second Main Tune. which Clarinet and Horns share. This is a graceful. rising theme, with a cheery lilt at the end of it. A naive, folk-song-like Tune in the Strings, that soon follows, is a sort of subsidiary theme.
On this material, with many dainty little episodes, the work is built up.
ISABEL I'ANSON (with Orchestra) A
Swan Solveig 's Song from 'PeerGynt'
PEER GYNT, in Ibsen's famous play, has wasted his whole life. wandering over the earth, having all kinds of fantastic experiences, but never doing anything very useful, bent only on the glorification of Self.
Once he has a vision. He sees Solveig. who loves him, sitting spinning outside the old hut he built long ago for himself and her. She is now a middle-aged woman, but still fair-haired and comely, and as she spins she thinks of Peer and sings ' Thou wilt return some day and find me waiting.' This is known as Sohcig's Song.
LESLIE ENGLAND (with Orchestra)
Concerto for Pianoforte and Orchestra
THIS is perhaps the most popular- of Grieg's larger works. It. was written in 1968, when the composer was twenty-five years old. There are three Movements. Allegro Molto Moderato—Adagio—Allegro Moderato Molto e Marcato.
ISABEL I'ANSON (with Piano)
Two Brown Eyes (Hans Andersen ); A Water-
Lily (Ibsen)
IN the Two Brown Eyes of which he joyously sings the lover has discovered a light that tells him the maiden is his now and for ever.
In a Water-Lily the lover, bringing flowers to his maiden, reminds her that a water-sprite sleeps beneath the placid waters on which float the lilies. So, he says. as he wreathes the flowers around her, within her bosom sleeps a spirit.
LESLIE ENGLAND
Papi lions
On the Mountains
ORCHESTRA
Lyric Suite
HENRY FINCK , thawell-known American critic, once wrote Grieg to tell him that the famous Conductor, Seidl, had arranged four pieces for Orchestra from Grieg's Lyric Suite for Piano (known as ' Opus 54 '), and had conducted them with great success.
Grieg was very much interested, as one might expect. After inspecting the orchestral scoie, he wrote to Finck, saying : ' Seidl's orchestration is undeniably very good from his point of view, but too heavy for my intentions.' Subsequently Grieg himself revised this orchestration, and published the result.
The whole of the original Suite for Piano is not included in the Orchestral Suite. The four pieces chosen are adequately described by their titles.
The FIRST is called The Shepherd Boy , the SECOND is a Norwegian Peasant March, the THIRD a Nocturne, and the FOURTH, The March of the Dwarfs.