GRIEG: Music for String Orchestra - From Holberg’s Time, Lyric Suite

Engeset, Bjarte, Malmö Symphony Orchestra

8.572403

In contrast to many of his colleagues, Edvard Grieg wrote his music for strings not for a chamber orchestra or a smaller ensemble, but for the string section of a symphony orchestra. "The bigger, the better," he is said to have once said, citing the number 60 as the optimum size for the string orchestra of his choice. Thus he managed a further division into small sections and thus an unusual sonority, despite sometimes up to twelve different voices. The present recording was also played by the complete string section of a symphony orchestra.

The beauty of Grieg's compositions for string orchestra comes from their poetic and Norwegian-inspired depth, which is also inherent in the central piece on this CD - the suite from Holberg's time. This masterpiece, which was originally written for piano, is a spray of Grieg's ingenuity. Due to the theme - the Norwegian poet Holberg lived from 1684 to 1754 - he was forced to give his very personal style a historical note. Grieg achieved this in an almost ingenious way, and Grieg's musical personality shines through the stylistic loans from the Baroque and early Classical periods, who had extensively occupied himself with dances.

CD x 1

Naxos

28.09.11

747313240371