From the Peer Gynt music, Op. 46: Peer’s mother dies. One slow phrase, rising and falling, growing louder and then dying away.
The story
Grieg wrote music for Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt in 1875. In this scene, Peer returns home to find his mother Åse dying, and tells her stories until she is gone.
The piece is built from a single phrase, repeated and moved higher, then sinking back. Grieg later arranged it for piano himself.
Two things to know
- In the first Peer Gynt Suite it comes after Morning Mood; the suite ends with In the Hall of the Mountain King, also in this library.
- The original is for strings alone, played with mutes.
How to play it
Build slowly to the loudest point in the middle, then let each repeat fade, as if the music is losing its breath.