Edvard Grieg: Symphony in C minor / Symphonic Dances – Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra

Edvard Grieg´s genius

The secret of Edvard Grieg´s genius can be partly explained by his intuitive recognition of what was essentially Norwegian, genuine and captivating. His influence on Norwegian composers and musical activities and on the way people in other countries look at Norway has been, and still is, unsurpassed. Performed by the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Terje Mikkelsen, this album indeed gives us a glimpse of just how great Grieg´s musical genius really was.

After having heard Johan Svendsen´s first symphony, Grieg withdrew his one and only symphony and wrote on the score: “must never be performed”. And so it was to be until Soviet radio broadcasted a performance of the entire symphony in 1981, which consequently led to an “original performance” of the symphony during the Bergen Music Festival by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. The work itself gives little indication as to his future musical path – it has traces of both Schumann and Mendelssohn – but the movements are nevertheless characterised by a unique vigour and charm, secure in form and clever instrumentation. Later, when he composed the “Symphonic Dances, Op. 64”, the situation was different: his style had become far removed from the ideal of the musical academy, having developed via the nationalistic into a harmonic, more linear style. Based on material from Ludvig Mathias Lindeman´s collection of folk music, the dances have a more grandiose form and are more impressive than the works for orchestra, regarding both melody and instrumentation.