In The Hall of the Mountain King [MP3's]

(MP3s: 36 of them beyond the jump)

Peer Gynt (1867) by Henrik Ibsen marks the end of romantic nationalism in Norway. In 1874 Edvard Grieg was asked to compose music for the play (or rather, was given a lot of cash to ditch a less profitable project with Norwegian author Björnstierne Björnson). As Ibsen's play grew on him, he complained to his friend Frants Beyer; "It is an immensely difficult subject, and I've done something  to the Mountain King, that I myself find unable to listen to - it reeks of cow-dung, Norwegian-Norwegianess and absorbed in it's own Norwegianess! But I expect the irony to be pungent, especially when Peer, after the ordeal with the Mountain King utters against his will 'Both the dance and the playing was [cat scratchily] beautiful.'"

Alas, the irony did not seep through - and Grieg managed to get himself a huge audience and a nice reputation as a composer. Nonetheless, he refused to be present at the opening night in 1876, including the rehearsals, and he never bothered to have the music printed. Grieg was said to be a square (and even a pentahedron). He supposedly referred to a conductor as pig-face, and called a poor oboist a "fucking klutz." Even his own work got in his face, and on occasion, he referred to his lyrical pieces as "bugs and lice." He referred to his own composition Sangerhilsen as a "piece of shit!"

The 5th of October this year, New York found itself infected with trolls in Central Park. Actors and hordes of extras were flown in to play Peer Gynt for 3 days, with a budget of $1.3 million. Anne Midgette from the New York Times has a wonderful review on that occasion.

How many versions of this theme have been made, and how many more compositions have been "inspired" by it? I'll try to give you a few examples. Follow the jump for 36 downloadable MP3s:

Inspired:
Rick Wakeman    Inspector Gadget    Helloween    When    Vintersorg

More than inspired:
Apocalyptica    Aunt Mary   Duke Ellington    E.L.O    Erasure

Leslie West    Rainbow    Saga    SkaP    SRC    Vanguards

Savatage    The Who    Van Helsing's Curse

Too Inspired:
Captain Jack    Delinquent Habits    DJ Ruffneck    Galaxee Trance      Techno Classical

Full Blown:
Orchestral "Original"    Panta Rhei (MP3) - The Whole Peer Gynt Suite Info(!)

For the real connoisseur (or just Black Metal fans studying Norwegian):
Peer Gynt (the play) by Henrik Ibsen - in Norwegian; part 1 -  part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7 - part 8 - part 9 - part 10 - made in 1952.

Comments

[Brian]

SRC's version is by far the best version. I did like the Duke's and Orchestral Original's versions as well.

[chris]

hugo montenegro

[andy waltzer]

THANK YOU!!!

This is Andy W, long lost FMU family member- doing sound for a production of Gynt and looking for interesting pre show music. You have given me a gold mine!! FMU never stops being a fantastic thing in life!

[Joe Moretti the original]

Hi WFMU from Joe Moretti, the guy from Nero etc . I'm afraid I was responsible for "Hall Of...." Just wanted to let you know I'm still alive and playing. I'm in South Africa. Been here nearly 30 years. Love your blog and comments. It would be nice to hear from you...Kind regards to all.....Moretti

[bruce coleman]

WOW.thanks for posting src`s version of the hall of the mountam king. I hav not heard it since 1971 or so.

[~The Stranger]

This was a godsend! I use different versions of this as the opening theme for my radio show here in San Francisco. Here are some others I found you may want to add, artists and album..

Hugo Montenegro - Montenegro and Mayhem
Robert Wells - Rhapsody in Rock, Complete Collection
Sounds Incorporated - British Invasion, History of British Rock Vol. 3
Silver Fist - Ave Fenix
Big Brother and the Holding Company - The Lost Tapes

[Prova]

Hey, one major omission here: The Wombles — "Hall Of The Mountain Womble" — "Oi! Get off my mountain!"

[MautzNTastaton]

Remarkable collection!

but the Van Helsing's Curse - this is the theme from Tubular Bells ( Mike Oldfield )

[Kip W]

Hugo Montenegro arranged a pretty powerful version for an album called BONGOS AND BRASS, which I got in one of the "Mangled Masterpieces" sets from ReDiscovery. And E. Power Biggs, the organ purist, made his own compelling translation of the piece for pedal harpsichord, where the sound of his feet on the pedals works as a percussion instrument.