Edvard Grieg - Lyric Pieces (Volume V), op. 54 (Piano, Orch.) [With score]

-Composer: Edvard Hagerup Grieg (15 June 1843 – 4 September 1907)
-Performer (Piano): Leif Ove Andsnes
-Orchestra (Pieces 1 - 4): Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
-Conductor (Pieces 1 - 4): Ole Kristian Ruud
-Orchestra (Piece 6): Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
-Conductor (Piece 6): Neeme Järvi

6 Lyric Pieces Book V, op. 54, written in 1889-91, orchestrated in 1904

Piano
00:00 - I. Gjetergutt {Shepherd's Boy}
04:17 - II. Gangar {Norwegian March}
07:38 - III. Trolltog {March of the Dwarfs}
10:40 - IV. Notturno
14:58 - V. Scherzo
18:10 - VI. Klokkeklang {Bell Ringing}

Orchestra
22:47 - I. Gjetergutt {Shepherd's Boy}
28:25 - II. Gangar {Norwegian March}
32:29 - III. Notturno
37:08 - IV. Trolltog {March of the Dwarfs}
40:39 - Klokkeklang {Bell Ringing}

It is the influence of folkloristic idioms which can be said to pervade many of Grieg's works for solo piano, including the piano sonata in E minor, Op. 7, of 1865, the Pictures from Country Life, Op. 19, and of course, the ten books devoted to Lyric Pieces, some 66 miniatures in all, which were published in the years 1867 - 1901. It was, wrote Grieg, the celebrated Norwegian violin virtuoso Ole Borneman Bull who "opened my eyes to the beauty and unspoilt nature of Norwegian music," although in these works, it would be hard to overlook the demonstrable impact that was exerted upon Grieg's creative processes by the seminal German Romantic miniaturists Mendelssohn and Schumann, while Chopin's expressive instincts are also closely mirrored.
Writing to his publisher, the head of Peters Edition Henri Hinrichsen, in 1901, the composer remarked that his Lyric Pieces were "an intimate slice of life," and indeed, it would be very hard to challenge such an assertion. Book 5, published as Grieg's Op. 54, comprises of the following numbers: 1) Shepherd Boy, 2) Norwegian March, 3) March of the Trolls, 4) Nocturne, 5) Scherzo, 6) Bell-Ringing.
Of particular interest is the third of the set "March of the Trolls." As Joachim Dorfmüller has written, "Trolls are quintessentially Norwegian creatures, and it was in their honour that Grieg and his wife Nina named the plot of land on which they built their house on the outskirts of Bergen in 1884 - 1885; 'Troldhaugen' or 'Troll Hill'." Op. 54 No. 5 is a scurrying, mercurial Scherzo reminiscent of Mendelssohn's in A Midsummer Night's Dream or the Octet for strings. Op. 54 No. 6, "Bell-Ringing," was written during 1891. As Dorfmüller points out, this was a full 16 years before Debussy composed his highly impressionistic tintinabulatory piece "Cloches à travers les feuilles," from his second book of Images. Grieg's previous example is also highly colored and often distinctly avant-gardist in feel. As Dorfmüller concludes, in his Lyric Pieces, and indeed in much of his remaining piano music, "Grieg thrust aside tradition -- no doubt, in the final analysis, to his own astonishment as much as to that of his contemporaries -- and in his last great creative period he set out on a virtually impressionistic path."

[...] the idea to orchestrate some of the Lyric Pieces was not Grieg's at all. In 1903 it came to Grieg's attention that four pieces from the Opus 54 bunch had been orchestrated by the well-known conductor Anton Seidl; though enthusiastic about the idea, Grieg was not altogether satisfied by Seidl's rather Wagnerian approach. After securing the legal rights from Seidl's widow in 1904, Grieg proceeded to adapt the arrangements of three of them to better suit the translucent textures of the original piano ideas; the orchestration of the first piece in the suite is entirely Grieg's own. (It is touching to note that Grieg handed over the 1,000 marks he received from the sale of the Lyric Suite to Seidl's widow.)
[allmusic.com]