Peer Gynt Suite (1876)
The Peer Gynt Suite No.1 contains four pieces of music
that were written to be performed during a play about the Norwegian
folk character, Peer Gynt.
THE LEGEND OF PEER GYNT
There once was a little boy named Peer Gynt. He was a bad boy. He stole
things, played tricks, and never helped his mother. Everybody hated Peer Gynt.
One day, he went to a wedding. There he met the most beautiful girl in the
world. He knew the instant he saw her that he was in love. The girl's name was
Soveig.
Peer knew that one day he would marry this wonderful girl. But that would not
happen because Soveig's parents had heard about Peer and they didn't like him.
They told Peer to leave their daughter alone because she would not marry him.
Peer's heart was broken. He knew that he could not stay in the village
because seeing Soveig would be too painful to his heart. So he ran from the
village and in to the mountains where he could be alone forever. But little did
Peer know that along his way he would have many adventures.
In his first adventure he arrived at the hall of the Mountain King. He was
then surrounded by many ugly trolls. The king was wanting Peer Gynt to marry his
daughter who was beautiful but not as pretty as Soveig. The king described what
Peer would have to do to marry his daughter. The things he would have to do
were: grow a tail, not see the light of day for the rest of his life, and, last
but not least, slit his eyes to see the world as a troll does. Peer was not
about to become a troll.
After saying "NO", the trolls started to surround Peer. Peer started to step
backwards and he heard church bells ringing. When the sounds hit the eardrums of
the ugly, hairy trolls, they melted away to never be seen or heard from again.
Peer's next adventure was to Mongolia where he found a white stallion and a
beautiful red robe. He put on the robe and rode the stallion into the nearest
village. There, he was greeted by a couple of men.
He was invited to a village supper that was in his honor. There were many
dances to be danced. There were also belly dancers. Peer had never been happier
in his life.
There was one dancer that Peer watched very closely. She was the chief's
daughter. Peer loved her so much, more than anyone ever.
Towards the end of the dance, Peer started to remember his home and his
mother, Ace. Peer was homesick. After the dinner, Peer rode out of town on the
stallion and rode for home.
When Peer returned home, he rode straight for his mother's house. But when he
arrived at the house, his mother wasn't there. Peer later learned that after he
left, his mother seached night and day for him for she missed him so much. After
seaching for years, Ace finally died of a broken heart.
Peer was sad, his heart had ripped in two. Peer walked through the streets of
the village, wondering what he should do next. He walked until he was in front
of an old house. Peer knew whose house this was!
This was where his sweetheart, Soveig, used to live. Peer ran up to the door,
his heart pounding. Who was to answer the door but none other than Soveig.
At first Soveig didn't believe that this was Peer, but when Peer told her his
story, she knew that this was Peer and only Peer.
Peer and Soveig were married and lived together for many
happy years to come.
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