The Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 is a set of four short pieces for orchestra by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg. Two of the four are well known: “Morning Mood,” which paints a sunrise, and “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” where trolls chase the hero. The four pieces together last about fifteen minutes.
Start with “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” It is about two and a half minutes long. It begins soft and slow, and it ends loud and fast.
Quick facts
- Composer: Edvard Grieg, from Norway
- Written for: a play by Henrik Ibsen, first staged with this music in 1876
- Suite No. 1 published: 1888
- Length: about fifteen minutes
- Shape: four pieces, each a scene from the play
The story behind the music
Peer Gynt is a character from Norwegian folk tales. In Ibsen’s play he is a young man who brags, tells tall stories, and runs from every problem. He travels far from home and comes back as an old man.
Ibsen asked Grieg to write music for the play. Grieg wrote more than twenty pieces. Later, he picked eight of them for concerts and arranged them as two suites of four. A suite is a set of short pieces meant to be played together.
The pieces in the suite are not in the order of the story.
The four pieces
Morning Mood. A flute plays a gentle, rising tune. An oboe answers with the same tune. They trade it back and forth, and then the strings take it over as the sun clears the horizon. In the play, this sunrise happens in the desert of Morocco, not in Norway. It lasts about four minutes.
The Death of Åse. Åse is Peer’s mother. She is old and ill, and Peer sits by her bed and tells her stories. Only the string instruments play. The music is slow and sad, rising once and then sinking away. A parent can skip this one with a young child, or play it as an example of how music can be sad.
Anitra’s Dance. Anitra is a chief’s daughter whom Peer meets on his travels. The strings play a light, swaying dance, with plucked notes and the bright ping of a triangle. It lasts about three and a half minutes.
In the Hall of the Mountain King. Peer has crept into the hall of the troll king, deep inside a mountain. Bassoons and plucked low strings play a creeping tune, soft and slow. The same tune repeats again and again. Each time it is a little faster and a little louder, and more instruments join. The trolls have seen him. By the end, the whole orchestra is crashing and Peer is running for his life.
Things to do together
Tiptoe to a run. Play “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” Start on tiptoe at one side of the room. Speed up as the music does. Freeze on the last chord.
Count the tune. The creeping tune is short. Count how many times it plays before the end.
Draw the line. Give your child a crayon and a long strip of paper. The line stays low and flat while the music is soft. It climbs as the music grows. This shape has a name, crescendo, and it is explained in dynamics in music for kids.
Paint the sunrise. Play “Morning Mood” while your child paints or colors a sky. Ask where the sun is when the strings take over.
Flute or oboe. In “Morning Mood,” the flute plays first and the oboe answers. Ask your child to raise a left hand for one and a right hand for the other.
Slow to fast. Tap the beat at the start of the Mountain King and again at the end. The words for those speeds are in tempo words in music.
About the composer
Edvard Grieg lived from 1843 to 1907. He grew up in Bergen, on the west coast of Norway. He used the sound of Norwegian folk songs and dances in his own music. He is Norway’s best-known composer.
Print the Grieg fact sheet for your child to fill in.
Print and play
For a spooky playlist, pair the Mountain King with pieces from the piece picker, using the spooky mood. A listening journal page gives a child space to draw the trolls.
More guides are listed in classical music listening guides for kids.
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This article is part of Classical music listening guides for kids: famous pieces, one at a time.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.