Recording from 15. Jun 2018

Grieg: Before a Southern Convent

Intimate and feminin

The Norwegian poet Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson wrote a big poem about the Norwegian saga hero Arnljot Gelline, and he asked Grieg to write music for his drama. Grieg wrote the music during summer 1871, but only for the part Bjørnson called ''Before a Southern Convent''. The villain Arnljot killed a chieftain and burnt his farm, but let his daughter, Ingigerd, go. She wandered south all the way until she came to a convent who took her in.

Grieg dedicated the work to Franz Liszt and conducted the work himself many times during his European tours.