Trolling Around with Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No 1
I. Morning Mood
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46
Hello, I'm Edvard Grieg, and I'm about to explain I. Morning Mood, the opening movement of my Peer Gynt Suite No 1. You'll follow one gentle tune as it grows toward the first forte, the moment I pictured as the sun breaking through the clouds, and you'll know exactly when it arrives. If you'd like to recognize this music whenever it plays, test yourself in the Trainer , where my fellow composers and I teach exactly that.
---
Ears Open, Shoes Off
Before you press play, I'd ask you to listen for one thing only: a single simple tune that comes back a little fuller each time. I marked the movement Allegretto pastorale, which means an easy, unhurried pace with a touch of the countryside about it. The meter is 6/8, so let it rock you gently in two broad swings rather than counting six small steps. The tune itself is pentatonic, built from just five notes of the scale, and that's why it sounds so open and uncomplicated as the flute and the oboe pass it back and forth.Why I Called It a Mood
In the play this music opens Act IV, where Peer finds himself stranded in the Moroccan desert as the day begins. I called it Morning Mood because I wanted you to feel a day starting more than I wanted to paint a picture of one. Many listeners hear a Norwegian sunrise instead, and nobody can say for certain which place the music belongs to, so you're free to choose your own horizon. The one image I did give away is the first forte, which I described as the sun breaking through the clouds.No Sonata, No Rondo, Just a Slow Sunrise
Choosing a form for this movement was a small adventure, because the usual structures felt too busy for a morning this calm. I didn't build it as a sonata or a rondo, but as one tune that grows, reaches a bright peak and then settles back down. You can think of it as four stages, each a little different in color and energy from the one before. I'll take them one at a time in the next paragraphs, so you'll know exactly where you are on the way from first light to full day.Section 1: The Quietest Wake-Up Call
The movement begins softly in E major, with the flute singing the tune over a gentle, rocking accompaniment. The pace is relaxed and the mood is peaceful, as if the whole world were still half asleep. Nothing here pushes or hurries, and that stillness is exactly what makes the later brightness mean something. Just let the tune sink in, because you'll need to recognize it when it returns.Section 2: The Oboe Wants a Turn
Next the oboe takes up the tune, and from here the flute and oboe trade it back and forth in friendly conversation. The tempo stays exactly where it was, but the color of the sound changes, because the oboe is a little more reedy and warm than the airy flute. The harmony also drifts away from E major for a while, like a walk down a path you haven't taken before. More of the orchestra begins to gather around the tune, and the music grows quietly more hopeful.Section 3: The Sun Gets Through
Now the music begins to swell, and the whole orchestra builds step by step toward the first forte. That moment is the climax of the movement, and it's the one I described as the sun breaking through the clouds. The tune is the same one you've been hearing all along, but it's now broad, full and glowing in E major. The pulse of the 6/8 never changes, so all the excitement comes from the sound growing richer, not from the music rushing.Section 4: Back to the Quiet Hour
After the peak, the music relaxes and the loud sound fades away as gently as it arrived. The tune returns in softer colors, and the feeling is no longer of a surprise but of a day that has settled in. Home in E major feels warmer now, as if you'd come back to a familiar room with the curtains open. The movement then dies away in calm, leaving the same peace it began with.Over to You, Dear Listener
Now it's your turn to hear Morning Mood for yourself, so press play and let the music carry you. While it plays, keep in mind what we've talked about: the one tune, the flute and oboe taking turns, and the single bright climax. You don't need to know anything about music to follow it, because the story is told in the sound itself. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I enjoyed creating it.---
I hope you enjoyed this listen guide to Morning Mood, the first piece of my Peer Gynt Suite No 1. Did it give you something new to listen for the next time the flute begins its quiet tune? I like to think of this movement as a small, calm opening to a much bigger story. The flute and the oboe pass their gentle melody back and forth, and then the whole orchestra gathers around it as the light grows. Once the music has finished, I hope a little of that stillness stays with you. There is still a good deal more to explore in Peer Gynt Suite No 1. The three movements that follow have very different characters, from the hushed sadness of Åse's Death to the dance of Anitra and the racing finale of In the Hall of the Mountain King. Behind them all stands the play by Henrik Ibsen, and the story of how I came to write this music has plenty of surprises of its own. If you're curious to hear more, please click on the links provided here and carry on exploring. I'd be glad to have you along for the rest of the journey.