Funeral Music

The funeral music from the melodrama Bergliot (declamation and orchestra) by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907) consists of two orchestral fragments which illustrate the dramatical events happening in the melodrama. The monologue is recited by Bergliot, the wife of Einar Tambarskjelve, leader of the Norwegian gentlemen farmers. The latter goes to King Harald's castle in order to request political rights for the gentlemen farmers. Yet he is trapped by the king who cowardly kills both Einar and his son. Bergliot's monologue, relating these tragical events, is a mixture of anger, revolt and resignation. Bergliot was premiered by the Concertgebouw Orchestra, conductedby the composer, at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in 1906.