Edvard Grieg: Three Piano Pieces, EG 110-112 (1898)

00:00 - I. Tempest Clouds: Allegro molto (EG 110)
04:23 - II. Procession of Gnomes: Allegro leggiero (EG 111)
06:23 - III. Wild Dance: Animato e feroce (EG 112)
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Piano: Håkon Austbø
Year of Recording: 2007
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"In 1908-Grieg's friend, the Dutch composer Julius Röntgen published Three Piano Pieces. They were found after Grieg's death but the composer had not considered them worth printing. The manuscript of the first pieces is dated August 14th, 1898, and the final piece was probably written at the same time. Tempest Clouds consists of- fluttering figures in an etude-like perpetuum mobile clearly meant to depict rugged clouds in flight. The beginning of Procession of Gnomes is more genuinely Griegian with its halling rhythms but the continuation seems static, the piece is however given a surprisingly bold ending: an impressionistic passage with 21 parallel descending triads in e Minor (Dorian ). In the Whirl of the Dance shows Grieg merely ticking over with methods akin to folk music and chromaticism that is not very convincingly integrated. The musical content of these three compositions may be regarded as uneven and, to a certain extent, lightweight. But on the other hand, technically demanding as they are, the pieces remain quite impressive examples of late romantic piano music." (Dag Schjelderup-Ebbe)
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Note: It should be noted that only sketches remained of the first piece by Grieg, and were thus completed by his great friend, Julius Röntgen. In addition the thumbnail used is of the third piece in the set (for some reason the order was flipped around when compared to the Grieg catalogue).
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