Vincent Giza - Norwegian Folk Suite (From Edvard Grieg's "25 Norwegian Folk Songs and Dances")

Vincent Giza (b. 2004) - Norwegian Folk Suite
-Melodies by Edvard Grieg
-Orchestration/ form by Vincent Giza
Written from 18/01/2023 - 27/01/2023

Movements:
0:00 - I. Ungersvennen - "The Swain"
3:41 - II. Springdans - "Spring Dance"
5:45 - III. Når mitt øye - "Religious Song"
8:21 - IV. Kjempevise - "Heroic Ballad"
10:19 - V. Eg veit ei lita jente - "I Know a Little Maiden"
13:16 - VI. Kleggen og fluga - "the Gadfly and the Fly"
14:47 - VII. Hølje Dale
16:58 - VIII. Finale, Halling

All movements are attacca (without pause between)

Program Notes:
Norwegian Folk Suite is an amalgamation of 8 pieces from Edvard Grieg's "25 Norwegian Folk Songs and Dances Op. 17". These miniatures were originally written for piano, and for this piece, I arranged all these melodies for a large symphony orchestra. I usually compose in a late romantic style, but I really wanted to make sure I didn't make this piece sound too contemporary. I wanted to do these traditional tunes justice, and not oversaturate them with insanely complex harmonies, dissonances, and time changes.
I selected the 8 pieces based on which ones I think would work best with an orchestra. Some of the original songs and dances work very nicely on piano, but I don't think would translate very well to an orchestra.
Most of what I did with the orchestration has to do with texture and color. My goal was to take these fairly simple melodies and try to squeeze more juice out of the fruit. I love Grieg's melodies, and to me at least, it's interesting to see his melodies come to life with the much richer sound of an orchestra.

See the pinned comment for continued program notes!

Image: Unknown Photographer, Fjord in the Lofoten Islands of Norway, with Aurora Borealis

Performed by Musescore 4 MUSEsounds MIDI