In The Hall of The Mountain King

In the Hall of the Mountain King (Norwegian: I Dovregubbens hall) is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg for the sixth scene of act 2 in Henrik Ibsen's 1876 play Peer Gynt.

It was originally part of Opus 23, but was later extracted as the final piece of Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1, Op. 46. Although (or perhaps because) a performance of the full piece runs to slightly less than 3 minutes, its easily recognizable theme has helped it attain iconic status in popular culture, where it has been arranged by many artists.

The piece is played as the title character Peer Gynt, in a dream-like fantasy, enters "the royal hall of the Old Man of the Dovre (the Mountain King)." The scene's introduction continues: "There is a great crowd of troll courtiers, gnomes and goblins. The Old Man sits on his throne, with crown and sceptre, surrounded by his children and relatives. Peer Gynt stands before him. There is a tremendous uproar in the hall." The lines sung are the first lines in the scene.

Grieg himself wrote: "For the Hall of the Mountain King I have written something that so reeks of cowpats, ultra-Norwegianism, and 'to-thyself-be-enough-ness' that I can't bear to hear it, though I hope that the irony will make itself felt." The theme of "to thyself be... enough" – avoiding the commitment implicit in the phrase "To thine own self be true," and just doing enough – is central to Peer Gynt's satire, and the phrase is mentioned by the mountain king in the scene which follows "In the Hall of the Mountain King".

Read more about In The Hall Of The Mountain King:  Music, Lyrics of The Song in Peer Gynt

Famous quotes containing the words hall, mountain and/or king:

    Let us not be too much acquainted. I would have a man enter his house through a hall filled with heroic and sacred sculptures, that he might not want the hint of tranquillity and self-poise.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    The mountain stood there to be pointed at.
    Pasture ran up the side a little way,
    And then there was a wall of trees with trunks;
    After that only tops of trees, and cliffs
    Imperfectly concealed among the leaves.
    Robert Frost (1874–1963)

    The King said to his son: “Enough of this!
    The Kingdom’s yours to finish as you please.
    I’m getting out tonight. Here, take the crown.”
    Robert Frost (1874–1963)