Elly Ameling Sings "Solveig's Song" from Edvard Grieg's Incidental Music for Peer Gynt (1876)

(vocal version with soprano Elly Ameling)

(Orchestral version)

by Joseph K. So

Today is the birthday of the great Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (15 June 1843 - 4 September 1907)  He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, and other piano pieces the Holberg Suite, and many songs, of which the most famous is the "Solveig's Song" from his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt. Grieg incorporated extensively Norwegian folk tunes into his own compositions - a good example is Wedding at Troldhaugen, and his songs are strongly evocative of the magnificent Norwegian landscape.  There are many versions of "Solveig's Song,"  and I've chosen one recorded by Dutch soprano Elly Ameling in 1984, with fellow countryman Edo de Waart conducting the San Francisco Symphony.  The limpid tone of Ameling is absolutely perfect. That said, I can't help but include a purely orchestral version, a recording on Naxos with the Slovak Philharmonic.   The images in the accompanying video are incredibly beautiful.