Introduction
The Holberg Suite op. 40 or, more properly, "From the time of Holberg", subtitled "Suite in the old style", is a five-movement suite based on 18th-century dances, composed by Edvard Grieg in 1884, on the occasion of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of humanist and playwright Ludvig Holberg.
It is an example of 19th-century music containing a recovery of the form and musical style of previous centuries. It can be compared to a not-so-famous piece such as À la Chapelle Sixtine by Franz Liszt (with whom, incidentally, Grieg studied for a period of time in Italy), or something that will be written a little later: the Antiche arie e danze by Ottorino Respighi.
Eilif Peterssen, portrait of Edvard Grieg - 1891
This suite was originally written for piano and transcribed for orchestra after the premiere. The structure consists of a corpus of dances, an homage to Holberg's time.
After a vigorous Prelude there is a Sarabande in the time of Andante, followed by an elegant Gavotte (which develops internally into a Musette). After this, we find an Aria, rich in the legacy of Bach's arias, written in the tempo of Andante Religious. The suite ends with the quintessential Provencal dance, the Rigaudon.
Holberg Suite - Analysis
Prelude
Should you need a score you can find one here.
The Prelude - as a form - was historically born as an exclusively instrumental piece, devoid of a codified form and generally placed at the beginning of a staged work. Its purely technical purpose is to "warm up" the instrumentalists, and tell the audience that the show is about to start.
The movement starts with a very rhythmic theme, in an exuberant G major, insisting on a cell that will be the backbone structure of the entire movement
Only 8 bars later, we hear a very lyrical theme. Notice how, underneath, the rhythmical cell serves as an accompaniment
The end of the phrase brings back the rhytmic cell in the foreground with an arpeggio in the key of the dominant and a repeat takes us back to the beginning.
In this very short and very compact sonata form, this exposition leaves immediate room to the development, quite larger in length. A cascade of arpeggios take us back to G major and to E minor.
At letter B, the rhythmic cell returns in the second violins, while the first, split into 3 parts, play a series of chords. The sound is enriched by the pizzicato of the violas at first, and 2 cellos solo later.
The rhythmic cell takes over. Just look in how many ways it is intertwined in different parts. And we land on the recapitulation. After the second theme is played in octaves, the coda of the movement is introduced, once again, by the rhythmical cell.
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Sarabande
The Sarabanda is an ancient love dance born in Spain, presumably in the sixteenth century, but in turn, imported from distant Arab and Persian cultures. It is described by the Iberian poet Miguel de Cervantes. His, is one of the very few written testimonies, since in 1583 this dance was banned publicly "for obscenity". On a rhythmic level, it is built on a regular cycle of three impulses, of which the second is the strongest and is joined to the third, while the first remains single and corresponds to the enthralling step of the dance.
The theme is introduced by the second violins and violas divisi, creating a very warm sound. Notice the rhythm that appears the most in these first few bars: it's the same rhythm of the repeating cell of the first movement.
The first violins, in their low register, and the cellos join in 4 bars later. A second part sees a small echo of the violas to the first violins and a solo cello, playing with the same material.
Notice the texture at letter F, where the cellos are divisi into multiple parts, accompanied by a single double bass. This kind of sonority is what sets this work apart, perfectly intertwining musical forms from the Baroque period and soundscapes from the 1800s. The movement ends with an unexpected crescendo.
Technical tip
Pay attention to where the crescendo and diminuendo markings end up: this determines the amplitude of your gesture and its position. You can use a round gesture (always with a pulse of course) and break the pattern accordingly
For a technical analysis, take a look at this other video
Gavotte
The Gavotte is a dance of French identity, moderate albeit with a goliardic character, and developed on a binary rhythm, that is of two impulses, starting on the second. The etymology of the term is explained by the fact that the Gavotta was born as a folk dance of the alpine mountaineers, called Gavots. Later the dance crosses the border of the Alps and reaches the French courts, where it's then welcomed within the musical theater and instrumental suites. What distinguishes this form is undoubtedly its playful and at the same time elegant character.
Written in a rondo form, the main structure is A-B-A-C-A plus a ternary D-E-D.
The main idea, or A part, is introduced in pianissimo by the second violins and picked up in forte by everyone else
The B section, only 6 bars long, takes after the main theme, using the same rhythmical cells. The rhythm and cadence are what distinguish and bind the C section as well before a last repetition of the theme is amplified by the use of octaves.
Musette
The Musetta, on the other hand, has a completely different character, a pastoral dance so called from the name of the French bagpipe, Musette de cour. This form is often juxtaposed to the previous one in the ancient suites, to highlight the contrast of the two different dancing characters.
Notice the off-beat accents in the second violins and later in the violas. The cellos insist on the C-G pedal, reinforced by the same tonic-dominant chord in the basses, while violas and violins exchange a repetitive motive.
The second part of this Musette sees the cellos taking over the melodic part in the key of D minor answered by the second violins who take the key to F major and eventually the first, who modulate back to C major.
The first part of the Musette is repeated to conclude this section of the movement, after which Grieg takes us back to the beginning of the Gavotte.
Air
The Aria intended as a form of dance finds its development in the choral sphere and in the most sacred atmosphere of ancient instrumental music, as it is conceived as a polyphonic piece of accompaniment to a melody that recalls as much as possible the human vocality. The very precise indication with which Grieg, in his interpretation of this dance, specifies the atmosphere is interesting: Andante Religioso.
The atmosphere changes completely. From the light-hearted mood of the previous movements, we are thrown into a somber G minor. The theme is sung by the first violins; the second violins and violas drag the pulsing rhythm in 8th notes while the cellos hold the tonic, and the basses enrich the texture with their pizzicato.
The answer to this first phrase sees the cellos and basses taking over the melody and are joined by the violins in octave in a harrowing moment. The second section begins, by the book, in the relative major key of Bb major, with a phrase modeled after the main theme's material.
The material soon develops in a short dialogue between a solo cello and the first violins. After a ripping crescendo to a fortissimo, the music folds back and the dialogue is extended to the cellos and basses and first violins. Second violins and violas keep the accompaniment we heard at beginning of this air.
This last section slowly takes us back to the reprise of the main theme, played now by the cellos while the first violins take on the accompaniment with a counterpoint derived directly from the section before this one. This type of accompaniment is a composing artifact going back a couple of centuries, used to depict a crying lament.
First violins and violas take over, then cellos and basses, again joined by the first violins in the finale of this heart-breaking movement.
Rigaudon
Rigaudon or Rigodon is the most danceable of any of these dances. It originates in the French and Italian Occitan Alpine valleys and develops in the Provençal area. It consists of regular stanzas repeated cyclically and is danced by many dancers into concentric circles. In Grieg's work, a brilliant melody is moved back and forth in a duet by two solo instruments, a violin, and a viola, while the rest of the orchestra supports the rhythm of the dance with pizzicatos. At first, the violin solo has the melodic part
But soon the part is bounced back and forth with the solo viola. Notice how the pizzicato of the rest of the orchestra remains also in the forte dynamic, turning to arco only to close the section.
The vivacity of this first section is contrasted by a dark phrasing in the following part, with a decidedly more lyrical and reflective character. Notice that this musical idea, now in G minor, is taken from the last statement we heard in the previous section.
The episode moves to Bb major and again to G minor, ending shortly and leaving room for the cyclical repetition of the rondeau form.
In writing this suite, Grieg manages to capture the original essence of each of these forms, respecting all the structural elements such as the rhythm and the articulations, but bringing their expressiveness to a different level thanks to the romantic influences.
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