Anitra's Dance Duet (Grieg)
 

"Anitra's Dance" is from the "Peer Gynt Suite", written by Edvard Grieg in 1874. This reduction was very ambitious on my part and turned out to be much more complex than I had thought.

The original piece was scored for a string ensemble, which presents the first challenge - string players don't have to worry about where to breathe. As this piece is a reduction for wind instruments, I had to try to accommodate the players with places to grab a breath. The second challenge was the range of stringed instruments is much greater than wind instruments, therefore, octave adjustments had to be made. Third, the pizzicati sections create a considerable technical challenge, with many accidentals. Not to discourage anyone from trying to play this, but it is perhaps the most technically challenging piece I have ever posted on the forum.

The score is notated for a quarter note = 160. This is VERY ambitious. Cynthia and I have been working on it at 120, which is more manageable (but still difficult).

Also, the length of the piece stretched the score to 3 pages, which I try to avoid, but it was not to be.

If you are up to the challenge, working on this piece can be very rewarding.

Ralph R. Rayner