Anitra's Dance Duet (Grieg)

[rrayner]

"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