Grieg Being Dead (2006)
Duration: 15:00 minutes
Instrumentation: violin, clarinet, piano
Premiere: March 13, 2005 at the University of Cincinnati by Isaac Thompson, violin, Jason Denner, clarinet and Michael Ippolito, piano
Notes:
Grieg Being Dead is my homage to a composer who I feel is unjustly underrated. His piano miniatures in particular are the subject of scorn or, even worse, they are completely ignored. This work is a set of variations on Grieg’s Elegy, Op. 47, No. 7, borrowing the structure of his Ballade, Op. 24. The title comes from part of Carl Sandburg’s Accomplished Facts.
Grieg being dead we may speak of him and his art.
Grieg being dead we can talk about whether he was any good or not.
Grieg being with Ibsen, Björnson, Lief Ericson and the rest,
Grieg being dead does not care a hell’s hoot what we say.
Morning, Spring, Anitra’s Dance,
He dreams them at the doors of new stars.