In the Hall of the Mountain King

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"In the Hall of the Mountain King" (Template:Langx) is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg in 1875 as incidental music for the sixth scene of act 2 in Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play Peer Gynt. It was originally part of Opus 23 but was later extracted as the final piece of Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1, Op. 46. Its easily recognizable theme has helped it attain iconic status in popular culture,[1] where it has been arranged by many artists (see Grieg's music in popular culture).

The English translation of the name is not literal. Dovre is a mountainous region in Norway, and Script error: No such module "Lang". translates into "(old) man" or "husband". Script error: No such module "Lang". is used along with its female counterpart Script error: No such module "Lang". to differentiate male and female trolls, Script error: No such module "Lang". and Script error: No such module "Lang".. In the play, Dovregubben is a troll king that Peer Gynt invents in a fantasy.

Setting

<score sound="1">

{ 

 \new PianoStaff <<
   \new Staff \relative d {
     \tempo "Alla marcia e molto marcato" 4 = 138
     \clef bass \key d \major
     \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"french horn" 
     <fis fis'>1->\fermata^\markup{ \teeny \halign #1.5 "Horns"} \pp
     \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"pizzicato strings" 
     b,8-.^\markup{\teeny "Celli u. double bass pizz."} \p cis-. d-. e-. fis-.-> d-. fis4-.

     eis8-.-> cis-. eis4-. e8-.-> c-. e4-.
     b8-.cis-. d-. e-. fis-. d-. fis-. b-.
     a-.-> fis-. d-. fis-. a4-.-> r4
   }
   \new Staff \relative g,,{
     \clef bass \key d \major
     r1 \fermata
     \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"bassoon"
     b4-.-\markup{\teeny \halign #1.5 "Bassoon"} \pp fis'4-. b,4-. fis'4-.
     b,4-. fis'4-. b,4-. fis'4-.
     b,4-. fis'4-. b,4-. fis'4-.
     d4-. a'4-. d,4-. a'4-.
   }
 >>

} </score>

The two-phrase theme, written in the key of B minor

The piece is played as the title character Peer Gynt, in a dream-like fantasy, enters "Dovregubbens (the troll Mountain King's) hall". The scene's introduction continues: "There is a great crowd of troll courtiers, gnomes and goblins. Dovregubben sits on his throne, with crown and sceptre, surrounded by his children and relatives. Peer Gynt stands before him. There is a tremendous uproar in the hall." The lines sung are the first lines in the scene.Template:Sfn[2]

Grieg himself wrote, "For the Hall of the Mountain King, I have written something that so reeks of cowpats, ultra-Norwegianism, and 'to-thyself-be-enough-ness' that I cannot bear to hear it, though I hope that the irony will make itself felt."Template:Sfn The theme of "to thyself be... enough" – avoiding the commitment implicit in the phrase "To thine own self be true" and just doing enough – is central to Peer GyntTemplate:'s satire, and the phrase is discussed by Peer and the mountain king in the scene which follows the piece.[3]

Music

<score sound="1">\relative c{\set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 4 = 138

\clef "bass" \key b \minor fis8-. \p gis-. ais-. b-. cis-.-> ais-. cis4-. | d8-.-> ais-. d4-. cis8-.-> ais-. cis4-. | fis,8-. gis-. ais-. b-. cis-.-> ais-. cis4-. | d8-.-> ais-. d4-. cis4-.-> r4}</score>

Modified theme in F♯ major

The piece is in the overall key of B minor. The simple theme begins slowly and quietly in the lowest registers of the orchestra, played first by the cellos, double basses, and bassoons. After being stated, the main theme is then very slightly modified with a few different ascending notes, but transposed up a perfect fifth (to the key of F-sharp major, the dominant key, but with flattened sixth) and played on different instruments.

The two groups of instruments then move in and out of different octaves until they eventually "collide" with each other at the same pitch. The tempo gradually speeds up to a prestissimo finale, and the music itself becomes increasingly loud and frenetic.

Lyrics of the song in Peer Gynt

Character Norwegian English
The troll-courtiers: Script error: No such module "Lang". Slay him! The Christian man's son has seduced
the fairest maid of the Mountain King!
Slay him! Slay him!
A troll-imp: Script error: No such module "Lang". May I hack him on the fingers?
Another troll-imp: Script error: No such module "Lang". May I tug him by the hair?
A troll-maiden: Script error: No such module "Lang". Hu, hey, let me bite him in the haunches!
A troll-witch with a ladle: Script error: No such module "Lang". Shall he be boiled into soup and broth?
Another troll-witch, with a butcher knife: Script error: No such module "Lang". Shall he roast on a spit or be browned in a stewpan?
The Mountain King: Script error: No such module "Lang". Ice-water to your blood!

Cultural impact

  • D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915) used the song to build up to the Union attack on Atlanta. The song had by that time already been used in film scores, whether for Ibsen's play or other works; yet the popularity of Griffith's film helped to establish it in the American popular imagination.[4][5]
  • "In the Hall of the Mountain King" plays a major plot point in Fritz Lang's early sound film M (1931). Peter Lorre's character of child killer Hans Beckert whistles the tune whenever he is overcome with the urge to commit murder. However, Lorre himself could not whistle – it is actually Lang who is heard.[6] The film was one of the first to use a leitmotif, associating "In the Hall of the Mountain King" with the Lorre character. Later in the film, the mere sound of the song lets the audience know that he is nearby, off-screen. This association of a musical theme with a particular character or situation, a technique borrowed from opera, became a staple in film.[4][7]
  • In 1953, an Argentine remake was made, called El Vampiro Negro, where Nathán Pinzón played the murderer, whistling the song every time he was going to commit the crime.
  • British rock band the Who recorded a performance of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" in 1967. This version went unreleased until 1995, when it appeared as a bonus track on a CD reissue of The Who Sell Out.[8][9][10] Tucson Weekly has called this cover a "Who-freakout arrangement".[11] One reviewer called the Who's version the "weirdest of these" covers on the CD, and says it is "a rendition of the corresponding extract from Grieg's Peer Gynt suite ... [yet] it hardly sounds like Grieg here, anyway..." Another says that "the main function of the composition is to evoke thoughts of (naturally) King Crimson and (unnaturally) Pink Floyd, because in parts it sounds exactly like 'Interstellar Overdrive'."[12]
  • The British rock band Electric Light Orchestra performed a cover of "In The Hall of the Mountain King" (sometimes in a medley with 'Great Balls of Fire') in live concerts[13] and later made a studio recording on the 1973 album On the Third Day.
  • The English keyboardist Rick Wakeman uses this piece in the fourth section ("The Forest") of his 1974 album "Journey to the Centre of the Earth".
  • The theme music for the 1980s American children's cartoon show Inspector Gadget, composed by Shuki Levy, was inspired by "In the Hall of the Mountain King".[14][15]
  • A rendition of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" is the background music of the 1983 video game Manic Miner.
  • In 1987 Erasure released the single "It Doesn't Have to Be" with a cover of "In The Hall of the Mountain King" as its B-side.
  • In 1988 Coldcut released the album What's That Noise? which features the song "Stop this Crazy Thing", heavily inspired by "In The Hall of the Mountain King".
  • In the 1993 animated series Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, a rendition of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" appears as part of the show's opening theme and as a recurring leitmotif.[16]
  • In 1996, Patrick van Kerckhoven under the name Juggernaut released the song "Roughneck Rules The Hardcore Scene," a cover of "In The Hall of the Mountain King."
  • Britain's largest theme park Alton Towers have continuously used "In the Hall of the Mountain King" as a central musical identity to the park since 1992. Although Alton Towers' use of the theme was paused in 2006[17] and 2007,[18] its use has resurged since 2008.[19] The main theme is present in nearly all of the park's music.[20]
  • British Rainbow (rock band) recorded a version of "In The Hall of the Mountain King" on 1995 CD Stranger in Us All, with lyrics and a new arrangement.
  • In the film The Social Network (2010), the song is played as the Winklevoss twins lose their rowing competition in the United Kingdom.[21]
  • This piece received alternative lyrics in the form of The Pi Song (Memorize 100 Digits Of π) by ASAP Science. [22]
  • The piece is sampled in Ashnikko's 2021 single "Halloweenie IV: Innards".[23]
  • Belgian EDM duo Ganja White Night released a dubstep version of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" renamed "In the Cave of the Wobble King" in 2021 on their album "Dark Wobble." Their version includes humorous commentary about "taking a melody that everyone knows and turning it into a dubstep remix."
  • In 2023, the game Bramble: The Mountain King, based on Scandinavian folklore, features the Mountain King theme during the final boss fight, which is none other than the Mountain King himself. The version of the theme is progressive in both melody and tempo, making the battle increasingly epic as it progresses.[24]
  • J-pop group, Lil League from Exile Tribe, samples "In the Hall of the Mountain King" in their song, "Lollipop".[25]
  • Italian-Norwegian singer Alessandra Mele sampled "In the Hall of the Mountain King" for the hook of her 2025 single "Queen Almighty".

Notes

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Peer Gynt, Scene Sixth, translated by Robert Farquharson Sharp (1864–1945)
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ a b Powrie, Phil and Robynn Jeananne Stilwell (2006) Changing Tunes: The Use of Pre-existing Music in Film
  5. ↑ Barbara Saltzman, "Griffith's 'Birth of a Nation' Reborn on Lumivision Disc", Los Angeles Times, June 21, 1991. Accessed May 23, 2011.
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ The Who dot Net web site Template:Webarchive
  9. ↑ 200th Anniversary celebration of Grieg
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Tucson Weekly
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Dombal, Ryan (September 27, 2010). "Interviews: Trent Reznor and David Fincher". Template:Webarchive. Pitchfork. Pitchfork Media. Last accessed September 27, 2010.
  21. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HRkKznJoZA
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".

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Sources

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Further reading

  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

External links

Template:Edvard Grieg Template:Peer Gynt Template:Authority control

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