Dating from 1884, this is a suite of five movements based on 18th Century dances. It’s called the Holberg as it was composed to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Dano-Norwegian humanist playwright Ludvig Holberg (1684–1754).
It was composed for piano, but a year later Grieg orchestrated it for strings. The titles of the movements may be familiar to you – Prelude, Sarabande, Gavotte, Air, and Rigaudon.
Listening Project 