Holberg Suite

The Holberg Suite, Op. 40, more properly "From Holberg's Time" (Norwegian: Fra Holbergs tid, German: Aus Holbergs Zeit), subtitled "Suite in olden style" (Norwegian: Suite i gammel stil, German: Suite im alten Stil), is a suite of five movements based on eighteenth century dance forms, written by Edvard Grieg in 1884 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Danish-Norwegian humanist playwright Ludvig Holberg.

It is an example of a piece of nineteenth century music which makes use of musical styles and forms from the preceding century. It can be compared with Franz Liszt's À la Chapelle Sixtine, S.360 (1862) and contrasted with later neoclassical works.

The movements of the suite are:

  1. Praeludium (Allegro vivace)
  2. Sarabande (Andante)
  3. Gavotte (Allegretto)
  4. Air (Andante religioso)
  5. Rigaudon (Allegro con brio)

The Holberg Suite was originally composed for the piano, and a year later it was adapted for string orchestra. The suite consists of an introduction and a set of dances. It is a charming, early essay in neo-classicism, an attempt to echo as much as was known in Grieg's time of the music of Holberg's time.

This suite is not as famous as Grieg's incidental music from Peer Gynt, which is usually performed as arranged in a pair of suites itself, but many critics see them as equal.