In the Hall of the Mountain King (Norwegian: I Dovregubbens hall) is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg for the sixth scene of Act II in Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, which premiered in Christiania on February 24, 1876.
It was originally part of Opus 23, but was later extracted as the final piece of Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1, Op. 46. Although a performance of the full piece runs to slightly less than 3 minutes, its easily recognizable theme has helped it attain iconic status in popular culture, where it has been arranged by many artists.
The original piece was really a vocal number, introducing the 6th scene with the mountain trolls shouting "slagt ham! Kristenmans són har daaret Dovregubbens veneste Mö!" ("slay him! The son of Christians has defiled the Mountain King's fairest maid!") With the original lyrics the piece is not found anywhere but in the full incidental music to the play. Without the vocal parts, it is the last movement of the 1st "Peer Gynt" suite (the other movements being "Morning Mood", "Aase's Death", and "Anitra's Dance").
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