Grieg Peer Gynt Suite no. 1, Op. 46

Peer Gynt, Op. 23 is the incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play of the same name, written by Grieg in 1875. It premiered along with the play on 24 February 1876 in Christiania (now Oslo). Later, in 1888 and 1891, Grieg extracted eight movements to make two four-movement suites: Suite no. 1, Op. 46, and Suite no. 2, Op. 55. Suite no. 1 is probably the best known, as it includes the popular Aese's Death, and In the hall of the Mountain King. The latter has has acquired an iconic status in popular culture, probably because of its easily recognizable theme and the fact that the whole piece runs for less than 3 minutes.