In the Hall of the Mountain King

The Anacrouse collection offers pianists, beginners and advanced alike, a wide choice of classical works from the Renaissance to the present day. It brings together major works of the repertoire as well as rarer pieces, and also offers transcriptions for piano solo or four hands, selected for their musical and educational interest. Each score, available individually or in a songbook, benefits from careful editorial work: a rigorously established musical text, clear and legible engraving, accompanied by a short biography of the composer and a note on the work.

“In the Hall of the Mountain King” (in A minor), presented here in a piano four-hands transcription by Jean-François Pailler, is a masterly study in tempo and dynamics. This title is taken from the reference songbook “8 Famous Classical Themes for Piano 4 Hands”, the first volume of the Anacrouse collection, which offers an interactive approach thanks to its 2 included CDs. For each work, three tracks are available: a reference version (Piano 4 hands), a track for practising the Piano 1 part (Piano 2 accompaniment alone) and a track for Piano 2 (Piano 1 accompaniment alone). This system allows the student to perfect rhythmic placement and synchronisation, even when practising alone.

This emblematic work is part of the Peer Gynt suite composed by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) in 1875. It depicts the breathless flight of the hero pursued by trolls in the underground palace of the mountain king. The challenge for the duo lies in the famous final stretto: a progressive acceleration and a powerful crescendo that demand perfect complicity between the two pianists to transform this haunting theme into a fantastic whirlwind.