Solvejg's Song
Edvard Grieg, arr. Ben Tordoff
Composed:
1875 Arranged:
2025 Grouping:
ST+sSAATTBb Duration:
03:40
In the third act of Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, Solvejg comes to live with Peer in his life as an outcast. However his previous misadventures catch up with him and leaving her behind he flees overseas. Grieg wrote the wonderful 'Solvejg's Song' to the lyrics of her lament:
The winter may pass and the spring disappear,
the summer too will vanish and then the year.
But this I know for certain: thou’lt come back again;
And e’en as I promised, thou’lt find me waiting then.
God help thee, when wand’ring thy way all alone,
God grant thee his strength as thou kneel’st at his throne.
If thou now art waiting in heav’n for me,
O there we’ll meet again love and never parted be!
The song alternates between a deeply emotional theme and somewhat optimistic interlude, each with a distinct character. Here we place the two themes on tenor and soprano saxophones respectively, with the two joining forces for the second verse.
© 2025 Ben Tordoff
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