Wilhelm Peterson-Berger

Oriental Dance

Wilhelm Peterson-Berger (1867-1942), Swedish composer, beloved most of all for his collections of small piano pieces, Frösöblomster 1-3 (Flowers from Frösö). Peterson-Berger himself, primarily treasured his five symphonies and five operas, but today it is mainly his songs and piano pieces which are performed. Besides composing he worked as a music critic at the daily paper Dagens Nyheter, and was feared by many for his sharp, sometimes almost vicious, pen.

Peterson-Berger originally composed Oriental Dance for piano during his studies in Dresden in 1890, and immediately orchestrated the piece. It is one of his earliest pieces, somewhat of a bagatelle, admittedly, which might have found its inspiration in Grieg's Peer Gynt suite, yet it has a naïve charm which well compensates for its weakness. Oriental Dance was first performed by the Künstlerverein in Dresden in February, 1890.