[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRpzxKsSEZg]
So much of the emotional and mental process of music is about association. This song has absolutely nothing to do with Halloween, but we've associated with cartoons and films where it has been used as the villains theme, so, the song itself has become associated with all things creepy or with "the bad guy". That and the fact that in its original context it's associated with a troll, make it easy to connect it to the holiday. It's very common that classical pieces become associated with something, a specific emotion usually. This one is no different.
Written by Edvard Grieg, the song originated as part of an 1867 play by Henrik Ibsen. The play, Peer Gynt, is about a troll king named Dovregubben. The original, Norwegian title is "I Dovregubbens Hall", Dovregubben referring to a highland area of Norway and gubbe meaning old man. The term "gubbe" is also used to refer to a male troll, or "trollgubbe", as opposed to the female, "trollkjerring". Obviously, the translation isn't quite literal, but you get the idea.
No comments:
Post a Comment