Edvard Grieg: Solveig's Song

Nicholas Roerich, Hut in the Forest, 1912
N. K. Roerich International Centre-Museum, Moscow
no copyright infringement intended
(http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/nicholas-roerich/solveig-s-song-hut-in-the-forest-1912)

Perchance both winter and spring will pass,
and next summer, and the entire year: —
but at last you will come, that I know for sure;
and I'll still be waiting, for I once promised I would.

God give you strength, wherever in the world you go!
God give you joy, when you stand before his judgement seat!
Here I'll wait until you come again;
and if you are waiting up above, there we'll meet, my love!

Solveigs sang op. 23 n°19 (Solveig's Song), the well-known work of Grieg, part of his Peer Gynt suite: the last note seems to unfold the whole melody. Is it? A song is a universe, as a book, or a painting; a universe that can be decomposed down to tiny atoms. You cannot go further. Each sound is the smallest unit, the atom, and each one tells its story. Together these stories make this whole universe. We know each sound and can sing it. It's the way they are together that makes them unique. Can one of them contain the whole? I would say no: I think it's the relation between them that makes the last note of Solveig's Song carry the story of all precedent notes.

For those of you knowing Romanian, I would like to recommend an on-line forum where people talk about these matters:

http://forum.fanclub.ro/viewtopic.php?f=289&t=17965&start=60

Karita Mattila , soprano
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo, conductor
(video by operazaile)

Kanske vil der gå både Vinter og Vår,
og næste Sommer med, og det hele År,
men engang vil du komme, det ved jeg vist,
og jeg skal nok vente, for det lovte jeg sidst.

Gud styrke dig, hvor du i Verden går,
Gud glæde dig, hvis du for hans Fodskammel står.
Her skal jeg vente til du kommer igjen;
og venter du hist oppe, vi træffes der, min Ven!

(Edvard Grieg)