Talk:In the Hall of the Mountain King

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Shamus?[edit]

It's been twenty years :), but I could swear that the theme music to Shamus was the Alfred Hitchcock theme, not Mountain King. I had the Atari 8-bit version; the C64 version may have been different. --EngineerScotty 05:04, 7 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • I have played the Commodore 64 version, and the music is definitely the Hitchcock theme, not Mountain King. Mountain King does appear in Frontier, though. JIP | Talk 11:35, 18 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Actual recording[edit]

This piece is in public domain everywhere. Can anyone secure a version that can be put on this page? Ace of Sevens 05:37, 4 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

List of uses in media[edit]

Is the list of uses in different media (movies, TV and video games) really necessary? If completed, it'd probably be much much longer than the rest of the article. ~ Oni Lukos ct 19:42, 22 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Although I don't think the list should necessarily be purged of any of the material we have there now, I do agree that it has become rather unwieldy. I think we need a better way of organizing it so that it doesn't overwhelm the rest of the article. --Todeswalzer|Talk 06:29, 1 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Alright, I've just reorganized the list of popular culture references so that it's more friendly looking. Eventually, however, someone will probably have to go through each of them and rework the phrasing. --Todeswalzer|Talk 19:38, 1 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The Stephen King movie Needful Things used this. I thought they had a version that had vocal elements. Does anyone know anything about that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.184.241.144 (talk) 04:09, 20 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]


this song was whistled in Total Drama All Stars. I am an unregistered user — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.239.124.196 (talk) 04:27, 13 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Rewrite of section on the music itself[edit]

I've just rewritten the section describing the music and the sequences which it is meant to illustrate. I've also included some musical notation and a brief excerpt from a performance by the Berlin Philharmonic. (I also touched up the intro a little bit as well.) --Todeswalzer|Talk 06:29, 1 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

We might also consider compiling a list of solo arrangements for this piece; that is, if such arrangements exist for any instrument besides the piano (which, I believe, Grieg arranged himself). --Todeswalzer|Talk 20:14, 1 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

A link to the piano score?--200.60.255.161 13:32, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I have a choral version done by the Gothenberg Symphony Orchestra with Neeme Järvi and the Göta Ohlin Vocal Ensemble; According to the blurb with the CD, this was as Grieg originally scored it, for the theatre orchestra; the non vocal version was a later revision when he collected 8 of the original 23 pieces into the two suites we know today. Sasha 22:34, 10 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Sasha, if you have a copy of the verses sung to this tune, it would be most excellent of you if you could include them with this article. (Or post them here on the talk page.) --Todeswalzer|Talk 01:18, 14 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry for the delay in replying. Alas, I don't have a copy of the lyrics and my knowledge of Norse laguages is limited in the extreme, so I can't transcribe it from my recording. I'll ask my Danish friends when I see them in Spring. There are several other choral pieces on this CD including a beautiful rendering of Solveig's song. Sasha 09:17, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, the original version has a choir at the end; the text sung is the beginning of scene six in act 2 of Peer Gynt:
(Trolls of the court:) Slagt ham! Kristenmands søn har dåret / Dovregubbens veneste mø! (this is repeated; if I remember correctly, it goes like "Slagt ham! Kristenmands søn har dåret / Dovregubbens veneste mø! Slagt ham! Kristenmands søn har dåret / Dovregubbens veneste mø! Slagt! Slagt! (short music) Slagt! Slagt! etc.) ("Slaughter him! The Christian man's son has seduced the Mountain King's fairest maiden!")
(young troll:) Må jeg skjære ham i fingeren? ("May I cut his finger?")
(other young troll:) Må jeg rive ham i håret? ("May I tear his hair?")
(female young troll:) Hu, hej, lad mig bide ham i låret! ("Hu, hej, let me bite into his thigh!")
(troll-witch:) Skal han lages til sod og sø? ("Shall he be pickled in brine?")
(other troll-witch:) Skal han steges på spid eller brunes i gryde? ("Shall he be roasted on the skewer or stewed in the pot?")
(The Mountain King, to the trolls:) Isvand i blodet! ("Ice into your blood!")
I don't really speak Norwegian, found the original text at http://home.c2i.net/espenjo/home/ibsen/peergynt/pg_2f_n.htm and used the German translation at http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/ibsen/peergynt/peer22.htm to help me translating it into English :-)
So, the description of the piece given in the article doesn't quite fit what is actually accompanied by the music. The Mountain King doesn't chase Peer Gynt himself, just his trolls that are harassing Peer whilst the King sits on his throne and ultimately stops them with the "Ice into your blood!" outcry, and then a lengthy conversation between Peer and the King follows. Gestumblindi 01:57, 27 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Just to say, when the main melody changes to the perfect 5th...it uses a flat 6th , as stated in the article..but then later on it plays the same phrases, but with a natural 6th..(ie a semi tone higher). 86.177.185.149 (talk) 19:12, 12 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Key[edit]

I just wondered why the score has been presented in the key of G when it starts in B? Drew 04:01, 19 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm the one who made the musical notation file included in this article; but I'm not really sure what you mean. The music is both written and presented in B minor. --Todeswalzer|Talk 04:17, 19 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Limewire and the Mountain King[edit]

Limewire has a tendency to mislabel songs and artists (ie; 'LoZ' is not by Soad, Rammstein did not cover 'Barbie Girl' as it is actually in Dutch, not german..)

Anyway 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' is available on Limewire as being part of Mozart's work. I believed it too until I checked Wikipedia, and realized the dates didn't add up, as well as the fact Mozart didn't write this song.

Is this Limewire-error worth a jot on this page? ie; Sometimes Mozart is mistaken as the composer of 'In The Hall of the Mountain King', instead of Edvard Grieg. JimmmyThePiep 09:40, 20 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Jimmy, I don't think this warrants a mention on this page, for two reasons. First, as you already mentioned, Limewire has an infamous tendency to mislabel almost everything, so the fact that this one was mislabelled as well doesn't seem particularly noteworthy. (The general public seems to think that all classical music was written by either Mozart or Beethoven, and if not by one of them, then Bach. I don't find it surprising that these three composers are attributed works which are not theirs.)
Second, Mozart and Grieg lived almost a century apart and wrote in vastly different styles. I don't think anyone with even an elementary knowledge of music history could honestly mistake Mountain King as a product of Mozart's pen. --Todeswalzer|Talk 00:41, 26 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

MS windows[edit]

I am quite sure that some windows versions came with a midi recording of this pise, can someone incorporate it nicely in the article?--213.66.131.204 19:04, 31 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Which Windows version(s)? Do you know of an independent article or webpage confirming its inclusion? -- JHunterJ 20:18, 31 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I can confirm from memory that this piece was included with a previous version of Windows. What I can't confirm is whether it was Windows 95, 98, or some other version. --Todeswalzer|Talk 00:52, 1 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I have found it to be in C:\windows\Media\In The Hall Of The Mountain King.RMI. it is in a midi format. should be basically in the windows install folder\media at least, along with some others, 24.83.89.241 (talk) 06:16, 8 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Tune in Elite II: Frontier[edit]

I believe this tune was used in the game mentioned in subj. when I played it many, many years ago. Can anyone confirm or rebuke this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Avlund (talk • contribs) 16:02, 2 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Added Link[edit]

I recently added a new link (for now, it is the one and only link). More performances like this should be included so that the public can be exposed to different interpretations of the same piece. ~~MusicalConnoisseur~~ Got Classical? 06:02, 12 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Mountain King video game.[edit]

There's actually a game based on the song for Commodore 64 and Atari 2600. You had to get a crown from the hall of the mountain king and get to the top of the mountain. 67.224.28.195 (talk) 17:56, 5 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Uses in popular culture (moved here from article)[edit]

See also Grieg's music in popular culture.

  • a chopped and screwed freestyle rap was recorded to this by the late great DJ screw on his album 'Da Funk is on Your Mind'
  • A riff is used at the beginning of the 1966 garage rock song, Stormy, by The Jesters of Newport.
  • A version of song was used in the opening credits to the 90s cartoon Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
  • The piece was notoriously used as the tune whistled by (and subsequently used to identify) the child murderer in the film M.
  • In the 1957 made-for-television color film of Robert Browning's The Pied Piper of Hamelin, the Piper played the tune on his flute to lure the plague of rats out of Hamelin.
  • Big Brother and the Holding Company did a version of the tune.
  • The tune was arranged as a rock and roll number on separate occasions by both The Who and the Electric Light Orchestra.
  • It was used as the title music for the classic Apple 2 platform game Lady Tut. [citation needed]
  • It was used as the in game music for the classic ZX Spectrum platform game Manic Miner.
  • It was used as in game music for the game: Elite 2, Frontier. This is a multi-platform game.
  • It was used in the song "Gorgar" on the German speed metal band Helloween's first studio album Walls of Jericho.
  • The heavy metal band Savatage released an album titled Hall of the Mountain King in 1987, with the instrumental song "Prelude To Madness" being an arrangement of the famous piece of music.
  • The tune is was used in a TV advertisment in the United Kingdom for Alton Towers theme park and is heard quite frequently playing around the park.
  • Rumors circulated by fans of the rock group King Crimson speculate that the name of the group's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, was taken from this classical composition.
  • Some bars of this piece appear at the end of Rick Wakeman's Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
  • In september 1995, reformed rock group Rainbow , in their album Stranger in Us All , released a rock version of this piece - track 9 - Hall of the Mountain King - Arrgmt. by Ritchie Blackmore , Candice Night.
  • In 1998 Ska-P recorded a version of this piece in their album, Eurosis. The title is 'Simpatico Holgazan'.
  • In U.S. Acres, it's used as a theme song for Orson's evil brothers.
  • In 2000, the cello rock group Apocalyptica recorded a version of this piece in their third album, Cult.
  • For the trailer of the new film Funny Games (2008), Michael Haneke selected the piece as part of the soundtrack.
  • Brian Setzer has used this tune as the basis of "One More Night With You" on the album Wolfgang's Big Night Out (2007)
  • The song was used on the Courage the Cowardly Dog episode Farmer Hunter/Farmer Hunted.
  • The main theme is used in the Little Einsteins episode The Dragon Kite, as the musical ensemble for the episode.
  • The song was used in a commercial for Ritz crackers.
  • In Britain, the song was used in a peanut butter advert, in which the phrase "yum" was set to the music.
  • The main theme was used in sections of the song Dream a Dream by Captain Jack.
  • It was used in the 2001 film Rat Race.
  • It was used by Vintersorg as an interlude in his song "För Kung och Fosterland" ("For King and Fatherland") on his album "Till Fjälls"
  • The theme was heard in demo recordings made by the Norwegian heavy metal band TNT before their 1984 album Knights of the New Thunder. However, at the time of writing the song it was used in has never been released on any official album.
  • The song plays in an episode of the internet Flash series International Moron Patrol
  • Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett plays a short part of it during a show in San Diego in '92 on the Live Shit DVD box
  • The Who perform their interpretation of the piece on the album "The Who Sell Out"
  • Marillion used the main theme from the song in their live piece called "Margaret"
  • Princess, a hungarian violin-playing orchestra has also played this piece. Hungarian title: "A hegykirály barlangjában" (exact meaning: "in the cave of the mountain king")
  • The piece is mentioned in John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces, in which Toole likens Ignatius's sexual climax to the piece's finale.
  • mc chris rapped over the song for his unreleased track called "peer gynt."
  • The german psychobilly band Mad Sin added a bridge including the theme in their song "Brand New Gun (Bang Boom Bang)" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.63.148.107 (talk) 14:12, 15 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"to-thyself-be-enough-ness"[edit]

What is this? Is there a better translation? --Bxj (talk) 12:45, 2 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

How about To thine own self be true? Moonraker12 (talk) 12:55, 4 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I agree it's a difficult translation... but the only one I have a copy of. It is explained during the Hall scene, when the King explains to Peer that "one huge difference stands between us... Outside among men, where the skies are bright, there's a saying 'Man, to thyself be true'; but here among trolls, the saying runs: 'Troll, to thyself be - enough.'"
A courtier adds "Well? Do you get it?" to which Peer Gynt replies "I'm still a bit hazy..." and the King answers him "'Enough', my son! That shattering word of Power must be your battle-cry."
Peer scratches his head and says "But -?" showing he's still confused, and the King interrupts "It must, if you're to be master here." Peer concedes, saying "All right then, damn it; things might be worse".
So, it's certainly based on "to thyself be true", but opposite to it in a confusing way (at least, confusing to Peer Gynt)!
I'd be interested to see any other translations! --xensyriaT 13:40, 23 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Film reference[edit]

I've removed this:
"The music was also used in the 1931 Fritz Lang's feature M, being whistled by the serial killer"
It certainly doesn't belong in the introduction, which is supposed to give the most relevant facts only, and while I can see the reference is a bit more significant than most (it is a key feature in a pretty notable film), I'm reluctant to start a "Cultural References" section for fear of opening the flood-gates to every pop song, advertizing jingle or ring-tone that's ever used it.
What does anybody else think? Moonraker12 (talk) 12:52, 4 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Mistake in description of scene?[edit]

I was under the impression that there is no chasing going on whatsoever when this is being played; I am pretty sure that they are in the hall and the trolls are discussing what should be done about Peer, and they eventually start yelling, and whatnot. A few movements later, the track title is "Peer Gynt being chased by Trolls". I would think that is where the chasing happens. The booklet with the CD set with the complete music agrees with this, and having also read the play, this sounds more correct. Does anyone disagree with this, or should it be changed? ~~ Hi878 (Come shout at me!) 03:39, 23 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed, it should be changed. The dramatic part takes place during the argument of what to do with Peer, and the piece ends with the King calling the line "Ice to your blood friends!". --xensyriaT 13:29, 23 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I don't trust myself to do it justice; anyone else want to? ~~ Hi878 (Come shout at me!) 02:14, 7 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Neither do I, but at the moment it's just wrong. A lot of people reading it (and not this) will go away thinking they know what it's about, or will be confused by the conflicting descriptions; I propose to remove the description sections of the text and keep the musical description (which, though far beyond me, seems accurate). If no one opposes this then I plan to do this in a week or so's time. --xensyriaT 01:13, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Also thinking of putting in a very small passage on the Trolls' argument to try to make it sound a little less cold without any description... :) Have emailed Todeswalzer who seems to have written the music section, though he incorporated the "Actions signified by the music" section - what looks like the root of the alternative scene description - which has been there from the first edit. --xensyriaT 11:30, 10 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Finally removed the dubious "plot" information from this section; only the "colliding" of octaves remains (originally said to represent the collision of Peer and the King...) as it describes the music well without reference to what's going on. What are your thoughts? --xensyriaT 15:29, 29 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Soundtracks[edit]

Found mixed into Justin Timberlake's The Trolls soundtrack. Ve3eap (talk) 03:01, 22 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Covers?[edit]

So where is actually any list of the covers? This article refers to "Grieg's music in popular culture", that one refers back here. Hmm? Slamazzar (talk) 00:56, 21 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Doesn't the article Grieg's music in popular culture cover what you're looking for? That article refers back to this article as the main article for the composition itself, not for further uses in popular culture. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 10:23, 21 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Sonic the Hedgehog[edit]

This instrumental song is used in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog animated series theme. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Moviemagic2 (talk • contribs) 23:41, 20 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

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