Grieg's Fifth: The Linguistic Battleground of "Klokkeklang"

Abstract

Writing to his friend Julius R6ntgen about Klokkeklang (BellRinging, Ex. 1), the last in his set of Lyric Pieces, op. 54, Grieg described the work as being absolutely crazy. In his reply Rontgen agreed with the description, calling the piece veritable apotheosis of and continuing, something like this is only an of moods, and for those who don't have a sense for that sort of thing it obviously will be unintelligible.' If Bell-Ringing is by any standard a remarkable and original work, with its almost exclusive texture of superimposed parallel fifths and apparent absence of diatonically functional harmonic meaning, then just as remarkable is the fact that it is hardly renowned or much written about. Its reception history consistently nods toward an emergent sense of impressionism and does not go much further than that.2 Perhaps we lack the right sort of context to deal with such a manifestation from a composer like Grieg; as a carrier of the strain of nationalism it may be that he has been marginalized so that such a piece is more easily regarded as interesting rather than significant. As the work of a petit mattre, his output is unlikely to be privileged enough to demand weighty readings. Grieg in fact seems to fulfill his own destiny in this respect in his rather sheepish assessment of the piece: rather than providing apocalyptic prose, he excuses himself for his radicalism. Rdntgen's subsequent reference to an expression of moods can be thought of as a further damping down of the implications of the work, taking refuge in the realms of evocation. Such an exchange could hardly have taken place within a mainstream context, where a confident sense of agenda might well have replaced the diffidence evident here. The other aspect of R6ntgen's reply-for those who don't have a sense for that sort of thing [the piece] obviously will be unintelligible-has not, alas, found a counterpart in reception. It has been far easier to speak of Grieg's prophecy of impressionism than to imagine how the work might have fared in its intended social context.