Peer Gynt is a dramatic poem by Henrik Ibsen, written in 1867. Ibsen based this work on Norse fairy tales written by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen. Asbjørnsen had written these stories about 1848-1850. Ibsen wrote the poem to analyse and criticize the romantic nationalist movement that was present in Norway during that time.
Originally, Peer Gynt was a poem, but Ibsen later adapted it to be a stage play. Edvard Grieg composed the original music for the stage. The first performance was on 24 February 1876, in Christiania, modern-day Oslo. The musical score for the play is made of 26 pieces. In 1888 and 1891, Grieg took eight pieces, and comined them into two suites, of four pieces each. These are known as the Peer Gynt Suites today, and are widely known.
Many movies were made about the subject, the first in 1915.
