Blogocentric Formulations

In the Hall of the Mountain King

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DAY 7

Song: "In the Hall of the Mountain King"
Artist: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Album: The Social Network Soundtrack (2010)

I guess I'm on a mini Trent Reznor streak these past couple of days... I chose the cover Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross did for The Social Network soundtrack because I think it's a great updated version and was a great fit for the movie. The original, of course, was composed by Edvard Grieg for Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt. The reason this composition has special significance for me is because it was one of my first experiences with creative writing. I started writing stories for fun in fourth grade, but it wasn't until sixth grade that I found a teacher who really encouraged students to create compelling stories and find inspiration in other forms of art like poetry, music, painting, etc.

One of his favorite activities was to play a piece of classical music on repeat, allowing students to compose a narrative story inspired by the progression of the song. "In the Hall of the Mountain King" was one of the first songs he chose and it really inspired me to write my first fantasy story. It didn't hurt that we had just finished reading The Hobbit a few weeks prior; I was totally involved into dwarves and mountain fortresses and mining and all that good stuff. Hearing the name of the composition beforehand and all that Tolkien fresh in my head made it easy to imagine a magical and supernatural world... and I have no doubt that reading The Hobbit (and the entire The Lord of the Rings that I devoured in the following few weeks), combined with actually trying my hand at writing a fantasy story is what sparked my interest in the genre and what's turned out to be a lifelong fascination with fantastical worlds and creatures.

There aren't too many classical compositions that are going to make this list (there's a lot of classical music I like, but very few defining moments), but "In the Hall of the Mountain King" is definitely one of them.