I kept my self busy in April/May of 2026 recording music for Miracle Theatre’s production of Peer Gynt. Director Bill Scott contacted me earlier in the year with what seemed like a bizarre request for recordings of Edvard Grieg’s famous tunes for the original Peer Gynt (Hall of the Mountain King, Morning Mood etc) played on the harmonica. How could I refuse?? I cobbled together a quick demo using a couple of rusty old harmonicas and soon the project escalated into a full soundtrack for the touring play using a vast array of harmonicas, including 100 year old chromatics and some deep bass harmonica too. You can hear the resulting recordings on tour around the South West this summer, dates are here:
Also, the recordings are available to listen to on Bandcamp…
A more in-depth explanation is in this interview I did for Miracle over a nice cup of tea.
Written by Edvard Grieg, the original musical score for Peer Gynt belnds Norwegian folk influence with romantic orchestral moments and theatrical storytelling. Your might have heard some of the most famous pieces of music in adverts or films. Perhaps the most well known is the Troll theme called In The Hall of the Mountain King.
Julian Gaskell & his Ragged Trousered Philanthropists 