Abstract
In his keynote address, ‘Hearing the Nations in Chopin’,2 Jim Samson reflected on the three key ingredients of musical nationalism: agendas, musical materials, and appropriations. These three areas do not only bear relevance for Chopin reception and nineteenth‐century European nationalism, but also, in the context of the conference as a whole, effectively frame the broader themes of nationalism in music which emerged from this three day international gathering. My paper is more closely allied to the categories of ‘musical materials’ and their ‘appropriation’ in relation to the expression of Norwegian national‐cultural identity in the performance of Edvard Grieg’s later piano music. Focusing predominantly on the Slåtter, op. 72, I examine the interplay between the two aforementioned categories in recent (re)constructions of cultural identity through an empirical performanceanalytical study of two pieces. This paper develops and extends my research on the performance practice of this repertoire. Building on both existing and new empirical findings, I investigate experiential and phenomenological aspects of rhythmic gesture in the musical performance of this repertoire, and the effect these have for the cultural performance of an alleged authentic Norwegian folk identity. I conclude by reflecting on the performativity of rhythmic gesture as a material of national‐cultural identity.