The full work consists of nine parts; five are purely orchestral, and four are scored for tenor or baritone, male chorus, and orchestra.
The first of these, entitled "In the King's Hall", is a prelude in ternary form which opens with a bassoon and clarinet theme played against plucked strings.
The musical material of the exterior sections comes from the trio of a gavotte for piano that Grieg composed in 1867 and left unpublished.
The third, "Homage March", opens with trumpet fanfares before presenting its main subject, a martial theme, on four cellos.
The middle part, again a trio, is dominated by a melody for the first violins; the work ends with a recapitulation of the movement's first section.