Edvard Grieg

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), the most distinguished Norwegian composer of the 19th century. Born in Bergen on June 15, 1843, Edvard Hagerup Grieg was taught the piano by his mother, a professional pianist, and studied at the Leipzig Conservatory. Grieg was encouraged to write music by the Danish composer Niels Gade; his interest in Norwegian folk music was awakened by the Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak. From 1866 to 1876 Grieg lived in Christiania (now Oslo), where he taught music and became conductor of the Philharmonic Society. In 1867 he married his cousin, Nina Hagerup, a distinguished soprano.

Grieg's advocacy of a school of music based on Norwegian folk music met with opposition from conservative musicians and critics, and his own works were at first slow in gaining recognition. The first musician of international stature to encourage his work was the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt. In 1874 the Norwegian government granted Grieg an annual stipend that enabled him to devote all his time to composition. He became world famous for his incidental music for the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen's poetic drama Peer Gynt (1875). In 1877 Grieg moved to an isolated studio at Lofthus, and in 1885 he built the villa Troldhaugen near Bergen, where he lived the rest of his life. He died on September 4, 1907.

Although Grieg's music was greatly influenced by that of the German romantic composers, particularly Robert Schumann, and also by the works of the Polish-French composer Frédéric Chopin, Grieg fashioned his melodies in the style of Norwegian folk music, and he was a master of a harmonic style that has the power to evoke the atmosphere of his native land. Among his compositions are “Heart Wounds” and “The Last Spring” (melodies after a Norwegian poem), and Holberg Suite, both for string or orchestra; Landsighting and Olaf Trygvason, both for chorus and orchestra; a string quartet; and numerous piano pieces, including the Ballade in G Minor and the popular Piano Concerto in A Minor. Grieg was particularly distinguished as a writer of songs.