Edvard Grieg

Grieg in 1888

Edvard Hagerup Grieg (15 June 1843 – 4 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely recognized as one of the prominent composers of the Romantic era, and his music is an essential part of classical music worldwide. He is known for incorporating Norwegian folk music into his compositions, which not only brought Norwegian music to the forefront but also contributed to the development of a national identity, similar to what Jean Sibelius did in Finland and Bedřich Smetana did in Bohemia.

Early life

Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway, when it was part of Sweden-Norway. His parents were Alexander Grieg, a merchant and British Vice-Consul, and Gesine Judithe Hagerup, a music teacher. Grieg's family name was originally spelled Greig and had Scottish roots.

He came from a musical family, with his mother teaching him to play the piano from a young age. At 15, he met the famous Norwegian violinist Ole Bull, who recognized his talent and convinced his parents to send him to the Leipzig Conservatory.

While at the conservatory, Grieg focused on piano but found the curriculum too rigid, except for the organ. His health was fragile, as he survived serious lung diseases in 1860, leading to lifelong health issues.

Grieg's life was marked by recurrent respiratory problems and a damaged left lung. He sought treatment at spas and sanatoria both in Norway and abroad, forming friendships with some of his doctors.

Carrer

A portrait of Edvard Grieg in 1891

In 1861, Grieg began his career as a concert pianist in Sweden. He completed his studies in Leipzig in 1862 and returned home for his first concert, including Beethoven's Pathétique sonata. From 1863 to 1866, Grieg stayed in Denmark, where he met Danish composers and his friend, Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak. In 1867, he married his cousin, Nina, and had a daughter who sadly passed away. During this time, he composed his famous Piano Concerto in A minor, premiered in Copenhagen.

Franz Liszt praised Grieg's work in 1870, leading to a travel grant. They met in Rome, where Liszt admired Grieg's Violin Sonata and offered orchestration advice. In the 1870s, Grieg befriended poet Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and collaborated on setting poems to music, including incidental music for Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt. Grieg was connected to the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and served as its Music Director from 1880 to 1882. He met Tchaikovsky in 1888, and they admired each other's music.

In 1897, Grieg and his wife performed at Windsor Castle for Queen Victoria. He received honorary doctorates from Cambridge in 1894 and Oxford in 1906.

Later years

The Norwegian government gave Grieg a pension when he retired. In 1899, he canceled his concerts in France to protest the Dreyfus affair, an antisemitic scandal in French politics. This led to hate mail from the French.

In 1903, Grieg made gramophone recordings of his piano music in Paris, which have been reissued on LPs and CDs. He also recorded player piano music rolls for various systems. In 1906, Grieg met composer and pianist Percy Grainger in London, who greatly admired his music. They quickly formed a strong bond. Grieg passed away in 1907 at age 64 due to heart failure. His funeral drew thousands of people in his hometown. His ashes were placed in a mountain crypt near his house, Troldhaugen, alongside his wife's.

Music

Grieg's early works include a suppressed symphony and a piano sonata, along with three violin sonatas and a cello sonata. He's famous for composing the music for Henrik Ibsen's play "Peer Gynt", featuring iconic pieces like "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and "Morning Mood". Grieg's "Holberg Suite" was originally for piano, later adapted for a string orchestra. He also wrote songs with lyrics by poets like Heinrich Heine and others.

Russian composer Nikolai Myaskovsky used one of Grieg's themes in his Third String Quartet. Grieg's piano music was recorded by pianist Eva Knardahl, and Grieg himself made some recordings before his death. Pianist Bertha Tapper edited Grieg's piano works for publication in the United States.

List of selected works

• Piano Sonata in E minor, Op. 7
• Violin Sonata No. 1 in F major, Op. 8
• Concert Overture In Autumn, Op. 11
• Violin Sonata No. 2 in G major, Op. 13
• Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
• Incidental music to Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's play Sigurd Jorsalfar, Op. 22
• Incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, Op. 23
• Ballade in the Form of Variations on a Norwegian Folk Song in G minor, Op. 24
• String Quartet in G minor, Op. 27
• Two Elegiac Melodies for strings or piano, Op. 34
• Four Norwegian Dances for piano four hands, Op. 35 (better known in orchestrations by Hans Sitt and others)
• Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36
• Holberg Suite for piano, later arr. for string orchestra, Op. 40
• Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45
• Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46
• Lyric Suite for orchestra, Op. 54 (orchestration of four Lyric Pieces)
• Peer Gynt Suite No. 2, Op. 55
• Four Symphonic Dances for piano, later arr. for orchestra, Op. 64
• Haugtussa Song Cycle after Arne Garborg, Op. 67
• Sixty-six Lyric Pieces for piano in ten books, Opp. 12, 38, 43, 47, 54, 57, 62, 65, 68 and 71, including: Arietta, To the Spring, Little Bird, Butterfly, Notturno, Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, At Your Feet, Longing For Home, March of the Dwarfs, Poème érotique and Gone.