Edvard Grieg

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Image:Edvard Grieg.jpg Edvard Hagerup Grieg (June 15, 1843 – September 4, 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist who composed in the romantic period. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, and for his lyric pieces for the piano.

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Biography

Grieg was born in Bergen, and was of partial Scottish descent; the original family name was spelled "Greig". After the Battle of Culloden in 1746, his great-grandfather traveled widely, settling in Norway around 1770 as a businessman in Bergen. Edvard was brought up in a musical home. His mother, Gesine, became his first piano teacher.

In the summer of 1858, Grieg met the legendary Norwegian violinist Ole Bull, who was a friend of the family and Gesine's brother-in-law. Bull noticed the 15-year-old boy's talent and persuaded his parents to send him to further develop his talents at the Leipzig Conservatory, then directed by Ignaz Moscheles.

Grieg enrolled in the conservatory, concentrating on piano, and enjoyed the numerous concerts and recitals given in Leipzig. He disliked the discipline of the conservatory course of study, yet he still achieved very good grades in most areas, the exception being organ, which was then mandatory for piano students. In the spring of 1860, he survived a life-threatening lung disease. The following year he made his debut as a concert pianist, in Karlshamn, Sweden. In 1862 he finished his studies in Leipzig, and held his first concert in his hometown of Bergen, where his programme included Beethoven's Pathétique sonata.

In 1863, Grieg went to Copenhagen, Denmark, and stayed there for three years. He met the Danish composers J. P. E. Hartman and Niels Gade. He also met his fellow Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak (composer of the Norwegian national anthem) who became a close friend and source of great inspiration. Nordraak died shortly after, and Grieg composed a funeral march in his honor. Grieg had close ties with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (Harmonien) and was Music Director of the orchestra from 1880-1882.

On June 11, 1867, Grieg married his first cousin, Nina Hagerup. The next year, their daughter and only child, Alexandra, was born. The following summer, Grieg wrote his Piano Concerto op. 16 while on holiday in Denmark. Edmund Neupert gave the concerto its premiere performance on April 3rd 1869 in Copenhagen. Grieg himself was unable to be there due to commitments conducting in Christiania (as Oslo was then named).

In 1868 Franz Liszt, who had not at that time met Grieg, wrote a testimonial for him to the Norwegian Ministry of Education, which led to Grieg obtaining a travel grant. The two finally met in Rome in 1870. On Grieg's first visit the two went over Grieg's First Violin sonata, which pleased Liszt greatly. On the second visit, in April, Grieg brought with him the manuscript of his Piano Concerto, which Liszt proceeded to play at sight (including orchestral arrangement), greatly impressing his audience, although Grieg gently pointed out to him that he took the first movement too fast. Liszt also gave Grieg some unsound advice on orchestration (e.g. to give the slow movement melody to a solo trumpet).

In the summer of 1869, Grieg's daughter Alexandra caught ill and died at the age of 13 months.

In 1876 Grieg created incidental music for the premiere of Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, at the request of the author. Many of the pieces from this work became very popular in the form of orchestral suites or piano and piano-duet arrangements.

Grieg's later life brought him fame but not wealth. He was awarded a government pension.

Edvard Grieg died in the autumn of 1907, after a long period of illness. The funeral drew thousands out on the streets of his hometown to honor the artist. He was 64. His and his wife's ashes are entombed in a mountain tomb near his house, Troldhaugen.

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Music

Grieg is noted as a nationalist composer, drawing inspiration from Norwegian folk music. Early works include a symphony and a piano sonata. He also wrote three sonatas for violin and piano, and his many short pieces for piano — often built on Norwegian folk tunes and dances — led some to call him the Chopin of the north.

Among Grieg's best-known pieces are his Piano Concerto in A minor, ten volumes of Lyric Pieces (for piano), and his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, especially for Morning Mood and In the Hall of the Mountain King. Another well-known piece is his Holberg Suite (for string orchestra). In all his smaller scale pieces are probably the most successful musically. The Piano Concerto probably retains popularity because of its impressive opening flourish: the slow movement, with its folk-like melodies, is perhaps its most successful feature.

Grieg's songs now feature frequently in recitals and it is perhaps in these and the 'Lyric Pieces' that his originality shows itself most convincingly.

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Grieg's music in popular culture

Morning Mood was a favorite of Carl Stalling who often used it for morning establishing shots in Warner Bros. cartoons. In the Hall of the Mountain King was famously used in the 1931 film M, in which Peter Lorre's character, a serial killer who preys on children, whistles it. The piece has also seen extensive use in movies and commercials, usually in accordance with a dramatic and fantastic event. The first movement of Grieg's Piano Concerto is used in Adrian Lyne's 1997 film Lolita. Another piece from Peer Gynt, Anitra's Dance, serves as background music for Quest for Glory IV.

A musical, 'Song of Norway', based very loosely on Grieg's life and using his music, was created in 1944 and filmed in 1970.

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Important Repertoire

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See also

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External links


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