Edvard Grieg  

      Edvard Grieg was born in Norway on 15 June, 1843.  At this time, Norway was struggling to find its own identity.  It had been under the control of Denmark and, at during Grieg’s lifetime, it was controlled by Sweden.  Grieg loved Norway, its beautiful countryside and its folk-tales and folk music.  He dedicated his life, through his music, to creating a national identity.  His music brings to life images of Norway.

    Grieg came from a musical family.  His mother was his first piano teacher, commencing his learning when he was 6 years old.  He developed well, in composition and performance.  At 15, he met the famous violinist Ole Bull, who recommended Grieg be sent to the Leipzig Conservatorium (Germany) to make the most of his talents.

    Grieg majored in piano studies at the conservatorium and attended concerts that were held frequently in Leipzig, a cultural hub of Europe.  Grieg gave his first public performance around this time, in Sweden.  He finished his studies at 19 years of age and was able to return home to give his first performance in his hometown. 

    Grieg spent time over the following years alternating residence in Norway and travelling Europe, developing his compositional style and increasing in fame.  Franz Liszt admired him, recommending Grieg to the Norwegian government.  Grieg was granted an income by the government, for helping establish recognition of Norway in European music culture.  This allowed Grieg to retire from performance and teaching and to dedicate his time to composition.  Grieg built a single room hut, overlooking a fjord and a beautiful forest in the heart of Norwegian countryside at a place called Troldhaugen (Hill of the Mountain Men, or of the Trolls).  From here, the view and the sounds of the folk music and dances of the local people inspired him. 

    Grieg wrote a number of works for orchestra and ensemble, including the A minor Piano Concerto.  However, his most famous works are his smaller character pieces, or Lyric Pieces, which comprise more than 60 short sketches of the stories, dances, animals and scenes of Norway.  These pieces include scenes of fairy dances, lark songs, ghost stories and dwarf marches.  He also wrote incidental music to accompany the play Peer Gynt, which he organised as two separate suites.  Peer Gynt tells the story of a lonely traveller and includes trolls and fantasy characters.  Several of the pieces from the suites are very famous and have even been rewritten for young pianists – arrangements of In the Hall of the Mountain King and Morning are included in the Adventure Piano Lesson books.  Grieg’s music has a sense of being untamed or unpredictable and is full of unusual harmonies. 

    Grieg died in 1907, a very successful composer.

Last modified: April 13, 2009