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Fact Sheet
Edvard Grieg
June 28th, 2006
Biography ...................................................................................2
Music ..........................................................................................3
Grieg's music in popular culture...............................................4
Important Repertoire ...............................................................4
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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.
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, and establishing business interests
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. 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 the 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 the organ, which was mandatory for piano students, at the time.
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
only child, Alexandra, was born. The following summer, Grieg wrote his Piano
Concerto in A minor while on holiday in Denmark. Edmund Neupert gave the
concerto its premiere performance on April 3, 1869 in the Casino Theater 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 up to that time had not 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 Violin Sonata No. 1, 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 by sight (including the orchestral arrangement). Liszt's rendition, greatly
impressing his audience, although Grieg gently pointed out to him that he played the
first movement too quickly. Liszt also gave Grieg some advice on orchestration, (e.g.
to give the slow movement melody to a solo trumpet).
In the summer of 1869, Grieg's daughter Alexandra became 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 eventually awarded a
government pension from Norway.
Edvard Grieg died in the autumn of 1907, aged 64, after a long period of illness. The
funeral drew thousands out on the streets of his hometown to honor the artist. His
and his wife's ashes are entombed in a mountain crypt near his house, Troldhaugen.
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 cello sonata. 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, Op. 16, 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.
Despite 'In the Hall of the Mountain King’ being one of Grieg's most popular and
enduring compositions, he himself did not care for it. In a letter to a friend he wrote
about the "infernal thing reek[ing] of cow-pies and provincialism."
Another well-known piece is his Holberg Suite (for string orchestra). His smaller scale
pieces are 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.
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. It is now typically associated with nordic
scenes, however it was meant to depict sunrise over the Sahara Desert.
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. Famous British rock band The Who also used Grieg's
music from In the Hall of the Mountain King for their song Hall of the Mountain King
from their 1967 album The Who Sell Out. It also can be heard extensively on Rick
Wakeman's (keyboardist with British rock group Yes) album "Journey to the Centre
of the Earth". 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 by Robert Wright and George Forrest, and filmed in 1970.
The 1957 movie musical The Pied Piper of Hamelin used almost exclusively music
composed by Edvard Grieg.
Important Repertoire
10 Books of Lyric Pieces - notably, "Butterfly", "Notturno", "Wedding Day at
Troldhaugen", "At Your Feet", "Norwegian Melody", "Poeme erotic" and "Gone"
Holberg Suite
Peer Gynt Suites (Composed for Peer Gynt)
Piano concerto in A minor
In Autumn concert overture
Symphonic Dances.
Sonatas for Violin and Piano