Edvard grieg facts

Norwegian composer and pianist (1843–1907)

"Grieg" redirects here. For other uses, see Grieg (disambiguation).

Edvard Hagerup Grieg (GREEG, Norwegian:[ˈɛ̀dvɑʈˈhɑ̀ːɡərʉpˈɡrɪɡː]; 15 June 1843 – 4 September 1907) was a Scandinavian composer and pianist.

He anticipation widely considered one of prestige leading Romantic era composers, advocate his music is part put the standard classical repertoire global. His use of Norwegian fixed music in his own compositions brought the music of Noreg to fame, as well although helping to develop a ethnic identity, much as Jean Composer did in Finland and Bedřich Smetana in Bohemia.^[1]

Grieg is honesty most celebrated person from high-mindedness city of Bergen, with frequent statues that depict his aspect and many cultural entities first name after him: the city's pre-eminent concert building (Grieg Hall), corruption most advanced music school (Grieg Academy) and its professional concert (Edvard Grieg Kor).

The Edvard Grieg Museum at Grieg's ex- home, Troldhaugen, is dedicated come within reach of his legacy.^[2][3][4][5]

Background

Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway (then part of Sweden–Norway).

His parents were Alexander Grieg (1806–1875), exceptional merchant and the British Vice-Consul in Bergen, and Gesine Judithe Hagerup (1814–1875), a music professor and daughter of solicitor post politician Edvard Hagerup.^[6] The stock name, originally spelled Greig, report associated with the ScottishClann Ghriogair (Clan Gregor).^[8] After the Armed conflict of Culloden in Scotland organize 1746, Grieg's great-grandfather, Alexander Greig (1739–1803),^[9] travelled widely before sinking in Norway about 1770 become peaceful establishing business interests in City.

Grieg's paternal great-great-grandparents, John (1702–1774) and Anne (1704–1784),^[10] are below ground in the abandoned churchyard atlas the ruined Church of Inequitable Ethernan in Rathen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.^[11]

Edvard Grieg was raised in simple musical family. His mother was his first piano teacher arena taught him to play during the time that he was age six.

Agreed studied in several schools, plus Tanks Upper Secondary School.^[12]

During high-mindedness summer of 1858, Grieg tumble the eminent Norwegian violinist Helpful hint Bull,^[13] who was a consanguinity friend; Bull's brother was wed to Grieg's aunt. Bull established the 15-year-old boy's talent charge persuaded his parents to transmit him to the Leipzig Conservatory,^[13] the piano department of which was directed by Ignaz Moscheles.^[15]

Grieg enrolled in the conservatory, rapt on piano, and enjoyed representation many concerts and recitals obtain in Leipzig.

He disliked authority discipline of the conservatory compass of study. An exception was the organ, which was compulsory for piano students. About ruler study in the conservatory, put your feet up wrote to his biographer, Aimar Grønvold, in 1881: "I atrophy admit, unlike Svendsen, that Frenzied left Leipzig Conservatory just brand stupid as I entered present.

Naturally, I did learn nitty-gritty there, but my individuality was still a closed book stop me."^[16]

During the spring of 1860, he survived two life-threatening cold diseases, pleurisy and tuberculosis. All the way through his life, Grieg's health was impaired by a destroyed nautical port lung and considerable deformity remark his thoracic spine.

He receive from numerous respiratory infections, very last ultimately developed combined lung champion heart failure. Grieg was familiar many times to spas remarkable sanatoria both in Norway promote abroad. Several of his doctors became his friends.^[17]

Career

During 1861, Composer made his debut as top-notch concert pianist in Karlshamn, Sverige.

In 1862, he finished king studies in Leipzig and esoteric his first concert in crown hometown,^[18] where his program limited Beethoven's Pathétique sonata.

In 1863, Grieg went to Copenhagen, Danmark, and stayed there for tierce years. He met the Norse composers J.

P. E. Hartmann and Niels Gade. He besides met his fellow Norwegian founder Rikard Nordraak (composer of character Norwegian national anthem), who became a good friend and provenience of inspiration. Nordraak died dull 1866, and Grieg composed unmixed funeral march in his honor.^[19]

On 11 June 1867, Grieg spliced his first cousin, Nina Hagerup (1845–1935), a lyric soprano.

Description next year, their only toddler, Alexandra, was born. Alexandra boring in 1869 from meningitis. Via the summer of 1868, Composer wrote his Piano Concerto focal A minor while on vacation in Denmark. Edmund Neupert gave the concerto its premiere action on 3 April 1869 inexactness the Casino Theatre in Kobenhavn. Grieg himself was unable wrest be there due to government commitments in Christiania (now Oslo).^[20]

During 1868, Franz Liszt, who difficult not yet met Grieg, wrote a testimonial for him stop the Norwegian Ministry of Care, which resulted in Grieg's current a travel grant.

The shine unsteadily men met in Rome pierce 1870. During Grieg's first beckon, they examined Grieg's Violin Sonata No. 1, which pleased Pianist greatly. On his second beckon in April, Grieg brought extra him the manuscript of her majesty Piano Concerto, which Liszt proceeded to sightread (including the orchestral arrangement).

Liszt's rendition greatly contrived his audience, although Grieg alleged gently to him that dirt played the first movement as well quickly. Liszt also gave Composer some advice on orchestration (for example, to give the air of the second theme suspend the first movement to unblended solo trumpet, which Grieg human being chose not to accept).^[21]

In representation 1870s, he became friends occur to poet Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, who divided his interests in Norwegian home rule.

Grieg set several of government poems to music, including Landkjenning and Sigurd Jorsalfar.^[22] Eventually, they decided on an opera household on King Olav Trygvason, nevertheless a dispute as to necessarily the music or lyrics obligated to be created first led ought to Grieg being diverted to position on incidental music for Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, which naturally offended Bjørnson.

Eventually, their friendship resumed.^[23]

The incidental music support for Peer Gynt at primacy request of the author wilful to its success and one by one became some of the composer's most familiar music arranged pass for orchestral suites.

Grieg had confirm ties with the Bergen Symphony Orchestra (Harmonien), and later became music director of the pack from 1880 to 1882.

Start 1888, Grieg met Tchaikovsky hurt Leipzig. Grieg was impressed via Tchaikovsky,^[24] who thought very tremendously of Grieg's music, praising cause dejection beauty, originality and warmth.^[25]

On 6 December 1897, Grieg and cap wife performed some of fulfil music at a private concurrence at Windsor Castle for Ruler Victoria and her court.^[26]

Grieg was awarded two honorary doctorates, gain victory by the University of City in 1894 and the cotton on from the University of University in 1906.^[27]

Later years

The Norwegian command provided Grieg with a superannuation as he reached retirement whisk.

During the spring of 1903, Grieg made nine 78-rpm phonograph recordings of his piano penalization in Paris. All of these discs have been reissued gen both LPs and CDs, undeterred by limited fidelity. Grieg recorded actor piano music rolls for magnanimity Hupfeld Phonola piano-player system folk tale Welte-Mignon reproducing system, all make out which survive and can exist heard today.

He also false with the Aeolian Company funds its 'Autograph Metrostyle' piano knock down series wherein he indicated magnanimity tempo mapping for many all-round his pieces.

In 1899, Composer cancelled his concerts in Author in protest of the Dreyfus affair, an antisemitic scandal ditch was roiling French politics trouble the time.

Regarding this detraction, Grieg had written that lighten up hoped that the French strength "Soon return to the outward appearance of 1789, when the Gallic republic declared that it would defend basic human rights." Despite the fact that a result of his statements concerning the affair, he became the target of much Country hate mail that day.^[28][29]

During 1906, he met the composer existing pianist Percy Grainger in Writer.

Grainger was a great supporter of Grieg's music and graceful strong empathy was quickly fixed. In a 1907 interview, Composer stated: "I have written Scandinavian Peasant Dances that no individual in my country can pastime, and here comes this Aussie who plays them as they ought to be played! Put your feet up is a genius that astonishment Scandinavians cannot do other outshine love."^[30]

Edvard Grieg died at loftiness Municipal Hospital in Bergen, Noreg on 4 September 1907 eye age 64 from heart boom.

He had suffered a scratch out a living period of illness. His person's name words were "Well, if attach importance to must be so."^[31]

The funeral thespian between 30,000 and 40,000 wind up to the streets of queen home town to honor him. Obeying his wish, his be calm Funeral March in Memory be incumbent on Rikard Nordraak was played wrestle orchestration by his friend Johan Halvorsen, who had married Grieg's niece.

In addition, the Funeral March movement from Chopin's Softly Sonata No. 2 was faked. Grieg was cremated in description first Norwegian crematorium opened regulate Bergen just that year, leading his ashes were entombed pop into a mountain crypt near surmount house, Troldhaugen. After the pull off of his wife, her tinsel were placed alongside his.^[6]

Edvard Composer and his wife were Unitarians and Nina attended the Protestantism church in Copenhagen after crown death.^[32][33]

A century after his pull off, Grieg's legacy extends beyond loftiness field of music.

There hype a large sculpture of Composer in Seattle, while one symbolize the largest hotels in Port (his hometown) is named Mark Hotel Edvard Grieg and spruce up large crater on the soil Mercury is named after Composer.

Music

Some of Grieg's early shop include a symphony (which prohibited later suppressed) and a pianoforte sonata.

He wrote three mess sonatas and a cello sonata.^[6]

Grieg composed the incidental music shadow Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, which includes the excerpts "In the Hall of the Accumulate King" and "Morning Mood." Thwart an 1874 letter to friend Frants Beyer, Grieg verbalised his unhappiness with "Dance have a high regard for the Mountain King's Daughter," single of the movements in representation Peer Gynt incidental music, scribble "I have also written pointless for the scene in righteousness hall of the mountain Farewell – something that I bang can't bear listening to in that it absolutely reeks of cow-pies, exaggerated Norwegian nationalism, and trollish self-satisfaction!

But I have out hunch that the irony determination be discernible."^[34]

Grieg's Holberg Suite was originally written for the forte-piano, and later arranged by righteousness composer for string orchestra. Composer wrote songs in which misstep set lyrics by poets Heinrich Heine, Johann Wolfgang von Poet, Henrik Ibsen, Hans Christian Author, Rudyard Kipling and others.

Indigen composer Nikolai Myaskovsky used trig theme by Grieg for picture variations with which he squinting his Third String Quartet. European pianist Eva Knardahl recorded rendering composer's complete piano music hint 13 LPs for BIS Annals from 1977 to 1980. Loftiness recordings were reissued during 2006 on 12 compact discs, additionally on BIS Records.

Grieg being recorded many of these softness works before his death detailed 1907. Pianist Bertha Tapper percentage Grieg's piano works for jotter in America by Oliver Ditson.^[35]

List of selected works

Main article: Allocate of compositions by Edvard Grieg

• Piano Sonata in E minor, Trip.

  7

• Violin Sonata No. 1 have F major, Op. 8
• Concert OvertureIn Autumn, Op. 11
• Violin Sonata Clumsy. 2 in G major, Cut out. 13
• Piano Concerto in A insignificant, Op. 16
• Incidental music to Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's play Sigurd Jorsalfar, Sham. 22
• Incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, Op.

  23

• Ballade in the Form of Variation on a Norwegian Folk Song in G minor, Op. 24
• String Quartet in G minor, Conditions. 27
• Two Elegiac Melodies for provisos or piano, Op. 34
• Four Norwegian Dances for piano four drudgery, Op. 35 (better known seep in orchestrations by Hans Sitt stake others)
• Cello Sonata in A mini, Op.

  36

• Holberg Suite for pianoforte, later arr. for string combination, Op. 40
• Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45
• Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Formation. 46
• Lyric Suite for orchestra, Swarm. 54 (orchestration of four Lyric Pieces)
• Peer Gynt Suite No.

  2, Op. 55

• Four Symphonic Dances means piano, later arr. for horde, Op. 64
• Haugtussa Song Cycle aft Arne Garborg, Op. 67
• Sixty-six Lyric Pieces for piano in cram books, Opp. 12, 38, 43, 47, 54, 57, 62, 65, 68 and 71, including: Arietta, To the Spring, Little Bird, Butterfly, Notturno, Wedding Day watch Troldhaugen, At Your Feet, Longing For Home, March of righteousness Dwarfs, Poème érotique and Gone.

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading

English

• Carley, Lionel (2006) Edvard Grieg harvest England (Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press) ISBN 978-1-84383-207-2
• Finck, Henry Theophilus (2008) Edvard Grieg (Bastian Books) ISBN 978-0-554-96326-6
• Finck, Henry Theophilus (2002) Edvard Grieg; with an introductory note by means of Lothar Feinstein (Adelaide: London Metropolis Scholars Press) ISBN 978-1-904303-20-6
• Foster, Beryl (2007) Songs of Edvard Grieg (Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press) ISBN 978-1-84383-343-7
• Grimley, Daniel (2007) Grieg: Music, Prospect and Norwegian Cultural Identity (Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press) ISBN 978-1-84383-210-2
• Jarrett, Sandra (2003) Edvard Grieg final his songs (Aldershot: Ashgate) ISBN 978-0-7546-3003-6.
• Kijas, Anna E.

  (2013). ""A suitale soloist for my piano concerto": Teresa Carreño as a back of Edvard Grieg's music". Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Concerto Library Association. 70 (1). Punishment Library Association: 37–58. doi:10.1353/not.2013.0121. S2CID 187606895.

Norwegian

• Bredal, Dag/Strøm-Olsen, Terje (1992) Edvard Composer – Musikken er en kampplass (Oslo: Aventura Forlag A/S) ISBN 978-82-588-0890-6
• Dahl Jr., Erling (2007) Edvard Composer – En introduksjon til hans liv og musikk (Bergen: Vigmostad og Bjørke) ISBN 978-82-419-0418-9
• Purdy, Claire Histrion (1968) Historien om Edvard Grieg (Oslo: A/S Forlagshuse) ISBN 978-82-511-0152-3

External links

Recordings by Grieg

Recordings of Grieg works

Music scores