Grieg << greeg >>, Edvard (1843-1907), was a Norwegian composer. He wrote much of his music in the style of Norwegian folk songs and folk dances. Grieg’s works include songs, music for chorus and orchestra, and numbers for small instrumental groups. Many of his compositions feature expressive melodies and original rhythms and harmonies.
Loading the player...Wedding Day at Troldhaugen
Grieg’s most famous music includes such compositions for piano as the 10-volume Lyric Pieces. This work includes a number of well-known pieces—”Album-Leaf” (1867), “To Spring” (1886), and “Wedding Day at Troldhaugen” (1896). Grieg was also noted for his Concerto in A Minor (1869) for piano and orchestra. Grieg’s most famous orchestral works are two Peer Gynt suites (1874-1875), which include such selections as “Morning,” “Anitra’s Dance,” and “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” The suites were arranged from the music that Grieg wrote for Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt (1867).
Loading the player...Morning by Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway, on June 15, 1843, and became a skillful pianist as a boy. At the age of 15, he enrolled at the Conservatory in Leipzig, Germany. He graduated in 1862 and traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1863. There he met the young Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak. Grieg and Nordraak hoped to establish a Norwegian school of composition, but Nordraak died in 1866.
After Nordraak’s death, Grieg returned to Norway. In 1867, he founded the Norwegian Academy of Music in Christiania (now Oslo), the capital of Norway. That year, Grieg married his cousin, Nina Hagerup. He wrote many songs for her, including “I Love Thee” (1864).
Loading the player...In the Hall of the Mountain King
Grieg lived in Christiania from 1866 to 1874 and became famous as both a composer and a conductor. The success of his music brought fame to Norway. In 1874, the Norwegian government gave Grieg an annual income for life. He died on Sept. 4, 1907.
