NORWAY:

When you hear something from the Per Gynt Suite you cannot help but think of Norway’s dramatic landscape. The melodramatic Dance of the Troll King’s Daughter immediately sweeps you back to a folkloristic past and connects you with centuries of Nordic myths and sagas.

Composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) never thought that his music would travel outside Norway but the "poetic satire on Norwegian foibles" made him one of the most widely known composers of his day. Some of his melodies continue to this day to be among the bestknown of any of the classical composers.

Edvard Grieg is best known for Peer Gynt and "the Grieg" - Concerto in A minor for piano and orchestra. Although other com-posers like Debussy flippantly called it "salon music" or "pink bonbons stuffed with snow", it still holds a position as one of the half dozen or so best-loved piano concertos of all time. Another of Grieg’s detractors, Rachmaninov conceded that "Grieg may be a ‘petit maitre’ but there is no doubt about the maitre."

Edvard Grieg was a miniaturist and some of his best music can be found in the smaller pieces, especially the 66 solo piano works that often draw on traditional Scandinavian melodies. The songs of Grieg, loved by singers like Sweden’s Anne Sofie von Otter, contain an attractive blend of Norwegian folk song influences in the melodies and colourful, individual touches in the accompaniments.

Edvard Grieg was born in Bergen where he received his first musical education from his mother. When he was fifteen, local son, Norway’s international violin virtuoso Ole Bull suggested that he continue his music studies at the Leipzig Conservatory.

Next Grieg continued his studies in composition in Copenhagen where he became friends with Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak who he dedicated his Humoresker keyboard music to. It was Rikard Nordraak who made Edvard Grieg discover Norwegian folk music and the nationalistic themes that would forever be associated with Grieg’s music. After two study trips to Italy and a four year stint in Christiania (Oslo) where he started the Music Association, he returned to Bergen where he received a state stipend so that he could concentrate on composing. He moved to "Trollhaugen" outside Bergen with his cousin and wife Nina Hagerup, who was also an accomplished singer. He continued until the end of his life to tour as a pianist and director often accompanied by his singing wife. All major cities including Vienna, Rome, Paris, London and St. Petersburg, as well as all of Scandinavia and Germany were included on their tour.

When Rikard Nordraak lay on his deathbed in Berlin, Edvard Grieg did not answer his repeated requests for his friend to come and visit him. After the death however, Grieg poured his sorrow into the somber Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak for piano and requested that it also be played at his own funeral.

Suggested listening: E. Grieg - Songs with Anne Sofie von Otter, DG 437-5212-2.. Svendsen - Symphonies Nos 1 & 2, BIS CD 347. Ole Bull - Violin Music, NKPCD 50008-2 435 959-2

For more information: Norwegian Music Information Centre, 28 Tollbugate, N-0157 Oslo 5, Phone: +47 2242 9090, Fax: +47 2242 9091.