Country: Norway
Birth: Jun 15, 1843 in Bergen, Norway
Death: Sep 4, 1907 in Bergen, Norway
Period: Romantic

Edvard Grieg grew up in a musically gifted family. His mother was a talented pianist, and his grandfather an amateur orchestral musician. He studied piano when he was young, and was influenced by the music of Chopin, Mozart, and Weber. He attended the conservatory, and in 1862 and 1863 successfully performed some of his own compositions on recitals, as well as music by Beethoven and Schumann. He married Nina Hagerup, a cousin of his and a singer, in 1867. She was probably the inspiration for his over 140 songs.

In the Nationalist Romantic movement, Grieg was perhaps the most important Norwegian composer. He met Rikard Nordraak in 1864, who awakened his interest in Norwegian music and introduced him to the harmonic idiom of Norwegian folk music. Grieg's 1866 concert of Norwegian music gained him recognition throughout his native land. And in 1867, he helped open the Norwegian Academy of Music. He composed piano pieces based upon Norwegian folk melodies in his opus 17, from a famous collection of folk melodies of Lindeman, and folk idioms pervaded his compositional style. Grieg was also greatly affected by the music of Wagner and the impressionists, particularly Debussy.

One of his largest works is the famous incidental music to Peer Gynt, composed in collaboration with the brilliant author Henrik Ibsen, the Norwegian dramatist. Grieg had been attempting to compose an opera, but work on Peer Gynt completely took over his time and energy. Usually only eight of the pieces are heard, in the version of a suite. The incidental music contains a total of 23 pieces, and much profound and beautiful writing. The Mountain Thrall, a choral work, features a solo baritone voice, folk poetry, and a string orchestra with two horns. The Lyric Pieces are his best known piano works, of which he wrote a great deal.

In addition to being a composer, Grieg was an active concertizer. He moved to Troldhaugen in 1885, and lived there for the next 20 years. During this time he had a set routine that never varied. In the spring, he would devote his time to composition. Then, later in the summer, he would hike through the local mountains with friends. During the fall and winter Grieg would make exhausting concert tours, playing solo recitals throughout Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Austria, and other countries. His death finally came as he was about to embark on yet another concert tour in 1907.

- Rita Laurance (All Music Guide)