Edvard Grieg

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) was a celebrated figure in the European music scene in his own lifetime. Warmly welcomed and recommended by Liszt and highly esteemed by Brahms and Tchaikovsky, he took the concert halls by storm with his compositions, influenced by the late-Romantic spirit and advancing as far as musical Impressionism, such the Piano Concerto, the music of Ibsen's Peer Gynt and numerous songs. His Lyrical Pieces delighted all piano-playing music lovers.

Grieg had studied at the Leipzig Conservatoire and once called himself 'musically speaking, entirely German'. After his return to his home country, he listened with rapt attention to the songs and dances of the Norwegian farmers and developed his characteristic style on the basis of this music. To him, that was not only a musical, but also a political issue. Grieg, a master of poetry in music, was both an active democrat and a patriot, his ideals being justice and humanity.