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Edvard Hagerup Grieg

Norwegian composer

Edvard Hagerup Grieg (1843-1907) is the best known Norwegian composer. Grieg was born in Bergen. From the age of six, Grieg received piano lessons from his mother and later studied at the Leipzig Conservatory.
During a stay in Copenhagen, Denmark, he met Rikard Nordraak who introduced him to the Northern folk tunes of Norway.

Oslo

From 1866 to 1876 Edvard Grieg lived in Oslo (then called Christiania), where he taught music and became a conductor.
In 1867 he married his cousin Nina Hagerup, a distinguished soprano, who became a talented interpreter of his songs.

Annual stipend

In 1874 the Norwegian government granted Grieg an annual stipend that enabled him to devote all his time to composition. The composer met the great Norwegian dramatist Hendrik Ibsen (1828-1906) in Rome. This encounter eventually yielded his best known work "Peer Gynt" (1875).

Villa Troldhaugen

In 1885 he built the villa Troldhaugen near Bergen, where he lived the rest of his life. Grieg's health was always delicate, yet he traveled and performed extensively. He toured Scandinavia and much of the rest of Europe.

Influence

Edvard Grieg was greatly influenced by the German and French romantic composers like Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin, but fashioned his melodies in the style of Norwegian folk music.
Among his compositions are "Heart Wounds", "The Last Spring", "Holberg Suite" and "Olaf Trygvason". Grieg was particularly celebrated as a writer of songs. The great Norwegian composer died in September 1907.