Edvard Grieg Free Sheet Music, Program Notes, Recordings and Biography

A Titan's Approval: Liszt and the A minor Concerto

In 1870, a young and nervous Edvard Grieg traveled to Rome to meet the most legendary musician in Europe: Franz Liszt. Grieg had brought with him the manuscript for his recently composed Piano Concerto in A minor. The aging Liszt, the greatest pianist of the age, had never seen the piece before. He placed the score on the piano and proceeded to sight-read the entire, ferociously difficult work perfectly. He flawlessly navigated the virtuosic passages, captured the lyrical beauty of the slow movement, and thundered through the finale. As he played, he shouted encouragement to the astonished young composer: "Keep steadily on; I tell you, you have the real stuff in you. And don't ever let them frighten you!" For Grieg, this enthusiastic endorsement from a musical giant was a profound validation, giving him the confidence to pursue his own unique artistic path and create a national music for his native Norway.

A Norwegian Youth and a German Education

Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway, in 1843. His family was musical; his mother was his first piano teacher, and the great Norwegian violinist Ole Bull was a family friend. It was Bull who recognized the boy's immense talent and persuaded his parents to send him to the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany. The Leipzig school was steeped in the conservative German tradition of Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann. Grieg often chafed under the rigid, academic instruction, feeling it was out of touch with his own creative spirit. However, the experience gave him a solid foundation in harmony, counterpoint, and form, and a deep love for the music of the German Romantics, especially Schumann.

The Nationalist Awakening

After graduating from Leipzig, Grieg felt artistically adrift. The crucial turning point in his life came in 1864 when he met Rikard Nordraak, a fellow Norwegian composer. Nordraak was a passionate nationalist who believed that Norway needed to create its own distinct classical music, free from German influence. His charisma and fervent belief in the power of Norwegian folk music were a revelation to Grieg. As Grieg later wrote, "The scales fell from my eyes." From that moment on, he dedicated himself to the cause of Norwegian musical nationalism. He began to immerse himself in the folk songs and dances of his homeland, determined to use them as the building blocks for a new, authentic Norwegian art music.

The Voice of Norway

Grieg’s great achievement was to synthesize his German conservatory training with the unique sounds of Norwegian folk music. His style is not based on quoting entire folk tunes, but on absorbing their melodic contours and rhythmic DNA. His music is filled with the rhythmic vitality of Norwegian folk dances like the halling and the springar. His harmonies often use modal scales and drone-like open fifths in the bass, evoking the sound of the Hardanger fiddle, Norway's national instrument. This combination created a sound that was fresh, exotic, and instantly recognizable as his own—the musical equivalent of the Norwegian landscape.

Landmark Works: The Concerto and Peer Gynt

Grieg’s international fame rests primarily on two major works from early in his career.

• Piano Concerto in A minor (1868): With its thunderous opening timpani roll and cascading piano flourish, the opening of Grieg’s only piano concerto is one of the most famous in all of music. The work is a masterpiece of the Romantic piano concerto, blending the virtuosic passion of Schumann with distinctly Norwegian melodic and rhythmic inflections in its brilliant finale. It remains one of the most popular concertos ever written.

• Incidental Music to Peer Gynt (1875): The great playwright Henrik Ibsen asked Grieg to compose music for the premiere of his sprawling dramatic poem, Peer Gynt. Grieg accepted the commission reluctantly, finding the play difficult and unmusical. Despite his reservations, he produced some of his most famous and enduring music. The two orchestral suites he later extracted from the score are filled with unforgettable gems, including the gentle "Morning Mood," the exotic "Anitra's Dance," the deeply sorrowful "Åse's Death," and the thrilling, accelerando-fueled "In the Hall of the Mountain King."

The Miniaturist of Troldhaugen

While his large-scale works made him famous, the heart of Grieg’s output lies in his shorter piano pieces. Over the course of his career, he published 10 volumes of Lyric Pieces, a collection of 66 short, evocative character pieces for the piano. These miniatures, with titles like "Butterfly," "Wedding Day at Troldhaugen," and "March of the Dwarfs," are perfect distillations of his musical personality. Many of these were composed at his beloved villa, Troldhaugen, overlooking a lake near his hometown of Bergen. This home, with its tiny composing hut by the water's edge, became a national symbol.

Legacy

Edvard Grieg died in Bergen in 1907 and was given a state funeral. He was a national hero. He was the first Scandinavian composer to achieve true international renown, and he almost single-handedly put Norway on the musical map. He gave his country a voice in the world of classical music, creating a national style that was both authentic and universally appealing. While some have criticized him for being primarily a miniaturist, the enduring popularity of his Piano Concerto, the Peer Gynt Suites, and his charming Lyric Pieces have secured his legacy as one of the most original and beloved composers of the Romantic era.

Section 4: References and Further Reading

• Benestad, Finn, and Dag Schjelderup-Ebbe. Edvard Grieg: The Man and the Artist. Translated by William H. Halverson and Leland B. Sateren, University of Nebraska Press, 1988.

• Grimley, Daniel M. Grieg: Music, Landscape and Norwegian Identity. Boydell Press, 2006.

• Horton, John. Grieg. J. M. Dent & Sons, 1974.

• Carley, Lionel. Edvard Grieg in England. Boydell Press, 2006.