Composer's Bio:
Edvard Grieg (15 June 1843 – 4 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist who composed in the Romantic period. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt (which includes Morning Mood and In the Hall of the Mountain King), and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.
The Piano Concerto is his most popular work. Its champions have included the pianist and composer Percy Grainger, a personal friend of Grieg who played the concerto frequently during his long career. An arrangement of part of the work made an iconic television comedy appearance in the 1971 Morecambe and Wise Show, conducted by André Previn.
Some of the Lyric Pieces (for piano) are also well-known, as is the incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, a play that Grieg found to be an arduous work to score properly. In a 1874 letter to his friend Frants Beyer, Grieg expressed his unhappiness with what is now considered one of his most popular compositions from Peer Gynt, In the Hall of the Mountain King: "I have also written something for the scene in the hall of the mountain King - something that I literally can't bear listening to because it absolutely reeks of cow-pies, exaggerated Norwegian nationalism, and trollish self-satisfaction! But I have a hunch that the irony will be discernible."[4]
Grieg's popular Holberg Suite was originally written for the piano, and later arranged by the composer for string orchestra.
Piece comment:
The work is among Grieg's earliest important works, being written in 1868 in Sollerod in Denmark, during one of Grieg's visits there to benefit from the warmer climate than that of his native Norway. It is written for solo piano, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, violins, violas, cellos and double basses. It is in three movements:
1. Allegro molto moderato
2. Adagio
3. Allegro moderato molto e marcato
Grieg's concerto is often compared to the Piano Concerto of Robert Schumann ? it is in the same key, the opening descending flourish on the piano is similar, and the overall style is considered to be closer to Schumann than any other single composer. Grieg had heard Schumann's concerto played by Clara Schumann in Leipzig in 1858, and was greatly influenced by Schumann's style generally, having been taught the piano by Schumann's friend, Ernst Ferdinand Wenzel. Compact Disc recordings often pair the two concertos.
Additionally, Grieg's work provides evidence of his interest in Norwegian folk music ? the opening flourish is based around the motif of a falling second (see interval) followed by a falling third, which is typical of the folk music of Grieg's native country. This specific motif occurs in other works by Grieg, including the String Quartet. In the last movement of the concerto, similarities to the halling (a Norwegian folk dance) and imitations of the Hardanger fiddle (the Norwegian folk fiddle) have been detected.
Grieg himself was a good pianist but the work was premiered by Edmund Neupert on April 3, 1869 in Copenhagen. Grieg was unable to attend the premiere owing to commitments with an orchestra in Christiania (now Oslo). Among those who did attend the premiere were the Danish composer Niels Gade and the Russian pianist Anton Rubinstein. The Norwegian premiere in Kristiania followed on August 7, 1869, and the piece was later heard in Germany in 1872 and England in 1874.
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