A Norwegian composer whose music drew heavily on his country's folk traditions.
Edvard Grieg is Norway’s most celebrated composer, the musician who gave his country a voice in the concert halls of Europe. Trained partly at the Leipzig Conservatory, he returned home and spent his life drawing the melodies, rhythms and colours of Norwegian folk music into the Romantic tradition. He was also a fine pianist, and much of his best writing is for his own instrument.
His large-scale fame rests on the Piano Concerto in A minor and the music he wrote for Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt, which contains the famous “Morning Mood.” But the heart of his keyboard output is the Lyric Pieces — ten small books of short, atmospheric miniatures composed across his whole career, ranging from folk dances to quiet nocturnes.
Those Lyric Pieces are a wonderful resource for the learner, because they span every level. The gentle “Arietta” that opens the very first book is within reach of an early player, while later pieces ask for much more. Grieg proves that a small, well-made piece can hold a whole landscape.