Edward Hagerup Grieg(Norwegian Edvard Hagerup Grieg; June 15, 1843, Bergen, Norway - died September 4, 1907, ibid) - Norwegian composer of the romantic period, musical figure, pianist, conductor. Grieg's work was formed under the influence of Norwegian folk culture.
Among the most famous works by Grieg are two suites from the music for Henrik Ibsen's drama "Peer Gynt", a concerto for piano and orchestra, and violin sonatas.
Grieg paid the main attention to songs and romances, of which he published more than 600. About twenty more of his plays were published posthumously. Grieg's vocal compositions are written to the words of Danish and Norwegian, sometimes German poets.
He was buried in his native city with his wife, Nina Hagerup, who was the composer's cousin.
Bergen. Childhood and youth (from birth to 1858)
Edvard Grieg was born on June 15, 1843 in Bergen into a cultured and wealthy family descended from his paternal great-grandfather, the Scottish merchant Alexander Grieg, who moved to Bergen around 1770 and for some time acted as British vice-consul in this city. The composer's grandfather, John Grieg, who inherited this position, played in the Bergen orchestra and married the daughter of its chief conductor Niels Haslunn. The composer's father, Alexander Grig, was a third-generation vice-consul. The composer's mother, Gesina Grig, nee Hagerup, studied piano and vocals in Arfelon with Albert Metfessel, then performed in London, and constantly played music at her home in Bergen, performing works by Mozart, Weber], Fryderyk|Chopin, and, as was customary in wealthy families, taught music to Edward, his brother and three sisters from childhood. For the first time, the future composer sat down at the piano at the age of four, and already in childhood he began to be occupied with the beauty of consonances and harmonies.
Why not remember that mysterious, inexplicable joy that seized me when, stretching out my hands to the piano, I extracted - oh no, not a melody! Where there! No, it must have been harmony. First a third, then a triad, then a chord of four notes. And finally, with the help of both hands already - about jubilation! - five-tone, non-chord. When it sounded, my delight knew no bounds. Now that was a success! None of my subsequent successes intoxicated me as much as this one. I was then about five years old.Edward Grieg. "My first success." Selected articles and letters
At the age of twelve, Grieg wrote his first piece for piano. Three years later, after graduating from a general school, on the urgent advice of the "Norwegian Paganini" - the famous Norwegian violinist Ole Bull, Grieg entered the Leipzig Conservatory
Leipzig. Conservatory (1858-1863)
In the famous conservatory founded in 1843 by Mendelssohn, Grieg was not satisfied with everyone: with his first piano teacher, Louis Plaidy, they diverged so much in tastes and interests (according to Grieg, Plaidy was a straightforward pedant and incapable performer) that, at his own request, Edward was transferred to the class of Ernst Ferdinand Wenzel. Outside the conservatory, in a city with a developed musical culture, where Johann Sebastian Bach and Robert Schumann lived, Grieg became familiar with the music of contemporary composers, in particular visiting the Gewandhaus concert hall, where the music of Schumann, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner and Chopin was played. Schumann has always been Grieg's favorite composer ever since, and his early works, notably the Piano Sonata (1865), bear traces of Schumann's influence. During his studies, Grieg composed 4 Piano Pieces, op. 1 and "4 romances", op. 2, to the words of German poets. In these early works, the influence of the classics beloved by Grieg is noticeable: Schumann, Schubert, Mendelssohn. In 1862, Grieg graduated from the conservatory with excellent marks. According to the professors, during the years of study he proved himself to be "a highly significant musical talent", especially in the field of composition, as well as an outstanding "pianist with his characteristic thoughtful and full of expressive manner of performance." In the same year, in the Swedish city of Karlshamn, he gave his first concert. Later, Grieg, without pleasure, recalled the years of study at the conservatory - scholastic teaching methods, the conservatism of teachers, their isolation from real life. In tones of good-natured humor, he described his childhood and conservatory years in the autobiographical essay "My First Success" (in Russian it was first published in the Russian Musical Newspaper, 1905). However, about his composition teacher Moritz Hauptmann, Grieg said this: "He personified for me every opposite of scholasticism."
Copenhagen. Early career, Euterpe society, marriage (1863-1866)
Nina Hagerup and Edvard Grieg during their engagement, circa 1867
After graduating from the conservatory, Grieg wished to work at home and returned to Bergen. However, his stay in his native city this time was short-lived - the young musician's talent could not be improved in the conditions of the poorly developed musical culture of Bergen. In 1863, Grieg left for Copenhagen, the center of musical life throughout what was then Scandinavia. In the same year, he wrote "Poetic Pictures" - six pieces for piano, released as opus 3, where national features first appeared in his music. The rhythmic figure underlying the third piece is often found in Norwegian folk music and becomes a feature of many of Grieg's melodies. In Copenhagen, Grieg became close to a group of like-minded people who were inspired by the idea of creating a new national art. One of them was Rikard Nurdrok, a Norwegian who clearly understood his task as a fighter for Norwegian national music. In communication with him, Grieg's aesthetic views strengthened and took shape. In 1864, in collaboration with several Danish musicians, they founded the musical society "Euterpe" with the aim of acquainting the public with the works of Scandinavian composers. Grieg acted as a conductor, pianist and author in it, and in two years he released "Six Poems" to the verses of the German poets Heine, Uhland and Chamisso (1863-1864); First Symphony (1863-1864); a series of romances to words by Hans Christian Andersen, Rasmus Winter and Andreas Munch; Humoresques for pianoforte (1865); First violin sonata (1865); overture "In Autumn" (1866); the only piano sonata (1865-1867). Norwegian folk motifs take up more and more space in his work. After meeting Nurdrok, he wrote:
My eyes have definitely opened! I suddenly grasped all the depth, all the breadth and power of those distant vistas of which I had no idea before; only then did I understand the greatness of Norwegian folk art and my own vocation and nature.
Also in Copenhagen, Grieg met Nina Hagerup, his cousin, with whom he grew up together in Bergen, who moved with his family to Copenhagen at the age of eight. During this time, she became an adult girl, a singer with a beautiful voice, which the aspiring composer really liked. At Christmas 1864, Grieg proposed to her, and in July 1867 they were married. Their creative community continued throughout their life together.
Oslo. The heyday of activity (1866-1874)
Unable to endure the pressure of relatives, who, due to an unconventional marriage, turned their backs on the Grigs, the newlyweds moved to Christiania (Oslo), and closer to the autumn of 1867, Grieg organized a concert as a "report on the achievements of Norwegian composers." It featured Grieg's first sonata for violin and sonata for pianoforte, songs by Nurdrok and composer Halfdan Kjerulf. The result was an invitation to the post of conductor of the Christian Philharmonic Society.
Here, in Oslo, Grieg's activities flourished. The first notebook of "Lyrical Pieces" (1867) was published, in 1868 a piano concerto was published, several collections of romances and songs based on poems by Jorgen Mu, Christopher Janson, Andersen and other Scandinavian poets. Critics find the Second Violin Sonata (1867) much more developed, varied and rich than the First. In 1868, the Grigovs had a daughter, who was named Alexandra. A year later, the girl fell ill with meningitis and died. What happened put an end to the future happy life of the family. After the death of her daughter, Nina withdrew into herself, but the couple continued their joint concert activities and went on tour together. In 1869, Grieg discovered a classic collection of Norwegian musical folklore, compiled by the famous composer and folklorist Ludwig Matthias Lindemann. The result of this was the cycle "25 Norwegian Folk Songs and Dances" for piano, op. 24, consisting of a variety of comic and lyrical, labor and peasant songs. In 1871, together with the composer Johan Svensen, Grieg founded the Christiania Musical Association concert society (now the Oslo Philharmonic Society). Along with the classics, they tried to instill in the listeners interest and love for the works of contemporaries - Schumann, Liszt, Wagner, whose names were not yet known in Norway, as well as for the music of Norwegian authors. In the struggle for their views, they had to face great difficulties from the cosmopolitan-minded big bourgeoisie, however, among the progressive intelligentsia, supporters of an original national culture, Grieg found ardent support. Then a close friendship began with the writer and public figure Bjornstjerne Bjornson, who had a great influence on the composer's creative views. Several songs were published in collaboration with Bjornson, as well as "Sigurd the Crusader" (1872) - a play to the glory of the Norwegian king of the XII century. Also in the early 1870s, Grieg and Bjornson were busy thinking about an opera. Their plans did not materialize mainly because there was no operatic tradition in Norway. From the attempt to create an opera, only music remained for individual scenes of Bjornson's unfinished libretto "Olav Tryggvason" (1873), according to the legend of King Olaf, who baptized Norway in the 10th century. In 1994, the Russian composer and librettist Lev Konov completed the sketches and wrote the children's epic opera Asgard. Franz Liszt, who lived in Rome and did not know Grieg personally, at the end of 1868 got acquainted with his First Violin Sonata. He was struck by the freshness of the music and sent an enthusiastic letter to the author, which played a big role in Grieg's life: Liszt's moral support strengthened his ideological and artistic position. In 1870, they met in person. A noble and generous friend of everything talented in modern music, who especially warmly supported those who revealed the national principle in their work, Liszt warmly received the composer's recently completed piano concerto. Telling his family about the meeting with Liszt, Grieg added:
These words are of infinite importance to me. It's kind of like a blessing. And more than once, in moments of disappointment and bitterness, I will remember his words, and the memories of this hour will support me with magical power in the days of trials.
In 1874, the Norwegian government awarded Grieg a lifetime state scholarship. He received an offer from the famous Norwegian poet Henrik Ibsen. The result of the work, which was also of interest to the composer himself, was the music for the drama Peer Gynt, one of the most famous overtures from Grieg's entire heritage. By his own admission, Grieg was a fanatical admirer of many of Ibsen's poetic works, especially Peer Gynt. The performance of the overture in Oslo on February 24, 1876 was accompanied by great success, Grieg's music became more and more famous in Europe. In Norway, it is gaining immense popularity, penetrating the concert stage and home life; his works are published by one of the most reputable German publishing houses, the number of concert trips is multiplying. Wide recognition and material security allowed Grieg to leave the concert activity in the capital and return to Bergen.
Bergen (1874-1885) and "Trollhaugen" (from 1885 to death). Composer's death
In the late 1870s, Grieg became engrossed in composing large instrumental works. A piano trio, a piano quintet were conceived. However, only a string quartet (1878) was completed, written on the theme of one of the early songs. In 1881, Norwegian Dances for piano four hands (op. 35) were created in Bergen. In the work of Grieg's predecessors, four-handed works were distributed as music accessible to a wide range of lovers, hence the simplicity of their concept and style. Grieg has different tendencies - the number and ratio of parts of this suite, dynamics, contrasts, rich texture bring the "Dances" closer to a symphony. That is why the orchestral version of this work became popular. Due to the dampness in Bergen, Grieg's pleurisy, which he got back at the conservatory, worsened, and there was a fear that he could turn into tuberculosis. His wife moved further and further away from him and left in 1883. For three months, Grieg lived alone, but then, on the advice of his friend, musicologist Franz Beyer, he reconciled with his wife and, as a sign of this, decided to leave Bergen. Since 1885, Trollhaugen, a villa built by his order near Bergen, became Grieg's main place of residence. Passionately in love with Norway, Grieg spent a lot of time in the mountains, living in the wilderness among peasants, fishermen and lumberjacks. The poetry of Norwegian nature, the spirit and structure of folk music are reflected in his best works of these years: a ballad for piano, op. 24; First string quartet. In Grieg's letters of that period, similar descriptions of the mountains and nature of Norway are often found. The songs released at that time became hymns to the great nature for the composer. Concert trips to Europe eventually became systematic. Grieg presented his works in Germany, France, England, Holland, Sweden as a conductor and pianist, and accompanying his wife. Grieg did not leave concert activity until the end of his days. In January 1888, in Leipzig, Grieg met Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and a friendship arose between the composers. Tchaikovsky admired the poetry of Grieg's music, the freshness and originality of his style. The Hamlet overture was dedicated to Grieg and a remarkable description of creativity was given in Tchaikovsky's Autobiographical Description of a Journey Abroad in 1888. In 1893 they were jointly awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Cambridge. Even earlier, in 1889, Grieg became a member of the French Academy of Fine Arts, in 1872 of the Royal Swedish Academy, in 1883 a member of Leiden University in Holland. In 1898, Grieg organized the first Norwegian music festival in Bergen, which is still held today. He invariably took part in all the events of Norwegian public life, paid great attention to the work of concert organizations and choral societies, acted as a critic and publicist. Grieg followed the development of musical life in Europe, spoke with detailed essays on classical composers (Wagner, Schumann, Mozart, Verdi, Dvorak), promoted the work of Norwegian composers - Svensen, Kjerulf, Nurdrok. In the 1890s, Grieg's attention was most of all occupied with piano music and songs. From 1891 to 1901, six notebooks of "Lyric Pieces" and more than a dozen song collections were written. In 1903, a new cycle of arrangements of folk dances for piano appeared. In the last years of his life, Grieg published the witty and lyrical autobiographical novel "My First Success" and the program article "Mozart and His Significance for Modernity." They vividly expressed the composer's creative credo: the desire for originality, for the definition of his style, his place in music. Despite his illness, Grieg continued his creative activity until the end of his life. In April 1907, the composer made a big concert trip to the cities of Norway, Denmark, Germany. In the same year, in the fall, Grieg gathered for a music festival in England. Together with his wife, he stayed at a small hotel in Bergen to wait for the ship to London. There, Grieg became worse, and he had to go to the hospital. On September 4, Edvard Grieg died. His death was celebrated in Norway as national mourning. According to the will of the composer, his ashes were buried in a rock above the fjord near his villa. Later, a memorial house-museum was founded here.
Creation
The work of Edvard Grieg absorbed the typical features of Norwegian musical folklore - epic and lyrical songs of skalds, melodies of the shepherd's alpine horn, labor and everyday songs. This folklore was formed over many centuries, and its features were fixed in the XIV-XVI centuries. A significant role in them was played by the reproduction of images of nature, characters of Norwegian folk tales about the underworld - gnomes, kobolds, trolls, brownies, water (for example, "Procession of the Dwarves" and "Kobold" from "Lyric Plays", "In the Cave of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt).
Norwegian folk melody is marked by a number of characteristic features that determined the originality of Grieg's musical style. In instrumental music, melodic lines often develop in a complex pattern in the layering of grace notes, mordents, trills, and melodic delays. These techniques of folk violin playing are enshrined in many of Grieg's dance pieces. Similar devices penetrate into his vocal music, where melodic delays serve to express a wide sigh.
Grieg often used modal turns that sounded fresh in his time - Dorian, Phrygian. They contributed to the enrichment of his harmonic techniques, including alterations, an unusual combination of keys, a chromatic descent of the bass, and the frequent use of an organ point.
In piano pieces op. 17, 35, 63 and 72 Grieg comprehensively displayed the music of such Norwegian dances as springar, halling, gangar, developed before him by violinists, for whom Norway has long been famous. He also gave detailed scenes from folk life based on dance intonations and rhythms (“Scenes from Rural Life”, op. 19; “Wedding Day in Trollhaugen” from op. 65), they are characterized by lively, energetic rhythms, an active character, sometimes with a touch of humour. Plot motifs are often introduced into dances, especially gangars (in particular, comic scenes called "stabe-loten" are popular). Grieg often used them and often saturated his works with plot programming when he wanted to capture the customs and customs of his native people in music.
Grieg bowed before the genius of Mozart, at the same time believing that when meeting Wagner "this universal genius, whose soul has always remained a stranger to any philistinism, would be delighted as a child at all new conquests in the field of drama and orchestra". Bach for him was the "cornerstone" of musical art. In Schumann, he valued, above all, the "warm, deeply cordial tone" of music and ranked himself as a member of the Schumann school. A penchant for melancholy and daydreaming makes him related to German music. “However, we prefer clarity and brevity, even our spoken language is clear and precise. We strive to achieve this clarity and precision in our art.", said Grieg. He found many warm words for Brahms, and began his article in memory of Verdi with the words: “The last great one is gone…”.
Grieg turned to the piano throughout his life. In small plays, he recorded a kind of "diary entries" - personal life impressions and observations, in which he himself appears as a fascinating storyteller. The themes of the plays are endowed with such a genre characteristic, and the rhythmic and harmonic moves contain so much unexpected and fascinating that the musical development is likened to a good short story.
In Grieg's piano music, two streams are noticeable. One of them is connected with the expression of personally subjective feelings, and here Grieg is more intimate, referring to the sphere of that “house music” that since the time of Mendelssohn’s “Songs without Words” has taken a prominent place in European piano lyrics (for example, Tchaikovsky’s piano miniatures). Another stream is connected with the field of genre-characteristic, with folk song and dance. And if in the first case the composer strove to convey poetic individual states, then in the second he was primarily interested in sketching scenes of folk life, pictures of nature.
Of the approximately one hundred and fifty piano pieces by Grieg, seventy were published in ten collections of Lyric Pieces. The best of these pieces have long been the property of wide circles of music lovers. By their nature, they are impulsive, improvisational, but for the most part they are enclosed within the framework of a three-part composition. The titles of the plays are in the nature of epigraphs, which are designed to evoke certain associations in connection with the content of the music. The choice of titles is not always successful and sometimes sins as a tribute to the salon tradition, which has nothing to do with music. It is marked by great lyrical charm and originality, rich melody, endowed with a lively, warm, vocal breath. That is why Grieg's legacy coexists so organically with original piano pieces and his own arrangements of his own vocal songs for piano (op. 41, 52).
List of selected works
- Piano Sonata in E minor, op. 7 (1865)
- Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano in F major, op. 8 (1865)
- "In Autumn" for piano four hands, op. 11, also for orchestra (1866)
- Lyric Pieces, 10 collections, from 1866 (op. 12) to 1901 (op. 71).
- Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano in G major, op. 13 (1867)
- Concerto for piano and orchestra, op. 16 (1868)
- Sigurd the Crusader, op. 22, music for a play by Bjornstjerne Bjornson (1872)
- "Peer Gynt", op. 23, music for a play by Henrik Ibsen (1875)
- String Quartet in G minor, op. 27 (1877-1878)
- Norwegian Dances for piano four hands, op. 35, also for orchestra (1881)
- Sonata for cello and piano, op. 36 (1882)
- Sonata No. 3 for violin and piano in C minor, op. 45 (1886-1887)
- Symphonic Dances, op. 64 (1898).
Grieg's legacy
Today, the work of Edvard Grieg is highly revered, especially in Norway. Leif Ove Andsnes, one of the most famous modern Norwegian musicians, actively performs his compositions as a pianist and conductor. Grieg's plays are used in artistic and cultural events. Various musical performances, figure skating scenarios and other productions are staged.
"Trollhaugen", where the composer lived part of his life, has become a house-museum open to the public. Here, visitors are shown the native walls of the composer, his estate, and interiors. Things that belonged to the composer - a coat, hat and violin, still hang on the wall of his working house. Near the estate there is a life-size statue of Grieg and his working hut.
In modern culture
- Carl Stalling, composer for Warner Bros., often used the tune from the play "Morning" to illustrate morning scenes in cartoons. Walt Disney's Skeleton Dance (1929) features a composition by Edvard Grieg, "Procession of the Dwarves" (or the dance of the trolls in the cave of the mountain king)
- The musical play "The Multicolored Chimney Sweep" (1957), based on a story by the Brothers Grimm, used exclusively Grieg's music.
- The musical The Song of Norway (1970) is based on the events of Grieg's life and uses his music.
- The music of Edvard Grieg was used in the cartoons The Legend of Grieg (1967), The Old House (1977), Peer Gynt (1979), Basket of Fir Cones (1989), Gnomes and the Mountain King (1993) .
- Rainbow - Hall of the Mountain King (album Stranger in Us All, 1995) is a hard rock composition based on the music of the play "In the Hall of the Mountain King" with lyrics by Candice Knight (wife of Ritchie Blackmore, the band's guitarist). The song Vikingtid by the Russian pagan metal band Butterfly Temple from the album "Dreams of the North Sea" also contains fragments of this work by Grieg.
- The first movement of the piano concerto is used in the Adrian Lyne film Lolita (1997).
- Part of Suite No. 1, Op. 46 ("Morning mood") is often used in propaganda videos of the Russian political party "Patriots of Russia"
Grieg was a composer of a clearly national type. He did not so much use folklore as he tried to capture in his work the atmosphere of Norway, its landscapes. He developed specific melodic and harmonic devices, which, perhaps, he sometimes abused.
GRIG, EDWARD (Grieg, Edvard Hagerup) (1843-1907), the largest Norwegian composer. Born June 15, 1843 in Bergen. His father, a merchant and British consul in Bergen, came from the Scottish family of Greig. At the age of six, Edward began to study music with his mother. On the advice of the famous Norwegian violinist W. Bull, fifteen-year-old Grieg was sent to study at the Leipzig Conservatory. Conservative studies did not have a decisive impact on the artistic personality of the musician; Much more important was Grieg's acquaintance with the young Norwegian composer, author of the national anthem R. Nurdrok (1842–1866), which took place in 1863, after returning from Germany. “The covers fell from my eyes,” Grieg later said, “and only thanks to Nurdrok I got acquainted with Norwegian folk melodies and realized myself.” Having united, the young musicians began a campaign against the “sluggish” Scandinavian music of N. Gade, who was under the influence of F. Mendelssohn, and set as their goal the creation of a stronger and more original “northern style”. In 1865, Grieg fell ill with tuberculosis and was forced to leave for Italy. There he regained strength, but all his subsequent life he did not differ in good health. In Rome, Grieg became friends with F. Liszt, who was no longer young at that time, who expressed complete delight at the magnificent piano concerto in A minor (1868) composed by the Norwegian. Upon returning to his homeland, Grieg conducted symphony concerts in Christiania (now Oslo) for some time, and founded the Norwegian Academy of Music there (1867). Since 1873, he gained material independence thanks to state scholarships and royalties for compositions and was able to devote himself entirely to creativity. In 1885 he settled in "Trollhaugen" - a beautiful country villa near Bergen, which he left only during concert trips. Grieg performed in France, England, Germany, Poland and Hungary and enjoyed great respect both abroad and in his native country. The Universities of Cambridge and Oxford awarded him an honorary doctorate of music; he was elected a member of the Institute of France and the Berlin Academy. In 1898, Grieg organized the first Norwegian Music Festival in Bergen, which was a great success. The death of Grieg on September 4, 1907 was mourned by all of Norway. His remains were buried in a rock not far from the composer's favorite home.
Grieg was a composer of a clearly national type. He did not so much use folklore as he tried to capture in his work the atmosphere of Norway, its landscapes. He developed specific melodic and harmonic devices, which, perhaps, he sometimes abused. Therefore, Grieg was especially successful in small, mainly lyrical instrumental forms, in which most of his piano and orchestral pieces were written, as well as in the song genre. Ten Notebooks of Lyric Pieces for Piano (Lyriske Stykker, 1867–1901) is the pinnacle of the composer's work. Grieg's songs, 240 in number, were written mainly for the composer's wife, Nina Hagerup, an excellent singer who occasionally performed in concert with her husband. They are distinguished by the depth of expressiveness and subtle transmission of the poetic text. Although Grieg is most convincing in miniature, he also showed his talent in chamber-instrumental cycles and created three violin sonatas (op. 8, in F major, 1865; op. 13, in G minor, 1867; op. 45, in C minor, 1886– 1887), the cello sonata in A minor (op. 36, 1882) and the string quartet in G minor (op. 27, 1877–1878).
Among the most famous works of Grieg - the above-mentioned piano concerto and music for Ibsen's drama Peer Gynt (Peer Gynt, 1876). It was originally intended for a piano duet, but was later orchestrated and collected into two suites consisting of small characteristic pieces (op. 46 and 55). Parts such as The Death of Oza, Anitra's Dance, In the Hall of the Mountain King, Arabian Dance and Solveig's Song are distinguished by their exceptional beauty and perfection of artistic form. Among the works, which, like the music for Peer Gynt, exist in two versions - piano (four hands) and colorful orchestral, one can name the concert overture Autumn (I Hst, op. 11, 1865; new orchestration - 1887), three orchestral pieces from music to the tragedy by B. Bjornson Sigurd the Crusader (Sigurd Jorsalfar, op. 22, 1879; op. 56, 1872, second edition - 1892), Norwegian dances (op. 35, 1881) and Symphonic dances (op. 64, 1898) . Arrangements of Grieg's most famous melodies were used in the popular operetta Song of Norway, which appeared in the 1940s, based on the composer's life story.
The famous Norwegian composer Edvard Hagerup Grieg, who was born on June 15, 1843 in Bergen (Norway), has been in love with music since childhood. Born into a merchant's family, he was not devoid of musical talents. His mother, Gesina Hagerup, was a pianist and taught Edward how to play the piano from the age of 4.
Edvard Grieg
In his memoirs, Grieg describes his feelings from the first touch of the piano as a mysterious and inexplicable joy that gripped him. According to him, he found in music not a melody, but the very harmony of life. He felt jubilant and delighted. He said that no subsequent successes brought him such intoxication.
Grieg's first composition was variations on German melodies. A decisive role in Grieg's musical life was played by Ole Bull, the "Norwegian Paganini", on whose advice the family agreed to the young composer's admission to the Leipzig Conservatory.
Although Grieg graduated from the conservatory with excellent marks, his health was undermined by a cold that turned into pleurisy. Even after careful treatment, he lived a life with tuberculosis.
Grieg married his cousin, Nina Hagerup, whom he fell in love with from a meeting after many years of separation, seeing in a young girl all the beauty of love. Their daughter was born, but soon she left this world, leaving her parents in inconsolable grief. Grieg gave all his love for his daughter to local children, walking with them in the forests of Trollhaugen, telling them fairy tales and legends. Edward wrote the music for the drama "Peer Gynt" alone, embodying in it all the experiences from the death of his daughter.
The music of Edvard Grieg is full of romanticism and love, and in some works the spirit of Norway is felt. Many of his works have become loved by the whole world. To this day, his music can be heard in your favorite cartoons and musical performances. Grieg's popular works are:
- "In the Hall of the Mountain King" - a composition for Henrik Ibsen's play "Peer Gynt" (1876);
- "Morning" - written for the first suite "Peer Gynt";
- "Dance of Anitra" and "Song of Solveig" from the same play;
- "Heart of a Poet" or "Melodies of the Heart" written to the verses of H. H. Andersen (1864) and many others.
Grieg often made concert trips to France, Germany, Sweden, England and Holland, performing as a conductor and pianist, accompanying his wife.
Edvard Grieg
But his health was deteriorating and during one of his concert trips he became worse. The great composer died on September 4, 1907. His ashes were buried in the rock at the villa in Trollhaugen. Later, a house-museum was founded there. The death of the composer was celebrated in Norway with national mourning.
The music of Edvard Grieg captivates with its beauty, amazing variations and sensuality, becoming for many of his admirers the embodiment of love in music.
Edvard Grieg brief information.
The harsh beauty of the northern nature, the majestic heroism of ancient legends, the bizarre mystery of fairy tales - this is how Norway seems to us. The spirit of this country was embodied in his music by Edvard Grieg. In the history of Norwegian culture, he played the same role as in Russia or in the Czech Republic, revealing to the world the beauty of his native musical folklore, melted down in the crucible of classical forms. Edvard Grieg lived and worked in a difficult time for his native country: there was a struggle against the Swedish Union, imposed on Norway after the Napoleonic Wars, and in the context of the struggle for independence, the national identity of the Norwegians grew stronger. An important role in this process was played by the formation of national art (it is no coincidence that Grieg emphasized that he was not just a Scandinavian, but a Norwegian composer).
Grieg's homeland is the city of Bergen. His father - a descendant of a Scot - was a consul in the third generation, but there were also musicians in the family. Maternal great-grandfather was a conductor, and the mother of the future composer was a talented pianist. She herself taught children music. Edward began learning the piano at the age of six, and at first the lessons were not easy: he liked to improvise, and the scales and exercises - boring, but necessary - seemed to him "a stone instead of bread." Many years later, the composer recalled his mother with gratitude - after all, without her severity, he "would never, in any way, have moved from dreams to deeds."
Grieg composed his first piano work at the age of twelve, and at the age of fifteen his parents presented it to the famous violinist Ole Bull, whom his contemporaries called the "Norwegian Paganini". After listening to the young musician's improvisation, Bull advised him to enter the Leipzig Conservatory, and Grieg - with the support of his parents - followed this advice.
The years of study at the conservatory turned out to be not the happiest time in the life of the composer - the teachers seemed to him overly pedantic, he often disagreed with them in artistic views (Grig was fascinated by modern music of romantic composers, and this was not encouraged at the conservatory). Only about Moritz Hauptmann, from whom Grieg studied composition, he retained warm memories, calling him the personification of "the opposite of scholasticism."
After completing his studies at the conservatory, Grieg returned to his native city, but the cultural life of Bergen gave too few musical impressions, and the young composer went to Copenhagen. This happened in 1863, and at the same time the piano cycle "Poetic Pictures" was created - the first work by Grieg, bearing the features of national identity. The same features marked other early compositions of Grieg - Humoresques, Piano Sonata, First Violin Sonata. Grieg's interest in his native culture was shared by Rikard Nurdrok, a composer whom he met in Copenhagen. Together they organized the Euterpa society, which promoted the works of composers from the Scandinavian countries.
From 1866 Grieg lived in Christiania. At this time in his life, the time of the flowering of creativity comes. In the coming years, he created a number of works - Piano Concerto, Violin Sonata No. 2, romances and songs based on poems by Scandinavian poets. Acquainted in 1869 with folklore samples from the collection of Ludwig Lindemann, Grieg created the piano cycle "Twenty-five Norwegian Folk Songs and Dances". Grieg's activities in Christiania were not limited to composing music - he initiated the creation of the Academy of Music, became one of the organizers of the Musical Association of Christiania. As a conductor, Grieg presented to the public the creations of compatriot composers. In addition, he performed as a pianist - solo and in a duet with his wife Nina Grig, who was an excellent singer. One of Grieg's friends was the writer Bjornstern Bjornson, in collaboration with whom the composer created several songs. In addition, they worked on the opera "Olav Tryggvasson", but it was not completed.
In 1874, the playwright Henrik Ibsen invited the composer to write musical numbers for the drama Peer Gynt. The music created by Grieg turned out to be self-sufficient, able to exist outside of a dramatic performance - two orchestral suites "Peer Gynt" belong to the composer's most famous creations.
Since 1880, Grieg lived in the Trollhaugen villa, located not far from his hometown. Here he could enjoy the beauty of nature, communicate with Norwegian peasants. The composer writes piano pieces, romances, the suite "From the time of Holberg", the G-minor String Quartet. Solitude is interrupted by tours, during which Grieg introduces Norwegian music to Europe. In Europe, Grieg's work was recognized - he was an honorary doctor of the University of Cambridge.
Grieg's last creation was the Four Psalms for baritone and choir, based on old Norwegian melodies. The composer passed away in 1907, in connection with his death, mourning was declared in the country.
Villa "Trollhaugen" is now a house-museum.
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