One of my favourite quotes by Edvard Grieg reads, “Bach and Beethoven erected temples and churches on the heights. I only wanted to build dwellings for men where they might feel happy and at home.” It sounds a touch understated

From his earliest years to the concert tours in the year he died, Edvard Grieg performed as a pianist playing his own composition. He was a great pianist but not a virtuoso, and according to a biographer, “his intimate familiarity

A first work in a genre is often a hard slog in finding out how something works. Praised as ‘distinctive and admirable’ by Liszt, this string quartet by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843–1907) was the product of much hard work

In 1876, after returning from a trip to Bayreuth to see the first complete Ring cycles, Edvard Grieg and his friend John Paulson (1851–1924) travelled up and down Norway. As a treat for the poet Paulson, Grieg took 4 sonatas

Edvard Grieg (1843–1907) viewed his three violin sonatas as representative of his development as a composer. The first (1865) was the young naïve composer, the second (1867) was his nationalistic phase, and the third (1887) represented a wider outlook. This

From its unforgettable opening timpani solo to its extravagant ending that showcases the full glory of the symphony orchestra, to all of the dazzling solo piano writing in between, the Grieg piano concerto is an indispensable part of the classical

Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) wrote his 5-act play Peer Gynt in 1876 and it is still one of the most performed Norwegian plays. It was given its premiere in Christiana / Oslo in February 1876, with incidental music by Edvard Grieg,

During his time at the Leipzig Conservatory, Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) heard Clara Schumann perform her husband’s Piano Concerto. As he later recalled, the work continued to signify a deeply musical experience lasting for decades. “Inspired from beginning to end,” he