Grieg
Edvard Grieg (1843–1907) was a Norwegian composer whose Piano Concerto and Peer Gynt suites made him the foremost musical voice of Scandinavian Romanticism.
In Depth
Grieg drew deeply on Norwegian folk music to create a harmonic language that was both distinctly national and universally appealing. His Piano Concerto in A minor, composed at age 24, remains one of the most popular concertos ever written. The incidental music for Ibsen's Peer Gynt — including "Morning Mood" and "In the Hall of the Mountain King" — is among the most recognizable classical music in the world.
His Lyric Pieces for solo piano, composed over 34 years, form an intimate diary of miniatures that influenced Debussy and Ravel. His harmonic innovations, including modal inflections and unexpected chromaticism, anticipated elements of Impressionism. Liszt, upon sight-reading the Piano Concerto manuscript, reportedly exclaimed its praises and championed the young composer.
When Liszt sight-read the manuscript of Grieg's Piano Concerto, he played through it with growing enthusiasm and reportedly declared: "Keep on, I tell you — you have the stuff!"