Profile

Grieg

Composer

b. Bergen, Norway, 1843
d. Bergen, 1907

Dismissed by Debussy as “chocolate-covered snow,” Grieg’s music continues to hold sway in the public’s heart, primarily because of his Piano Concerto in A minor and the incidental music to Ibsen’s Peer Gynt. He was most comfortable as a miniaturist. Grieg had a fine melodic sense and a conservative but appealing harmonic style. Though Scandinavian artists in general are often characterized in terms of a melancholy and moodiness attributable to the northern clime (Ibsen in drama, Ingmar Bergman in film, Sibelius and Nielsen in symphonic music), Grieg’s music functions generally on a level of user-friendly lyricism. No wonder his music was so well adapted to The Song of Norway. —Steven Lowe


				Grieg Composer b. Bergen, Norway, 1843 d. Bergen, 1907 Dismissed by Debussy as “chocolate-covered snow,” Grieg’s music continues to hold sway in the public’s heart, primarily because of his Piano Concerto in A minor and the incidental music to Ibsen’s Peer Gynt. He was most comfortable as a miniaturist. Grieg had a fine melodic sense and a conservative but appealing harmonic style. Though Scandinavian artists in general are often characterized in terms of a melancholy and moodiness attributable to the northern clime (Ibsen in drama, Ingmar Bergman in film, Sibelius and Nielsen in symphonic music), Grieg’s music functions generally on a level of user-friendly lyricism. No wonder his music was so well adapted to The Song of Norway. —Steven Lowe