Lived: 1843 – 1907
Mostly In: Bergen
Best Known For: Incidental Music to Peer Gynt, Piano Concerto, Holberg Suite
Similar To: Tchaikovsky, Dvořák

GriegEdvard Grieg

If there is one reader of Limelight Magazine who has never heard Grieg’s Piano Concerto, I shall, as they say, eat my hat. Edvard Hagerup Grieg put the music of his homeland onto the international map for the first time, writing works that can immediately embed themselves in our consciousness. The Peer Gynt incidental music, the Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, numerous inspired songs and, of course, that Piano Concerto are just a few examples. But how did a boy from a Nordic backwater grow to become not only his country’s national hero, but one of the most popular composers in the world?

While there isn’t a formula behind Grieg’s magic blend, there could be a secret weapon: balance. One might attribute it to his splendid compositional technique: rarely does he write one note more than he needs. Yet...