Grig

Grieg, Edvard (Hagerup)

John Horton and Nils Grinde
https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.11757
Published in print: 20 January 2001
Published online: 2001
(b Bergen, June 15, 1843; d Bergen, Sept 4, 1907). Norwegian composer, pianist and conductor. He was the
foremost Scandinavian composer of his generation and the principal promoter of Norwegian music. His
genius was for lyric pieces – songs and piano miniatures – in which he drew on both folktunes and the
Romantic tradition, but his Piano Concerto found a place in the central repertory, and his String Quartet
foreshadows Debussy.
1. Early years and apprenticeship, 1843–64.

John Horton, revised by Nils Grinde
His mother, Gesine Judith Grieg, was a daughter of a provincial governor named Hagerup, whose father
had heen adopted in boyhood by Bishop Hagerup of Trondheim and had assumed the name of his patron.
Gesine’s father provided her with an excellent musical training under Albert Methfessel at Hamburg, with
the result that she was much in demand at Bergen as a pianist. In 1836 she had married Alexander Grieg,
merchant and British consul at Bergen. His father, John Grieg, had held the same appointment before him,
and had also interested himself as an amateur in the musical life of the city, playing in the orchestra of the
Bergen Harmonic Society under his father-in-law, Niels Haslund (b 1747). John’s father, Alexander Grieg
(originally spelt Greig), was of Scottish extraction, but left his native country around 1770, probably as the
result of economic rather than political pressure.
Edvard was the fourth of the five children born to John and Gesine Grieg. The story of his childhood and
student years is told in his autobiographical sketch Min første succes. From the age of six he had piano
lessons from his mother, was present at the regular musical gatherings held in the house and gained
special affection for the works of Mozart, Weber and Chopin; his earliest extant compositions date from
about 1858. From 1853 the family took up residence at the mother’s estate at Landås, 2 km or so outside
Bergen, and Edvard and his elder brother John walked daily to the city to attend school there.
The first turning-point in Grieg’s career occurred in the summer of 1858, when Ole Bull visited the Griegs,
heard Edvard play and persuaded the parents to send him to the Leipzig Conservatory. Thus the boy of 15
came to be enrolled at the institution of which he was always afterwards to speak with distaste. His first
piano teacher there was Louis Plaidy, but Grieg found his pedantic methods of instruction so irksome and
his teaching repertory of Czerny, Kuhlau and Clementi so sterile that he applied to be transferred to
another teacher. He was then placed under E.F. Wenzel, who had been a close friend of Schumann and
succeeded in arousing in his pupil an enthusiasm for Schumann’s music that never left him. Later still
Grieg had piano instruction from Moscheles. His teachers for harmony and counterpoint were E.F. Richter,
Robert Papperitz and Moritz Hauptmann.
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In his last year at the conservatory Grieg studied composition with Carl Reinecke, who gave him the tasks
of writing a string quartet and an overture, although he had learnt little about either instrumental style or
formal construction. More valuable were the opportunities of hearing public music-making at Leipzig; at
the Gewandhaus concerts, for example, Grieg heard Clara Schumann play her husband’s Piano Concerto,
and he was present at several performances of Wagner’s Tannhäuser. He fell ill in 1860 with an attack of
pleurisy that laid the foundations of the respiratory troubles which were to hamper him for the rest of his
life. After a summer in Norway to recuperate he was able to return to the conservatory, which he finally left
in the spring of 1862; at the students’ examination in the Gewandhaus his Vier Stücke (for piano, dedicated
to Wenzel) had been played. These, with the four songs for alto to German texts, were soon afterwards
published in Leipzig as his opp.1 and 2; they are well-made student works, showing little of his artistic
individuality.
By May 1862 Grieg was back in his native city and lost no time in bringing himself before the public with a
successful concert at which he played his piano pieces op.1 and took part in Schumann’s Piano Quartet.
Later in the same season (March 1863) he played Beethoven’s C minor Concerto with Maezewski, the
Polish conductor of the Harmoniske Selskab, and a month later his Rückblick, a short piece for chorus and
piano, was performed by the society. In May 1863, not feeling satisfied with his musical training and
having been refused a government stipend, he sought wider experience in Copenhagen, then the main
cultural centre of Norwegian as well as Danish life. Among the Danish musicians who gave him
encouragement and advice was Niels Gade. Gade’s reputation already shone with a double lustre: he was
the recognized leader of the Scandinavian Romantic school, and he had been the friend and trusted
colleague of Schumann and Mendelssohn. His reception of Grieg, though kindly, was tempered by some
disdain of the Norwegian's meagre output of published work, and he soon sent him away to compose a
symphony. Neither by temperament nor by training did Grieg feel himself fitted for such a task. The
manuscript of the completed exercise is dated a year later (2 May 1864), and is docketed with a direction
from the composer that it is not to be performed. Evidently Grieg made this decision some years later,
since a number of performances of the immature symphony undoubtedly took place up to 1867. The two
middle movements were published as Deux pièces symphoniques for piano duet op.14.
Other outstanding figures in the cultural life of Copenhagen were the musicians Emil Hartmann, C.F.E.
Horneman, Gottfred Matthison-Hansen, Julius Steinberg (the singer) and the authors Benjamin Feddersen
and Hans Christian Andersen. It was at this time also that Grieg met his cousin, Nina Hagerup, a talented
singer; her engagement to Grieg took place in July of the following year (1864). The Poetiske tonebilleder
(‘Poetic Tone-Pictures’) for piano op.3 and a number of songs were written at this period, of which Hjertets
melodier (‘The Heart’s Melodies’) op.5, to Danish poems by Andersen, was the first of Grieg's works to
exhibit a more personal style.
2. Nationalism and fame, 1864–79.

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With the latter part of 1864 his artistic life entered a new phase. He had been brought up in the
environment of middle-class Norwegian urban society, with its predominantly Danish speech, traditions
and cultural outlook. Except for the years spent at Leipzig his musical associations were Danish in
character; he knew next to nothing of the Norwegian nationalist tendencies of his time and had scarcely
heard any genuine Norwegian folk music. During that summer, however, he stayed with Ole Bull at
Osterøy, played the classics with him, and caught some of the violinist’s enthusiasm for Norwegian
peasant culture; and on a second visit to Copenhagen in the autumn and winter of 1864–5 he met the man
on whom the Norwegian nationalists set their chief hope for a national school of music. Rikard Nordraak
was 22 at that time, had been working in association with Bjørnson, had produced incidental music for the
dramatist’s Sigurd Slembe, and was at work on Maria Stuart i Skotland. After their meeting Nordraak
dragged Grieg round to his lodgings and sang and played him fragments of these and other examples of his
own work. Thenceforward Grieg felt that his path was clear: it was that of a musician dedicated to
Romantic nationalism. He acknowledged his debt to Nordraak in the Humoresker for piano op.6, the first of
his compositions to show the influence of Norwegian folk idioms. He also joined Nordraak, Horneman and
Matthison-Hansen in founding a society, known as Euterpe, for the promotion of Scandinavian music. It
was some time, however, before Grieg’s reorientation towards a distinctively Norwegian style was
complete. His next important works, the Piano Sonata op.7 and the First Violin Sonata op.8, both written in
Denmark in the summer of 1865, still show Danish affinities.
A plan for a tour of Germany and Italy in the company of Nordraak was frustrated by Nordraak’s fatal
illness. Grieg, after visiting Leipzig and taking part in performances of the two sonatas at a conservatory
concert, reached Rome towards the end of the year. The chief events of his winter’s stay there were his first
meeting with Ibsen, the composition of the fantasy I höst (‘In Autumn’) op.11, based on the song
Efteraarsstormen (‘Autumn Storms’) op.18 no.4, and the news of Nordraak’s death in Berlin. The
manuscript of Grieg’s march in memory of Nordraak is dated 6 April 1866, a month after the young man’s
death.
Grieg now set himself in earnest to make a livelihood in his own country. After failing in attempts to obtain
the post of musical director at the Christiania Theatre, of which Bjørnson had recently been placed in
charge, he gave a concert of Norwegian music (songs by Nordraak, Kjerulf and himself, and Humoresker
and the two sonatas) on 15 October 1866. Given with Nina Hagerup and the violinist Wilma Neruda, this
concert resulted in the acceptance of Grieg as one of the foremost young musicians in the country: he
obtained pupils and was made conductor of the Philharmonic Society. In collaboration with the critic Otto
Winter-Hjelm, he launched a project for a Norwegian Academy of Music, which opened on 14 January 1867.
On 11 June he and Nina Hagerup were married. In July, the second Violin Sonata op.13 was completed, and
dedicated to Johan Svendsen, who arrived from Leipzig in October to conduct his Symphony in D major, a
work which made a profound impression on Grieg and no doubt weighed with him in deciding to relinquish
further attempts to write on a symphonic scale.
Before the end of 1867 Grieg had composed the first set of Lyric Pieces for piano (op.12). Signs of his
awakened nationalism are apparent in the titles of no.6 (Norsk), no.5 (Folkevise) and no.8
(Faedrelandssang), to the last of which Bjørnson was soon afterwards to write patriotic verses. In June 1868
Grieg and Nina, with their two-month-old daughter Alexandra, again sought the milder air of Denmark,
where, at Søllerød, the Piano Concerto in A minor was composed.
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In the autumn of 1868 Grieg, back at Christiania, advertised a further series of subscription concerts and
persevered in his attempts to secure a financial subsidy for further travel and study. He received support
from Liszt, who wrote at the end of the year warmly commending his earlier Violin Sonata (op.8) and
inviting him to visit Weimar. The following summer was spent on the family estate at Landås, where the
op.18 songs were completed. It was there that Grieg first came across a copy of Lindeman’s folksong
collection, Aeldre og nyere norske fjeldmelodier (‘Older and Newer Mountain Melodies’), and thus gained a
new insight into Norwegian folk music; his piano versions of 25 of Lindeman’s melodies were published as
op.17. In the autumn of 1869 the Griegs were able at last to set out on a journey to Italy with the help of a
state bursary. While in Rome Grieg called on Liszt and played him the Second Violin Sonata, the
Humoresker, part of the Piano Sonata and the Nordraak march. On a subsequent occasion Liszt played
through the Piano Concerto at sight and gave Grieg the warmest encouragement.
During the two years following his return to Christiania in the autumn of 1870 Grieg collaborated with
Bjørnson in a number of works, setting his Foran sydens kloster (‘Before a Southern Convent’), from Arnljot
Gelline, as a cantata for female voices, his Bergliot as an accompanied declamation, his Landkjending
(‘Land-Sighting’) as a cantata for male voices with orchestra and organ, and a number of his shorter lyrics
as songs. He also made his first attempts at writing for the stage. His music to Bjørnson’s Sigurd Jorsalfar
was written at the beginning of 1872 and performed in May at the Christiania Theatre. Composer and
author then began to make plans for an opera on a Norwegian subject.
In the meantime Grieg continued to give a considerable part of his time and energies to conducting and
concert-giving, and in the autumn of 1871 he helped found the Christiania Music Society for the promotion
of orchestral music. On 10 July 1873 Bjørnson sent him the first three scenes of an opera text, Olav
Trygvason, on which he set to work at once, requesting Bjørnson to let him have the remainder of the text
without delay. A long correspondence followed, with composer and author reproaching each other for
hindering the completion of the opera. Meanwhile, in January 1874, Grieg received from Ibsen an
invitation to write incidental music for Peer Gynt, and he accepted the commission believing that only a few
fragments of music were required. Finally both he and Bjørnson lost interest in the operatic project.
The Peer Gynt music occupied Grieg for a much longer period than he had expected. Having obtained a
further government grant giving him freedom to compose, he left Christiania in the beginning of June 1874
to spend the summer in the west. Landås had been sold, but a convenient place for working had been found
for him at Sandviken, and there – and during the following autumn in Denmark and later in Leipzig – he
laboured at Peer Gynt, completing the score by July 1875. Its first performance, with Ibsen’s drama in its
revised stage version, took place on 24 February 1876.
In August that year Grieg was at Bayreuth attending the first performance of Wagner’s Ring, about which
he sent a series of critical notices to the journal Bergensposten. Second piano parts to four of Mozart’s
sonatas were written during the winter of 1876–7. The influence of an ever-growing love of the scenery of
his native country began to show itself more markedly in his compositions at this period. In June 1877 he
took a lodging at Lofthus, in the beautiful Hardanger district, and there he set Langs ei å (‘Beside the
River’), a poem by the peasant poet A.O. Vinje. So much inspired and invigorated by his surroundings did
he find himself that he prolonged his stay in the district through the winter and until the autumn of the
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following year. During this time he completed the folksong choruses for male voices op.30, Den bergtekne
(‘The Mountain Thrall’) op.32 for solo baritone, two horns and strings, the String Quartet in G minor op.
27, the Albumblade op.28 and the Improvisata over to norske fokeviser op.29.
Thereafter he wrote nothing for more than a year. But as his periods of artistic sterility, which he himself
attributed to chronic ill-health, tended to increase, his reputation as composer and exponent of his own
works expanded both at home and abroad. During the winter of 1878–9 the new quartet was performed in
Cologne and Leipzig, and royalty patronized a concert given in Copenhagen on 30 April 1879, when Grieg
conducted the first performance of The Mountain Thrall and played the solo part in his Piano Concerto.
3. Maturity, 1880–1907.
The spring of 1880 brought new creative vigour, with the completion of the songs to words by Vinje (op.33).
Grieg also became for a time closely associated with the music of his native city, as conductor of the Bergen
Harmonic Society (1880–82). This was the last official appointment he was to hold. Freedom from such
commitments enabled him to embark, at the beginning of 1883, on a second piano concerto, commissioned
by the firm of Peters but never finished, and to complete the Cello Sonata op.36, the Walzer-Capricen for
piano duet op.37 and a second set of Lyric Pieces op.38.
1883 was a critical year in his life. His relationship with his wife was strained, and he was dissatisfied with
his work as a composer. In the summer he left, possibly not intending to return to Nina. He paid another
visit to Bayreuth to hear Parsifal, and the following autumn began a long concert tour that included visits to
Weimar, Dresden, Leipzig, Meiningen, Breslau, Cologne, Karlsruhe, Frankfurt, Arnhem, The Hague,
Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Meanwhile Nina moved in with their friends Marie and Frants Beyer, who did
their best to reconcile the couple. They succeeded. In January 1884 the Griegs and the Beyers met in
Leipzig, and the Griegs then spent four months together in Rome.
Part of the summer of 1884 was spent executing commissions for the Holberg bicentenary celebrations.
Grieg’s contribution included a male-voice cantata and the suite Fra Holbergs tid (‘From Holberg’s Time’),
written originally for piano and scored for strings the following year. He now resolved to settle altogether
in the Westland and began to build the house at Troldhaugen that was to be his permanent home for the
rest of his life. The Griegs took up residence there in April 1885.
For the next 20 years the pattern of Grieg’s life was subject to few variations. Spring and early summer
were usually given up to composition or the revision of older work. Later in the summer he would make a
tour on foot in the mountains, often in the company of Frants Beyer, a neighbour as well as an intimate
friend, or with visitors from abroad like Julius Röntgen or Percy Grainger. Autumn and winter were spent
in the lengthy concert tours which Grieg, in spite of his delicate constitution, seemed unable to resist. One
reason for this was undoubtedly the great success he achieved as conductor and pianist – a success he
shared with his wife, for though Nina had no great voice, she sang her husband’s songs with incomparable
feeling and grace. Grieg performed only his own music, and, with few exceptions, notably in Leipzig,
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gained positive reviews. A particular effect of his extensive travels, and of his wide circle of friends and
correspondents, was that he gained a more cosmopolitan outlook than he had adopted at the outset of his
career, when he had worked under strong nationalist influences.
What may be described as a second nationalist period began, however, in the 1890s, with a fresh
exploitation of Norwegian folk idioms in characteristic miniatures like Gjaetergut (‘Herdboy’) and
Klokkeklang (‘Bellringing’) from the fifth set of Lyric Pieces op.54, as well as in the folksong variations for
two pianos op.51, the 19 Norske folkeviser for piano (on folksongs collected by Beyer in the Jotunheimen
mountains) op.66, the children’s songs op.61 and, most distinguished of all, the Haugtussa song cycle op.
67, on poems by Arne Garborg.
During this time numerous distinctions were conferred on Grieg from abroad, including honorary
doctorates from Cambridge and Oxford and membership of the Institut de France, and prominent
musicians he met included Tchaikovsky and Brahms. He also produced a certain amount of critical writing,
contributing articles on Mozart, Schumann and Verdi to foreign journals. The culmination of his efforts to
raise standards of performance and criticism in Norway came in 1898, when the Norwegian Music Festival
was held at Bergen, and he, Svendsen and other Norwegian composers shared with Mengelberg the
conducting of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw orchestra which he, in defiance of chauvinistic opinion, had
insisted on inviting for the occasion.
In September 1899 he conducted his music to Bjørnson’s Sigurd Jorsalfar at the opening of the National
Theatre at Christiania. During 1900 his health deteriorated; yet by the 1902–3 season his concert tours
were taking him as far afield as Prague, Warsaw and Paris, and his birthday was celebrated by a great
concourse of friends, Bjørnson making a notable speech on the occasion. The most interesting of his
compositions during these final years were the Slåtter, or peasant fiddle-tunes, written down by him and
the violinist Johan Halvorsen from the playing of Knut Dale, one of the exponents of the traditional style of
playing on the Hardanger fiddle; these tunes he arranged for piano as op.72. His last work, Fire salmer
(‘Four Psalms’), was based on folk melodies and written in the summer and autumn of 1906.
Finding that the climate of the Westland had an adverse effect on the pulmonary disorders from which he
increasingly suffered, he took rooms in a Christiania hotel during the winter of 1906–7. Even in the last
year of his life, however, he was able to make a tour to Copenhagen, Munich, Berlin and Kiel, and he was on
the point of leaving for England when he was ordered to hospital, where he died the following day. His
funeral was on a national scale; the body was cremated, and in April 1908 the urn containing the
composer’s ashes was placed in a rock-hewn recess overlooking the fjord at Troldhaugen.
4. Style.
Nils Grinde
During his student years in Leipzig and later in Copenhagen, Grieg became intimately familiar with early
Romantic music, especially Schumann’s, and this became the point of departure in his works up to The
Heart’s Melodies op.5, the songs of 1863–4. The change in style already apparent in 1865 in the Humoresker,
Piano Sonata, and First Violin Sonata came with his turning towards folk music as a direct source of
Page 6 of 33
inspiration. While his interest in Norwegian folk music was probably already aroused in early youth by his
acquaintance with Ole Bull, the breakthrough came with his renewed meeting with Bull in the summer of
1864 and introduction to Rikard Nordraak in Copenhagen in 1865. Nordraak had a passionate faith in the
possibility of developing a distinctively Norwegian musical style, and he imparted something of this ideal
to Grieg.
The new involvement with folk music seems to have had its strongest effect on Grieg’s harmonic
imagination, and the most radical advances in his harmonic language are frequently found in his
numerous folksong arrangements. These are to be found in the Album for mandssang op.30 (1877–8), the
Norwegische Tänze op.35 for piano four hands (1881), the Symphonische Tänze op.64 (1896–7, orchestral
arrangements of four folktunes) and finally the Four Psalms op.74 for baritone solo and mixed chorus
(1906). But the most characteristic such works are the three sets of piano arrangements – the 25 Norske
folkeviser og dandse op.17 (1869), 19 Norske folkeviser op.66 (1896) and Slåtter op.72 (1902–3) – which
present a cross-section of Grieg’s evolving harmonic style.
While Nordraak’s ideas were of great importance to Grieg in the early development of his interest in folk
music, Nordraak's musical style influenced Grieg only slightly; the two musicians proceeded in entirely
different directions. In the op.17 pieces, Grieg’s richly chromatic but clearly functional harmony is coupled
with rhythmic and melodic folk elements strongly emphasized by the use of pedal points. Wagner too
played a role, though limited, in Grieg’s subsequent development; he found the German’s style both
attractive and repellent and mostly managed to keep his distance.
Impressionist features began to appear in Grieg’s music as early as the String Quartet in G minor op.27
(1877–8), and emerged more clearly in the 1890s with the op.66 folksong arrangements and Haugtussa
song cycle op.67. As the functional relationship between chords gradually weakened in these works, a freer
handling of dissonance became evident, including parallel non-triadic progressions. The final stage in
Grieg's stylistic development was a bolder, linear treatment of harmony, pointing forward to 20th-century
neo-classicism. This progressive feature is manifest in the texture of the Four Psalms and especially in the
Slåtter (ex.1), whose dissonance treatment was possibly influenced by the double-stopping technique of
the folk instrument, the Hardanger fiddle. But Grieg’s innovations had little or no effect on the
compositions of his conservative Norwegian contemporaries.
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Ex.1 Slåtter op.72 no.12
5. Songs.
Nils Grinde
In 1900 Grieg wrote to his American biographer Henry Finck:
How does it happen that my songs play such an important part in my production? Quite simply owing to
the circumstances that even I, like other mortals, was for once in my life endowed with genius (to quote
Goethe). The flash of genius was: love. I loved a young girl who had a wonderful voice and an equally
wonderful gift of interpretation. That girl became my wife and my lifelong companion to this very day. For
me, she has been – I dare admit it – the only genuine interpreter of my songs.
Even if one cannot conclude from this letter that Nina Grieg was the direct source of inspiration for all of
her husband’s 170 songs, she was at least for the early songs The Heart’s Melodies op.5, and it was through
their collaboration that Grieg came to his remarkable understanding of the capabilities and expressive
possibilities of the human voice. Not surprisingly, when one element or another has occasion to dominate
in his songs, it is the vocal line, especially in the earlier works; sheer melodic inspiration has kept some of
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these early songs alive in spite of their mediocre texts. However, in many other songs the piano
accompaniment is highly developed, with short preludes and interludes and motifs imitated from the voice
part.
Formally, the songs are mainly simple: usually strophic, sometimes with strophic variations. This folklike
simple form is especially characteristic and appropriate in the Vinje and Garborg settings, where the texts
are modelled after Norwegian folk poetry, and where form is integral to stylistic distinctiveness, to what
makes them folksong transmuted into art music.
Grieg’s songs encompass a wide range of emotional expression, from the deep pain of such Vinje settings
as Den særde (‘The Wounded Heart’) op.33 no.3 to the racy humour of Og jeg vil ha mig en hjertenskjaer
(‘And I Will Take a Sweetheart’), the fifth of the op.60 Krag settings. In larger pieces there is often a
motivic development mirroring the content of the poem. A good example of this, and of Grieg’s refined
sense of sonority, is in the passionately intense Vinje song ‘Beside the River’.
Impressions of nature frequently provide an atmospheric background in the songs, as in several of these
op.33 Vinje settings and in most of the eight songs of Haugtussa op.67, one of Grieg’s finest works.
Garborg’s Haugtussa is a long epic, strongly influenced by Norwegian folk poetry, and in his settings Grieg
used only a small portion of the action. From remarks in his letters, from the existence of another eight
Haugtussa songs left in manuscript, one of them for women’s chorus, and from some sketches for
instrumentation, it appears that Grieg had originally planned a larger work. The Haugtussa cycle contains
some impressionistic uses of harmony and piano sonority, and these features are even more striking in the
op.70 settings of Otto Benzon poems. In the fourth of these, Lys nat (‘Summer Night’), interest is
concentrated on the evocative impressionistic piano writing, while the vocal part is largely relegated to the
role of recitative. An essential element of Grieg’s songwriting achievement was his ability to reinterpret a
lyrical impression, to create or reflect a definite atmosphere by simple melodic and harmonic means, and
it is this atmospheric quality in his best songs, particularly the late ones, that places them among the
finest examples of Romanticism.
6. Piano music.
Nils Grinde
Grieg was a fine pianist and appeared at his concerts both as soloist and as accompanist to his singers;
understandably his large body of piano works occupies a position in his output comparable in importance
to that of the songs. Among them his only completed concerto takes a special place. A work of youthful
exuberance, it opens with an impetuous solo passage built of a descending 2nd followed by a descending
3rd; this melodic motif, which recurs throughout Grieg’s works (as in the String Quartet) is characteristic
of Norwegian folk music and its borrowing typifies the pervasiveness of folk influence in his music. The
concerto’s first movement is made up of seven different thematic ideas, and though some of them are
motivically related, there is also much contrasting material. It is to this proliferation of attractive ideas
that the work finally owes its great conviction and popularity.
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Of Grieg’s works for solo piano and for piano duet, the most important is the Ballade in G minor op.24
(1875–6). It was composed two years before the quartet in the same key, and is closely akin to the later
work in spirit. The Ballade is a set of variations on the folksong Den nordlandske bondestand (‘The
Northland Peasantry’) from Lindeman’s collection. The theme is announced in a rich chromatic
harmonization and is followed by nine distinct character variations, which illuminate various aspects of
the folksong while retaining its formal structure. Variations 10 to 14 are freely based on individual motifs
from the theme and are joined to form two dynamic waves; nos.10 and 11 lead directly into no.12, which
presents a major-mode version of the theme, while nos.13 and 14 culminate in a climax which is suddenly
broken off by a single deep bass note. This interrupted climax acts as a dramatic necessity; the concluding
reappearance of the first part of the theme in its original form now has the sense of a tragic return to the
starting point and gives the whole work a feeling of unresolved struggle. It is darkly coloured music, but
glows with intensity and seems to bear witness to profoundly tragic events in the artist’s life. There are
indications that Grieg considered the Ballade to be an unusually personal composition; he never played it
at his concerts.
Another large-scale set of variations, Altnorwegische Romanze op.51 for two pianos (1891), is based on a
folksong, Sjugur og trollbrura (‘Sjugur and the Troll-bride’), which is also taken from the Lindeman
collection. It has some outward points of similarity to the Ballade, but its more reflective mood has failed
to establish it in the concert repertory in either its original or orchestrated versions. Far more successful is
the neo-Baroque suite From Holberg’s Time, composed in 1884 while Grieg was working on a cantata for the
bicentenary of Holberg’s birth. In the suite’s five movements – Praeludium, Sarabande, Gavotte, Air and
Rigaudon – Grieg skilfully adopted formal principles from an earlier period to create a charming work,
equally popular in a version for string orchestra.
Many of Grieg’s best-known works are contained in the ten sets of Lyric Pieces, as well as in the Humoresker
op.6, Folkelivsbilleder (‘Pictures from Country Life’) op.19, Stimmungen op.73 and several other collections
of miniature character-pieces. Within the simple outlines of traditional small forms (ABA and especially
the extended ABABA, often with varied reprises), he managed to create a wealth of mood-sketches. These
pieces, along with the three sets of folksong arrangements opp.17, 66 and 72, span the whole of Grieg’s
development as a composer for the piano.
7. Chamber music.
Nils Grinde
Grieg’s chamber music comprises only three violin sonatas, a cello sonata and two string quartets, one of
these unfinished, as well as one movement of a piano trio and part of one movement of a piano quintet. He
did not find it easy to enter into the classical spirit which the medium requires, and his lyrical thematic
ideas, often self-contained despite their brevity, lent themselves to elaboration only with difficulty. In
earlier years he more or less uncritically took over the early Romantic formal principles he found in the
music of Schumann and Schubert; he filled these moulds with a profusion of melodic invention, creating
Page 10 of 33
works of enduring appeal, but whose individual movements sometimes lack organic coherence and
continuity. This problem is particularly noticeable in outer movements, where the demands of thematic
concentration and a sure handling of formal ideas are paramount.
The first two violin sonatas (1865 and 1867) demonstrate that Grieg could overcome this original limited
control of formal procedures by his fertile melodic, harmonic and rhythmic invention. But in 1877 when he
undertook the String Quartet in G minor, his development had brought him to a new perspective, and he
was either unable or unwilling to confront compositional problems in the same way as he had done in his
youth. He had a clearer grasp of the problems involved and wrote in a letter to his Danish friend
Matthison-Hansen in the summer of 1878, after the quartet’s completion:
I have recently finished a string quartet which I still haven’t heard. It is in G minor and is not intended to
bring trivialities to market. It strives towards breadth, soaring flight and above all resonance for the
instruments for which it is written. I needed to do this as a study. Now I shall tackle another piece of
chamber music; I think in that way I shall find myself again. You can have no idea what trouble I had with
the forms, but this was because I was stagnating, and this in turn was in part on account of a number of
occasional works (Peer Gynt, Sigurd Jorsalfar and other horrors) and in part on account of too much
popularity. I have thought of saying ‘Farewell, shadows’ to all this – if it can be done.
Here Grieg put his finger on two of the most significant requirements of the string quartet medium: in
both tonal and structural matters he was a pioneer, and his quartet undoubtedly constituted an important
precedent for Debussy when he came to write his own G minor quartet ten years later. Among the many
interesting harmonic features of Grieg’s quartet is a prominent use of chromatically inflected chords
within a functioning sense of tonal unity. But there are other instances of non-functional parallel part-
writing with dissonant chords, and also long sustained blocks of sound, stationary chords which form
passing consonances and dissonances with the moving parts and which are prolonged until their
functional significance is weakened (ex.2). These last two features are of primary importance for
impressionism.
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Ex.2 String Quartet in G minor op.27, 1st movement
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The chief formal distinction of the quartet comes from its strong motivic cohesion, not only within each of
the four movements, but also connecting them. A melodic fragment from one of Grieg’s op.25 Ibsen songs,
Spillemaend (‘Minstrels’) (ex.3), frames the entire work. It appears in the minor mode as the first
movement’s introduction (ex.4a) and concludes the piece in the major mode. It is employed with slight
modifications as the first movement’s second subject (ex.4b) and as the introduction to the finale.
Moreover, it furnishes material for other themes in the quartet: the motif denoted ‘x’ in exx.4a and 4b
recurs in the contrasting theme of the second movement (ex.4c), in the principal subject of the third
movement (ex.4d) and in the theme of the middle section of the last movement (ex.4e). There is also a
connection between motif ‘y’ in ex.4b and the principal themes of the first movement (ex.4f), the second
movement (ex.4g) and the middle section of the third movement (ex.4h). Because of this exceptional unity,
and the expressive and at times dramatic musical language, the quartet is one of the composer’s most
effective and attractive works.
Ex.3 Spillemaend (Minstrels) op.25 no.1
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Ex.4 String Quartet op.27
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Neither of Grieg’s last two completed chamber works, the Cello Sonata in A minor (1883) and the Third
Violin Sonata in C minor (1886–7), is endowed with the quartet’s overall unity, but the latter's first
movement shows an even greater degree of thematic concentration than the corresponding movement of
the quartet. This work’s sonata movements are among the most boldly original structures in Grieg’s
output, but the unfinished string quartet (1891) is relatively conservative. The two movements published
(soon after the composer's death) exhibit neither the cohesiveness nor the expressiveness of the earlier
quartet.
8. Other works.
Nils Grinde
Most of Grieg’s large-scale vocal works date from his sojourn in Christiania, early in his career, when his
composing was significantly influenced by his association with the poet Bjørnson. Two choral works which
became very popular, Before a Southern Convent op.20 for women’s voices and orchestra (1871) and Land-
Sighting op.31 for men’s voices and orchestra (1872, later revised), are attractive, if unadventurous. The
melodrama Bergliot op.42 is also a product of this period, as are the incidental music to Sigurd Jorsalfar op.
22 and the abortive opera project Olav Trygvason, of which the three completed scenes were later published
as op.50.
At once more unusual and more important than these Bjørnson collaborations is The Mountain Thrall op.32,
written during Grieg’s stay in Lofthus in 1877–8. A setting of folk poetry for baritone solo, string orchestra
and two horns, the work is simply constructed yet has a vivid expressive power. The haunting sense of
loneliness and a mystical communion with nature depicted in the words, as in Norwegian folk art
generally, is ingeniously mirrored by the music.
The most extensive and best-known of Grieg’s dramatic and large vocal works, the incidental music to
Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, was his first composition after leaving Christiania in 1874. It was not completed until the
summer of 1875, and Grieg worked at it more slowly and seriously than had been the case with most of his
earlier works, although it shares with them a direct melodic charm and perennial freshness. The familiar
concert suites (opp.46 and 55) include only eight of the 26 numbers, and as the order of the pieces within
them is completely independent of the sequence of events in the play, they give no idea of the sustained
dramatic impact of the entire work. The music to the scene with Peer and the sæter-maidens and I
Dovregubbens hal (famous as ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’), both from Act 2, display a forceful side of
Grieg’s art which seldom found expression elsewhere. All the same, he was first and foremost a lyrical
composer, and perhaps the finest music from Peer Gynt is contained in Solvejg’s songs and in the poetic
introduction to Act 4, Morgenstemning (‘Morning Mood’). Here Grieg’s unique gifts are given their fullest
voice.
9. Influence and reputation.

Nils Grinde
Page 15 of 33
Grieg anticipated Debussy not only in his String Quartet but in other works of the late 1870s and later, and
there are plausibly Griegian features in pre-1900 Debussy works besides the quartet. Debussy's silence on
the matter need not be considered disproof when it is countered by Ravel's outspokenness. Ravel's remark
that he ‘had not written a single work that had not been influenced by Grieg' need not be taken too
seriously, but Percy Grainger reported a more striking admission in a conversation Ravel had with Delius.
‘Modern French music’, Delius ventured, ‘is simply Grieg plus the prelude to the third act of Tristan’, and
Ravel replied: ‘You are right. We have always been most unjust towards Grieg.’ Delius and Grainger, both of
them more generous, were close friends of Grieg's and Delius especially was clearly influenced by him. So
too was Bartók, by the later music. The Slåtter and Four Psalms look forward to traits in such works as the
Allegro barbaro.
Grieg's music spread rapidly through Europe during the latter part of the 19th century. His concert tours
and the efficient follow-up marketing of his publisher, Peters, no doubt played a part in this, but no less
important was his strong appeal to public taste. His Lyric Pieces were exactly adjusted to the limitations and
desires of amateur pianists (and have remained essential to that repertory), while the melodic charm and
straightforward manner of his earlier orchestral compositions, especially the Peer Gynt suites, assured
them abundant life on orchestral programmes. Around 1900 Grieg was one of the most popular composers
in western homes and concert halls, and though there was some falling off after 1920, his music was well
back in favour by the time of his sesquicentenary, in 1993, which brought a peak in scholarship and general
enthusiasm.
Works
Editions:
Edvard Grieg: Gesamtausgabe/Complete Works (Frankfurt, 1977–95) [GGA]
Stage
— Arnljot Gelline (op, B. Bjørnson), sketch frag. Bjarkemål, 1872,

N-Bo [See also Foran sydens kloster op.20]
22 Sigurd Jorsalfar (incid music, Bjørnson), 1v, TTBB, orch, 1872,

Christiania, 10 April 1872, vs (Copenhagen, 1874), rev. 1892, fs,
nos.4, 8 (Leipzig, 1893), GGA xix: 1 Innledning til Akt I, 2 Borghilds
drøm [Borghild's Dream], 3 Ved mannjevningen [At the Matching
Game], 4 Norrønafolket [The Northland Folk], 5 Hyldningsmarsj
[Homage March], 6 Mellomspill I [Interlude I], 7 Mellomspill II, 8
Kongekvadet [The King's Song], Hornsignaler [Horn Signals]
Page 16 of 33
23 Peer Gynt (incid music, H. Ibsen), solo vv, chorus, orch, 1874–75,
Christiania, 24 Feb 1876, vs, nos.1, 4, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19,
21, 26 (Copenhagen, 1876), rev. 1885, 1891–2, 1902, fs, vs
(Leipzig, 1908), GGA xviii
Act 1: I bryllupsgården [At the Wedding, Prelude to Act

1], 2 Halling, 3 Springar [Nor. dances]
Act 2: 4 Bruderovet. Ingrids klage [The Abduction of the

Bride. Ingrid's Lament], 5 Peer Gynt og seterjentene
[Peer Gynt and the Herd Girls], 6 Peer Gynt og Den
grønnkledte [Peer Gynt and the Woman in Green], 7
Peer Gynt: ‘På ridestellet skal storfolk kjendes!’ [Peer
Gynt: ‘You can tell great men by the style of their
mounts!’], 8 I Dovregubbens hall [In the Hall of the
Mountain King], 9 Dans av Dovregubbens datter [Dance
of the Mountain King's Daughter], 10 Peer Gynt jages av
troll [Peer Gynt hunted by the Trolls], 11 Peer Gynt og
Bøygen [Peer Gynt and The Bøyg]
Act 3: 12 Åses død [The Death of Åse, Prelude to Act 3]
Act 4: 13 Morgenstemning [Morning Mood], 14 Tyven og

heleren [The Thief and the Receiver], 15 Arabisk dans
[Arabian Dance], 16 Anitras dans [Anitra's Dance], 17
Peer Gynts serenade [Peer Gynt's Serenade], 18 Peer
Gynt og Anitra [Peer Gynt and Anitra], 19 Solveigs sang
[Solveig's Song], 20 Peer Gynt ved Memnonstøtten
[Peer Gynt at the Statue of Memnon]
Act 5: 21 Peer Gynts hjemfart. Stormfull aften ved havet

[Peer Gynt's Homecoming. Stormy Evening on the Sea,
Prelude to Act 5], 22 Skipsforliset [The Shipwreck], 23
Solveig synger i hytten [Solveig sings in the Hut], 24
Nattscene [Night Scene], 25 Pinsesalme: Velsignede
morgen [Whitsun Hymn: Oh Blessed Morning], 26
Solveigs vuggevise [Solveig's Cradle Song]
50 Olav Trygvason (op, Bjørnson), inc., 1873, rev. and orchd 1888–
89, vs (Leipzig, 1889), fs (Leipzig, 1890), GGA xix: Scene i: Skjult i
de mange manende navne [Though to Whom Fancy Lends Many
Titles], Scene ii: Ej er det nok naevne ved Navn [Tis not Enough
that ye Invoke], Scene iii: Giv alle Guder gammens og gledesskål
[Give to all Gods a Grace-Cup of Gratitude]
Page 17 of 33
Other vocal works with orchestra
— Christie-Kantate (Munch), TTBB, military band, EG 158 [for unveiling of Christie monument in Bergen], 1868, GGA xvi
20 Foran sydens kloster [Before a Southern Convent] (from Bjørnson: Arnljot Gelline), S, A, female chorus, orch, 1871, vs
(Copenhagen, 1871), fs (Leipzig, 1876), GGA xvi
31 Landkjending [Land-Sighting] (Bjørnson), Bar, TTBB, orch, org ad lib, 1872, rev 1873, 1881 (Leipzig, 1881), GGA xvi
[also with hmn/org acc. in Sangbog for mandssangforeninger, ed. J.D. Behrens, vi/55 (Christiania, 1881)]
32 Den bergtekne [The Mountain Thrall] (Nor trad.), Bar, 2 hn, str, 1877–8 (Copenhagen, 1882), GGA xvi
42 Bergliot (Bjørnson), melodrama, spkr, orch, 1871, orchd 1885 (Leipzig, 1887), GGA xvi
— Sechs Lieder mit Orchester, v, orch, EG 177, 1894–5 (Leipzig, 1895–6), GGA xvi: 1 Solveigs sang (Ibsen), 1874–5, rev.
1892 [op.23/19], 2 Solveigs vuggevise (Ibsen), 1874–5, rev. 1892 [op.23/26], 3 Fra Monte Pincio (Bjørnson), 1870 [op.
39/1], 4 En svane (Ibsen), 1876 [op.25/2, 5 Våren (A.O. Vinje), 1880 [op.33/2], 6 Henrik Wergeland (J. Paulsen), 1893–4
[op.58/3]
Orchestral
— Ouverture, 1862, inc., lost
— Symphony, c, EG 119, 1863–4, N-Bo, GGA xi [slow movt and scherzo arr. pf 4 hands as op.14]
11 I høst [In Autumn; Im Herbst], ov., 1866, rev., orchd 1887 (Leipzig, 1888), GGA xi [orig. for pf 4 hands]
— Sørgemarsj over Rikard Nordraak [Funeral March in Memory of Rikard Nordraak; Trauermarsch zum Andenken an
Richard Nordraak’], EG 107, 1866, rev. 1878, orchd 1892 (Leipzig, 1899), GGA xiii [orig. for pf]
16 Piano Concerto, a, 1868 (Leipzig, 1872), rev. 1907, GGA x
34 To elegiske melodier [Two Elegiac Melodies; Zwei elegische Melodien], str, 1880 (Leipzig, 1881), GGA ix, 1 Hjertsår
[from song op.33/3], 2 Våren [from song op.33/2]
— Piano Concerto, EG 120, b, 1882–3, inc., N-Bo, GGA x
[40] Fra Holbergs tid [From Holberg's Time; Aus Holbergs Zeit], str, 1885 (Leipzig, 1885, GGA ix [orig. for pf]
46 Peer Gynt, suite no.1, 1874–5, rev. 1885, 1888 (Leipzig, 1888), GGA xii [op.23/13, 12, 16, 8]
[51] Gammelnorsk romanse med variasjoner [Old Norwegian Melody with Variations; Altnorwegische Romanze mit
Variationen, 1890, orchd 1900–05 (Leipzig, 1906), GGA xiii [orig. for 2 pf]
53 To melodier [Two Melodies; Zwei Melodien], 1891 (Leipzig, 1891), GGA ix: 1 Norsk [from song op.33/12] 2 Det første
møde [from song op. 21/1]
Page 18 of 33
[54] Lyrisk suite [Lyric Suite; Lyrische Suite] 1891, orchd 1904 (Leipzig, 1905), GGA xiii [from pf pieces op.54/1, 2, 4, 3]; also
no.6, GGA xiii
55 Peer Gynt, suite no.2, 1874–5, rev. 1885, 1890–92 (Leipzig, 1893), GGA xii [op.23/4, 15, 21, 19]
56 Sigurd Jorsalfar, 3 orch pieces, 1872, rev. 1892 (Leipzig, 1893), GGA xii
63 To nordiske melodier [Two Nordic Melodies; Zwei nordische Weisen], str, 1895 (Leipzig, 1896), GGA ix: 1, I
folketonestil [melody by Fredrik Due], 2 Kulok & Stabbelåten [Cow-Call and Peasant Dance, from op.17/22, 18]
64 Symfoniske danser [Symphonic Dances; Symphonische Tänze], 1896–8 (Leipzig, 1898), GGA xi: Allegro moderato e
marcato, Allegretto grazioso, Allegro giocoso, Andante-Allegro risoluto
68 To lyriske stykker [Two Lyric Pieces; Zwei lyrische Stücke], 1898–9 (Leipzig, 1899), GGA ix: 1 Aften på høyfjellet
[Evening in the Mountains], ob, hn, str [from pf piece op.68/4], 2 Bådnlåt [At the Cradle], str orch [from pf piece op.
68/5]
Choral with piano or unaccompanied

for unaccompanied male voices unless otherwise stated
all in GGA xvii
— Dona nobis pacem, mixed vv, EG 159, 1862
— Fire sanger [Four Songs], EG 160, 1863: 1 Norsk Krigssang [Norwegian War-Song] (H. Wergeland), 2 Fredriksborg (C.
Richardt), 3 Studereliv [Student Life] (Richardt), 4 Den sildige Rose [The Late Rose] (Munch)
— Rückblick, mixed vv, pf, 1863, lost
— (H.C. Andersen), EG 161, 1864 Danmark [Denmark]
— Aftenstemning [Evening Mood] and Bjørneskytten [The Bear-Hunter] (J. Moe), EG 162, 1867, in Samling af
flerstemmige mandssange, ed. Behrens, v/454–5 (Christiania, 1867)
— Faedrelandssang (Bjørnson), 1867, arr. 1868, [from pf piece op.12/8] in Samling af flerstemmige mandssange, ed.
Behrens, v/479 (Christiania, 1868)
— Serenade til J.S. Welhaven (Bjørnson), 1868, in Samling af flerstemmige mandssange, ed. Behrens, v/474 (Christiania,
1868), arr. with Bar, 1869 (Copenhagen, 1869) [version for 1v, pf op. 18/9]
— Norsk sjømandssang [Norwegian Sailors’ Song] (Bjørnson), EG 163, 1869, in Sangbog for mandssangforeninger, ed.
Behrens, vi/15 (Christiania, 1870)
— Kantate til Karl Hals, (Bjørnson), T, female vv, mixed vv, EG 164, 1874
Page 19 of 33
— Ved Welhavens baare [At Welhaven's Grave] (Moe), EG 165, 1873, in Firstemmig mandssangbog, ed. Behrens, vii/8
(Christiania, 1876)
— Opsang til frihedsfolket i Norden [Song of the Supporters of Freedom in Scandinavia] (Bjørnson), EG 166, 1874, in
Dansk folketidende, ix (1874) no.30
— Ved Halfdan Kjerulfs Mindestøtte [At the Halfdan Kjerulf Statue] (cant., Munch), T, male vv, EG 167, 1874, in Sangbog
for mandssangforeninger, ed. Behrens, vi/734 (Christiania, 1875)
— Inga Litamor [Little Inga], with Bar, EG 168, ?1878 [?from folksong]
30 Album for mandssang, fritt efter norske folkeviser [Album for Male Voices, Freely Arranged from Norwegian
Folksongs], 1877–8 (Christiania, 1878): 1 Jeg lagde mig så sildig [I Lay Down so Late], 2 Bådn-låt [Children's Song], 3
Torø liti [Little Torø], 4 Kvålins halling [Kvålin's Halling], 5 Dae ae den største dårleheit [It is the Greatest Foolishness],
6 Springdans, 7 Han Ole [Young Ole], 8 Halling, 9 Dejligst blandt kvinder [Fairest among Women], 10 Den store, hvide
flok [The Great White Host], 11 Fantegutten [The Gipsy Lad], 12 Røtnams-Knut
— Ved Rondane [At Rondane] (A.O. Vinje) female vv [from song op.33/9, year of arr. unknown]
— Min dejligste Tanke [My Finest Thought] and Vårt Løsen [Our Watchword] (O. Lofthus), EG 169, 1881, in Firstemmig
kor- og kvartet-sangbog, ed. Behrens, viii/4, 19 (Christiania, 1882)
— Sangerhilsen [Greeting to the Singers] (S. Skavlan), EG 170, 1883, in Firstemmig mandssangbog, ed. Behrens, vii/97
(Christiania, 1883)
— Holberg-kantate (N. Rolfsen), with Bar, EG 171, 1884 (Christiania, 1896)
— Valgsang: hvad siger de dog om dig [Election Song: What are they saying about you?] (Bjørnson), EG 149, 1893
(Christiania, 1894) [also for 1v, pf]
— Flaggvise [Song of the Flag] (J. Brun), EG 172, 1893
— Kristianiensernes sangerhilsen [Greeting from Christiania's Singers] (J. Lie), EG 173, with Bar, 1895 (Christiania, 1896)
— Sporven [The Sparrow], female vv, 1895 [arr. of song, EG 152d]
— Jaedervise [Westerly Wind] (J. Dahl), EG 174, 1896
— Impromptu (Bjørnson), EG 175, 1896
— Til Ole Bull [To Ole Bull] (Welhaven), EG 176, 1901
74 Fire salmer [Four Psalms; Vier Psalmer], Bar, mixed vv, 1906, (Leipzig, 1907): 1 Hvad est du dog skjøn [How Fair is Thy
Face] (H.A. Brorson), 2 Guds Søn har gjort mig fri [God's Son hath Set me Free] (Brorson), 3 Jesus Kristus er opfaren
[Jesus Christ Our Lord is Risen] (H. Thomissøn, after Luther), 4 I Himmelen [In Heaven above] (Laurentius Laurentii
Laurinus)
Page 20 of 33
Songs
with piano
in GGA xiv–xv, unless otherwise stated
English translations as given in GGA
— Ser du havet? [Look at the Sea] (E. Geibel), EG 121, 1859
— Den syngende Menighed [The Singing Congregation] (N.F.S. Grundtvig), EG 122, 1860
2 Vier Lieder, A, pf, 1861 (Leipzig, 1863): 1 Die Müllerin (A. von Chamisso), 2 Eingehüllt in graue Wolken (H. Heine), 3 Ich
stand in dunkeln Träumen (Heine), 4 Was soll ich sagen? (Chamisso)
4 Seks digte, 1863–4 (Copenhagen, 1864): 1 Die Waise (Chamisso), 2 Morgentau (Chamisso), 3 Abschied (Heine), 4
Jägerlied (L. Uhland), 5 Das alte Lied (Heine), 6 Wo sind sie hin? (Heine)
5 Hjertets melodier [Melodies of the Heart] (Andersen), 1864 (Copenhagen, 1865): 1 To brune øjne [Two Brown Eyes], 2
Du fatter ei bølgernes evige gang [The Poet's Heart], 3 Jeg elsker dig [I Love but Thee], 4 Min tanke er et maegtigt fjeld
[My Mind is like the Mountain Steep]
— Til kirken hun vandrer [Devoutest of Maidens] (B. Feddersen, after Groth), EG 123, 1864
— Klaras sang af ‘Frieriet paa Helgoland’ [Clara's Song from ‘Courting on Helgoland’] (Feddersen, after L. Schneider), EG
124, 1864
— Soldaten [The Soldier] (Chamisso), EG 125, 1865 (Copenhagen, 1908)
— Min lille fugl [My Little Bird] (Andersen), EG 126, 1865 (Copenhagen, 1895)
— Dig elsker jeg! [I Love You, Dear] (Caralis [Preetzmann]), EG 127, 1865 (Copenhagen, 1908)
— Taaren [Tears] (Andersen), EG 128, 1865 (Copenhagen, 1908)
9 Romancer og ballader (Munch), 1863–6 (Copenhagen, 1866): 1 Harpen [The Harp], 2 Vuggesang [Cradle Song], 3
Solnedgang [Sunset], 4 Udfarten [Outward Bound]
10 Fire Romancer (C. Winther), 1864–6 (Copenhagen, 1866): 1 Taksigelse [Thanks], 2 Skovsang [Woodland Song], 3
Blomsterne tale [Song of the Flowers], 4 Sang paa fjeldet [Song on the Mountain]
— Vesle gut [Little Lad] (K. Janson), EG 129, 1866
— Den blonde pige [The Fair-Haired Maid] (Bjørnson), first setting, EG 130, 1867 (Copenhagen, 1908)
15 Romancer, 1864–8 (Copenhagen, 1868): 1 Margretes vuggesang [Margaret's Cradle Song] (Ibsen), 2 Kjaerlighed [Love]
(Andersen), 3 Langelandsk folkemelodi [Folksong from Langeland] (Andersen), 4 Modersorg [A Mother's Grief]
(Richardt)
Page 21 of 33
18 Romancer og. sange, 1865–9 (Copenhagen, 1869): 1 Vandring i skoven [Moonlit Forest] (Andersen), 2 Hun er saa hvid
[My Darling is as White as Snow] (Andersen), 3 En digters sidste sang [The Poet's Farewell] (Andersen), 4
Efteraarsstormen [Autumn Storms] (Richardt), 5 Poesien [Posy] (Andersen), 6 Ungbirken [The Young Birch] (Moe), 7
Hytten [The Cottage] (Andersen), 8 Rosenknoppen [The Rosebud] (Andersen), 9 Serenade til Welhaven (Bjørnson)
— Odalisken synger [The Odalisque] (C. Bruun), EG 131, 1870 (Copenhagen, 1872)
— Bergmanden [The Miner] (Ibsen), EG 132, inc., c1870
— Prinsessen [The Princess] (Bjørnson), EG 133, 1871 (Copenhagen, 1871)
21 Fire Digte fra ‘Fiskerjenten’ [Four Songs from ‘The Fisher Maiden’] (Bjørnson), 1870–72 (Copenhagen, 1873): 1 Det
første møde [The First Meeting], 2 God morgen! [Good Morning!], 3 Jeg giver mit digt til våren [To Springtime my Song
I'm Singing], 4 Takk for dit råd [Say What You Will]
— Suk [Sighs] (Bjørnson), EG 134, 1873 (Copenhagen, 1908)
— Til L.M. Lindemans Sølvbryllup [For L.M. Lindemans's Silver Wedding Anniversary] (V. Nikolajsen), EG 135, 1873
— Til Generalkonsul Chr. Tønsberg [To Chr. Tønsberg] (J. Bøgh), EG 136, 1873 (Christiania, 1873)
— Den hvide, røde rose [The White and Red Roses] (Bjørnson), EG 137, 1873
— Den blonde Pige (Bjørnson), second setting, EG 138, 1874
— Morgenbøn paa skolen [Morning Prayer at School] (F. Gjertsen), EG 139, 1875 (Copenhagen, 1875)
25 Sex digte (Ibsen), 1876 (Copenhagen, 1876): 1 Spillemaend [Fiddlers], 2 En svane [A Swan], 3 Stam-bogsrim [Album
Lines], 4 Med en vandlilie [With a Waterlily], 5 Borte! [Departed!], 6 En fuglevise [A Birdsong]
26 Fem digte (J. Paulsen), 1876 (Copenhagen, 1876): 1 Et håb [Hope], 2 Jeg reiste en deilig sommerkvaeld [I Walked One
Balmy Summer Eve], 3 Den aergjerrige [You Whispered that You Loved Me], 4 Med en primula veris [The First
Primrose], 5 På skogstien [Autumn Thoughts]
33 Tolv melodier (Vinje), 1873–80 (Copenhagen, 1881): 1 Guten [The Youth], 2 Våren [Last Spring], 3 Den Saerde [The
Wounded Heart], 4 Tyteberet [The Berry], 5 Langs ei å [Beside the Stream], 6 Eit syn [A Vision], 7 Gamle mor [The Old
Mother], 8 Det første [The First Thing], 9 Ved Rondane [At Rondane], 10 Et vennestykke [A Piece on Friendship], 11
Trudom [Faith], 12 Fyremål [The Goal]
— Paa Hamars Ruiner [On the Ruins of Hamar] (Vinje), EG 140, 1880 (Copenhagen, 1908)
— Jenta [The Lass] (Vinje), EG 141, 1880
— Attegløyma [The Forgotten Maid] (Vinje), EG 142, 1880 (Oslo, 1880)
— Dyre Vaa (Welhaven), EG 143, inc., c1880
Page 22 of 33
39 Romancer (aeldre og nyere), 1869–84 (Copenhagen, 1884): 1 Fra Monte Pincio [From Monte Pincio] (Bjørnson), 2 Dulgt
kjaerlighed [Hidden Love] (Bjørnson), 3 liden højt deroppe [Upon a Grassy Hillside] (J. Lie), 4 Millom rosor [Neath the
Roses] (Janson), 5 Ved en ung hustrus båre [At the Grave of a Young Wife] (O.P. Monrad), 6 Hører jeg sangen klinge
[Hearing a Song or Carol] (Heine)
— Under juletraeet [Beneath the Christmas Tree] (Rolfsen), EG 144, 1885 (Bergen, 1885)
44 Rejseminder fra fjeld og fjord [Reminiscences from Mountain and Fjord] (H. Drachmann), 1886 (Copenhagen, 1886): 1
Prolog, 2 Johanne, 3 Ragnhild, 4 Ingebjørg, 5 Ragna, 6 Epilog
— Ragnhild, EG 181, GGA xx [same text as op.44/3]
— Blåbaeret [The Blueberry] (D. Grønvold), EG 145, 1886
48 Seks sange 1884–8 (Leipzig, 1889): 1 Gruss (Heine), 2 Dereinst, Gedanke mein (Geibel), 3 Lauf der Welt (L. Uhland), 4
Die verschwiegene Nachtigall (Walther von der Vogelweide), 5 Zur Rosenzeit (J.W. von Goethe), 6 Ein Traum (F.M.
Bodenstedt)
49 Seks digte (Drachmann), 1886–89 (Leipzig, 1889): 1 Saa du Knøsen, som strøg forbi? [Tell me now, Did You See the
Lad?], 2 Vug, o vove [Rocking on Gentle Waves], 3 Vaer hilset, i damer [Kind Greetings, Fair Ladies], 4 Nu er aftnen lys
og lang [Now is Evening Light and Long], 5 Jule-sne [Christmas Snow], 6 Foraarsregn [Spring Showers]
— Påskesang [Easter Song] (A. Böttger), EG 146, 1889 (Leipzig, 1906)
— Simpel sang [A Simple Song] (Drachmann), EG 147, 1889 (Copenhagen, 1908)
— Du retter tidt dit øjepar [You Often Fix Your Gaze] (Drachmann), EG 148, inc., 1889
— Valgsang [Election Song] (Bjørnson), EG 149, 1893 (Christiania, 1894) [also for male vv]
— Ave, maris stella, EG 150, 1893 (Copenhagen, 1893)
— Faedrelandssang [National Song] (Paulsen), EG 151, c1890
58 Norge (Paulsen), 1893–4 (Copenhagen, 1894): 1 Hjemkomst [Homeward], 2 Til Norge, 3 Henrik Wergeland, 4 Turisten
[The Shepherdess], 5 Udvandreren [The Emigrant]
59 Elegiske digte (Paulsen), 1893–4 (Copenhagen, 1894): 1 Når jeg vil dø [Autumn Farewell], 2 På Norges nøgne fjelde
[The Pine Tree], 3 Til Én, I [To Her], 4 Til Én, II, 5 Farvel [Goodbye], 6 Nu Hviler du i Jorden [Your Eyes are Closed
Forever]
60 Digte (V. Krag), 1893–4 (Copenhagen, 1894): 1 Liden Kirsten [Little Kirsten], 2 Moderen synger [The Mothers Lament], 3
Mens jeg venter [On the Water], 4 Der skreg en fugl [A Bird Cried out], 5 Og jeg vil ha mig en Hjertenskjaer [Midsummer
Eve]
61 Barnlige Sange [Children's Songs], 1894 (Christiania, 1895): 1 Havet [The Ocean] (Rolfsen), 2 Sang til juletraeet [The
Christmas Tree] (J. Krohn), 3 Lok [Farmyard Song] (Bjørnson), 4 Fiskervise [Fisherman's Song] (P. Dass), 5 Kveldssang
for Blakken [Goodnight Song for Dobbin] (Rolfsen), 6 De norske fjelde [The Norwegian Mountains] (Rolfsen), 7
Faedrelandssalme [Fatherland Hymn] (Rolfsen)
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67 Haugtussa [The Mountain Maid] (A. Garborg), 1895 (Copenhagen, 1898): 1 Det syng [The Enticement], 2 Veslemøy, 3
Blåbaer-li [Blueberry Slope], 4 Møte [The Tryst], 5 Elsk [Love], 6 Killingdans [Kidlings' Dance], 7 Vond dag [Hurtful
Day], 8 Ved gjaetle-bekken [At the Brook]
— Other Songs from Garborg: Haugtussa, not incl. in op.67, EG 152, 1895: 1 Prolog, inc., 2 Veslemøy ved Rokken
[Veslemøy at the Spinning-Wheel], inc., 3 Kvelding [Evening], inc., 4 Sporven [The Sparrow] [also for female vv], 5
Fyrevarsel [Warning], inc., 6 I slåtten [In the Hayfield], 7 Veslemøy undrast [Veslemøy Wondering], 8 Dømd [Doomed],
9 Den snilde guten [The Nice Boy], inc., 10 Veslemøy lengtar [Veslemøy Longing], 11 Skog-glad [Forest Joy], inc., 12
Ku-lok [Cow-Call]
— Jeg elsket [I Loved Him] (Bjørnson), EG 153, 1896 (Copenhagen, 1908)
69 Fem Digte (O. Benzon), 1900 (Copenhagen, 1900): 1 Der gynger en båd på bølge [A Boat on the Waves Is Rocking], 2 Til
min dreng [To my Son], 3 Ved moders grav [At Mother’s Grave], 4 Snegl, snegl! [Snail, Snail!], 5 Drømme [Dreams]
70 Fem Digte (Benzon), 1900 (Copenhagen, 1900): 1 Eros, 2 Jeg lever et liv i laengsel [A Life of Longing], 3 Lys nat
[Summer Night], 4 Se dig for [Walk with Care], 5 Digtervise [A Poet's Song]
— To a Devil (Benzon), EG 154, 1900
— Julens vuggesang [Yuletide Cradle-Song] (A. Langsted), EG 155, 1900 (Copenhagen, 1900)
— Gentlemen-menige [Gentlemen Rankers] (R. Johnsen, after R. Kipling), EG 156, 1900
— Jaegeren [The Hunter] (W. Schulz), EG 157, 1905 (Copenhagen, 1908)
Chamber
— String Quartet, d, 1861, lost
— Fugue, f, str, 1861, EG 114, GGA ix
8 Sonata no.1, F, vn, pf, 1865 (Leipzig, 1865), GGA viii
— Intermezzo, a, vc, pf, EG 115, 1866, GGA ix
13 Sonata no.2, G, vn, pf, 1867 (Leipzig, 1871), GGA viii
— Ved mannjevningen [At the Matching Game], march, vn, pf, 1867, GGA viii [from op.22/3]
27 String Quartet, g, 1877–8 (Leipzig, 1879), GGA ix
— Andante con moto, pf trio, EG 116, 1878, GGA ix
36 Sonata, a, vc, pf, 1882–3 (Leipzig, 1883), GGA viii
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45 Sonata no.3, c, vn, pf, 1886 (Leipzig, 1887), GGA, viii
— String Quartet, F, EG 117, inc., 1891, movts 1–2 (Leipzig, 1908), GGA ix, movts 3–4, GGA xx
— Piano Quintet, B♭, EG 118, inc., GGA ix
Piano solo
— Larvikspolka, EG 101, 1858, GGA xx
— Tre klaverstykker, EG 102, 1858–9 [= EG 104/2, 6, 5]
— Ni barnestykker, EG 103, 1858–9 [=EG 104/4, 9, 10, 19, 21, 18, 13, 16, 7]
— 23 småstykker, EG 104, 1858–9, GGA xx: 1 Allegro agitato, 2 Allegro desiderio (Sehnsucht), 3 Scherzo: Molto allegro
vivace, 4 Andante, quasi allegretto, 5 Allegro assai, 6 Allegro con moto, 7 Andante, quasi allegretto (Ein Traum), 8
Allegro assai, 9 Andante moderato (Perlen), 10 Andante con gravità (Bei Gellerts Grab), 11 Vivace, 12 Präludium:
Largo con estro poetico, 13 Allegretto con moto, 14 Allegretto con moto, 15 Zwei-stimmiges Präludium: Con
passione, 16 Allegro assai, quasi presto (Scherzo), 17 Molto adagio religioso, 18 Allegro molto (Der fünfte
Geburtstag), 19 Andante moderato (Gebet), 20 Allegro vivace, 21 Andante moderato (Verlust), 22 Nicht zu schnell,
ruhig, 23 Assai allegro furioso
— Tre klaverstykker, EG 105, 1860, GGA xx
1 Vier Stücke, 1861–3 (Leipzig, 1863), GGA ii
3 [6] poetiske tonebilleder, 1863 (Copenhagen, 1864), GGA ii
6 [4] Humoresker, 1865 (Copenhagen, 1865), GGA ii
7 Sonata, e, 1865 (Leipzig, 1866), GGA ii, rev. 1887 (Leipzig, 1887)
— Agitato, EG 106, 1865, GGA xx
— Sørgemarsj over Rikard Nordraak [Funeral March in Memory of Rikard Nordraak], EG 107, 1866 (Copenhagen, 1866),
GGA ii
12 Lyriske småstykker [Lyric Pieces, i], 1864–7 (Copenhagen, 1867), GGA i: 1 Arietta, 2 Vals, 3 Vaegtersang [Watchman's
Song], 4 Alfedans [Fairy Dance], 5 Folkevise, 6 Norsk, 7 Albumblad, 8 Faedrelandssang
17 25 norske folkeviser og dandse, 1869 (Bergen, 1870), GGA iii [after L.M. Lindeman: Aeldre og nyere norske
fjeldmelodier]: 1 Spring laat, 2 Ungersvenden [The Swain], 3 Springdands, 4 Nils Tallfjoren, 5 Jølstring [Dance from
Jølser], 6 Brulaat [Wedding Tune], 7 Halling, 8 Grisen [The Pig], 9 Naar mit øje [Religious Song], 10 Aa Ole engang i
Sinde fik at beile [The Wooer's Song], 11 Paa Dovrefjeld I Norge [Heroic Ballad], 12 Solfager og Ormekongen
[Solfager and the Snake-King], 13 Reiselaat [Wedding March], 14 Jeg sjunger med sorrigfuldt hjerte [I Sing with a
Sorrowful Heart], 15 Den sidste laurdags kvelden [Last Saturday Evening], 16 Je vet en liten gjente [I know a Little
Page 25 of 33
Maiden], 17 Aa kleggen han sa no te flugga si [The Gadfly and the Fly], 18 Stabbe-laaten [Peasant Dance], 19 Hølje
dale, 20 Halling, 21 Saebygga [The Woman from Setesdal], 22 So lokka me over den myra [Cow-Call], 23 Saag du
nokke kjaerringa mi [Peasant Song], 24 Brulaatten [Wedding Tune], 25 Rabnabryllup i Kraakalund [The Raven's
Wedding in Kraakalund]
19 Folkelivsbilleder, 1869–71 (Copenhagen, 1872), GGA ii: 1 Fjeldslåt [In the Mountains], 2 Brudefølget drager forbi
[Bridal Procession], 3 Fra karnevalet [From the Carnival]
[22] Sigurd Jorsalfar, 1874 (Copenhagen, 1874), GGA iv [from op.22/2, 3, 5]
— Norges melodier, 154 arrs., EG 108, 1874–5 (Copenhagen, 1875) GGA iii, 6 pubd. as Sex norske Fjeldmelodier
(Copenhagen, 1886)
[23] Peer Gynt, 1876 (Copenhagen, 1876), GGA iv [from op.23/12, 15, 16, 19]
24 Ballade in Form von Variationen über eine norwegische Melodie, 1875–6 (Leipzig, 1876), GGA ii
— Albumblad, EG 109 (Christiania, 1878), GGA xx
28 Fire/albumblade (Christiania, 1878), GGA ii: 1 Allegro con moto, A♭, 1864, 2 Allegro espressivo, F, 1874, 3 Vivace, A,
1876, 4 Andantino serioso, c♯, 1878,
29 Improvisata over to norske folkeviser, 1878 (Christiania, 1878), GGA iii
[34] Zwei elegische Melodien, 1887 (Leipzig, 1887), GGA iv [red. of orch score]
[35] Norwegische Tänze, 1887 (Leipzig, 1887), GGA iv [orig. for 4 hands]
[37] Walzer-Capricen, 1887 (Leipzig, 1887), GGA iv [orig. for 4 hands]
38 Neue lyrische Stückchen [Lyric Pieces, ii] (Leipzig, 1884), GGA i: 1 Berceuse, 1883, 2 Volksweise, ?1883, 3 Melodie,
1883, 4 Halling, 1883, 5 Springtanz, 1883, 6 Elegie, 1883, 7 Walzer, 1866, rev. 1883, 8 Canon, c1877–8
40 Fra Holbergs tid [From Holberg's Time], 1884 (Copenhagen, 1885), GGA ii: 1 Preludium, 2 Sarabande, 3 Gavotte, 4 Air,
5 Rigaudon
41 Klavierstücke nach eigenen Liedern, 1884 (Leipzig, 1885), GGA ii: 1 Vuggesang [from op.9/2], 2 Margretes vuggesang
[from op.15/1], 3 Jeg elsker dig [from op.5/3], 4 Hun er saa hvid [from op.18/2], 5 Prinsessen [from EG 133], Jeg giver
mit digt til våren [from op.21/3]
43 Lyrische Stückchen [Lyric Pieces, iii], 1886 (Leipzig, 1887), GGA i: 1 Schmetterling, 2 Einsamer Wanderer, 3 In der
Heimat, 4 Vöglein, 5 Erotik, 6 An den Frühling
[46] Peer Gynt, suite no.1, 1888 (Leipzig, 1888), GGA iv [red. of orch score]
47 Lyrische Stückchen [Lyric Pieces, iv], 1886–8 (Leipzig, 1888), GGA i: 1 Valse-Impromptu, 2 Albumblatt, 3 Melodie, 4
Halling, 5 Melancholie, 6 Springtanz, 7 Elegie
[50] Gebet und Tempeltanz aus Olav Trygvason, 1893 (Leipzig, 1893), GGA iv [from Olav Trygvason, op.50]
Page 26 of 33
[53] Zwei Melodien, 1890 (Leipzig, 1891), GGA iv [red. of orch. score]
54 Lyrische Stücke [Lyric Pieces, v], 1889–91 (Leipzig, 1891), GGA i: 1 Gjaetergut [A Shepherd Boy], 2 Gangar [Nor.
march], 3 Troldtog [March of the Dwarfs], 4 Notturno, 5 Scherzo, 6 Klokkeklang [Bell Ringing]
[55] Peer Gynt, suite no.2, 1893 (Leipzig, 1893), GGA iv [red. of orch score]
[56] Drei Orchesterstücke aus ‘Sigurd Jorsalfar’, 1892 (Leipzig, 1893), GGA iv [red. of orch score]
57 Lyrische Stücke [Lyric Pieces, vi], 1890–3 (Leipzig, 1893), GGA i: 1 Entschwundene Tage, 2 Gade, 3 Illusion, 4
Geheimniss, 5 Sie tanzt, 6 Heimweh
62 Lyrische Stücke [Lyric Pieces, vii], 1893–5 (Leipzig, 1895), GGA i: 1 Sylfide [Sylph], 2 Tak [Gratitude], 3 Fransk
serenade, 4 Baekken [Brooklet], 5 Drømmesyn [Phantom], 6 Hjemad [Homeward]
[63] Zwei nordische Weisen, 1895 (Leipzig, 1896), GGA iv [red. of orch score]
65 Lyrische Stücke [Lyric Pieces, viii], 1896 (Leipzig, 1897), GGA i: 1 Fra ungdomsdagene [From Early Years], 2 Bondens
sang [Peasant's Song], 3 Tungsind [Melancholy], 4 Salon, 5 I balladetone [Ballad], 6 Bryllupsdag på Troldhaugen
[Wedding-Day at Troldhaugen]
66 19 norske folkeviser, 1896–7 (Leipzig, 1897), GGA iii: 1 Kulok [Cow-Call], 2 Det er den største dårlighed [It is the
Greatest Foolishness], 3 En konge hersket i Østerland [A King Ruled in the East], 4 Siri Dale-visen [The Siri Dale
Song], 5 Det var i min ungdom [It was in my Youth], 6 Lok og bådnlåt [Cow-Call and Lullaby], 7 Bådnlåt [Lullaby], 8
Lok [Cow-Call], 9 Liten va guten [Small was the Lad], 10 Morgo ska du få gifte deg [Tomorrow you shall Marry her], 11
Der stander to piger [There Stood Two Girls], 12 Ranveig, 13 En liten grå man [A Little Grey Man], 14 I Ola-dalom, i
Ola-kjønn [In Ola Valley, in Ola Lake], 15 Bådnlåt, 16 Ho vesle Astrid vår [Little Astrid], 17 Bådnlåt, 18 Jeg går i tusen
tanker [I Wander Deep in Thought], 19 Gjendines bådnlåt [Gjendine's Lullaby]
— Hvide skyer [White Clouds], EG 110, 1898 (Copenhagen, 1908), GGA xx
— Tusselåt [Procession of Gnomes], EG 111, 1898 (Copenhagen, 1908), GGA xx
— Dansen går [In the Whirl of the Dance], EG 112, 1898 (Copenhagen, 1908), GGA xx
68 Lyrische Stücke [Lyric Pieces, ix], 1897–9 (Leipzig, 1899), GGA i; 1 Matrosernes opsang [Sailors' Song], 2 Bedstemors
menuet [Grandmother's Minuet], 3 For dine fødder [At your Feet], 4 Aften på højfjeldet [Evening in the Mountains], 5
Bådnlåt [Lullaby], 6 Valse mélancolique
71 Lyrische Stücke [Lyric Pieces x], 1901 (Leipzig, 1901), GGA i: 1 Det var engang [Once upon a Time], 2 Someraften
[Summer's Eve], 3 Småtrold [Puck], 4 Skovstilhed [Peace of the Woods], 5 Halling, 6 Forbi [Gone], 7 Efterklang
[Remembrances]
72 Slåtter [Nor. dances], 1902–3 (Leipzig, 1903), GGA iii: 1 Gibøens bruremarsch [Gibøen's Bridal March], 2 Jon Vestafes
springdans, 3 Bruremarsch fra Telemark [Bridal March from Telemark], 4 Haugelåt: halling [Halling from the Fairy
Hill], 5 Prillaren fra Os Prestegjeld: Springdans [The Prillar from Os Parish], 6 Gangar (etter Myllarguten)
[Myllarguten's Gangar], 7 Røtnams-Knut: halling, 8 Bruremarsch (etter Myllarguten), 9 Nils Rekves halling, 10 Knut
Luråsens halling, I, 11 Knut Luråsens halling, II, 12 Springdans (etter Myllarguten), 13 Håvard Gibøens draum ved
Page 27 of 33
Oterholtsbrua: Springdans [Håvard Gibøen's Dream at the Oterholt Bridge], 14 Tussebrurefaerda på Vossevangen:
Gangar [The Goblins' Bridal Procession at Vossevangen], 15 Skuldalsbruri: Gangar [The Skuldal Bride], 16
Kivlemøyane: Springdans [The Maidens from Kivledal], 17 Kivlemøyane: Gangar
73 Stimmungen [Moods], 1898–1905 (Leipzig, 1905), GGA ii: 1 Resignation, 2 Scherzo-Impromptu, 3 Natligt ridt [A Ride
at Night], 4 Folketone, 5 Studie (Hommage à Chopin); 6 Studenternes serenade, 7 Lualåt [The Mountaineer's Song]
— Ved Halfdan Kjerulfs mindestøtte, EG 167, GGA iv [orig. for male vv, 1874]
Works for two/four pianists
Piano 4 hands, all in GGA v
11 I høst [In Autumn], fantasy, 1866 (Stockholm, 1867)
14 Deux pieces symphoniques, 1869 (Copenhagen, 1869) [red. of movts 2 and 3 from Sym., c, EG 119]
— Allegretto quasi andantino, 1869 [from Violin Sonata no.1, movt 2]
[19/2] Norwegischer Brautzug (Leipzig, 1894) [orig. for 2 hands]
[22] Sigurd Jorsalfar, 1874 (Copenhagen, 1874) [from op.22/2, 3, 5]
[23] Peer Gynt, 1876 (Copenhagen, 1876) [from op.23/1, 4, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16, 27]
[34] Zwei elegische Melodien, 1887 (Leipzig, 1887) [red. of orch score]
35 Norwegisch Tänze, 1880 (Leipzig, 1881): 1 Allegro marcato, 2 Allegretto tranquillo e grazioso, 3 Allegro moderato
alla marcia, 4 Allegro molto
37 Walzer-Capricen, 1883 (Leipzig, 1883): 1 Tempo di Valse moderato, 2 Tempo di Valse
[46] Peer Gynt, suite no.1, 1888 (Leipzig, 1888) [red. of orch score]
[55] Peer Gynt, suite no.2, 1893 (Leipzig, 1893) [red. of orch score]
[56] Drei Orchesterstücke aus ‘Sigurd Jorsalfar’, 1892 (Leipzig, 1893) [red. of orch score]
[63] Zwei nordische Weisen, 1895 (Leipzig, 1896) [red. of orch score]
64 [4] Symfoniske danser, 1896 (Leipzig, 1897) [red. of orch score]
Page 28 of 33
2 pianos
— Klaviersonaten von Mozart mit frei hinzukomponierter Begleitung eines zweiten Klaviers, EG 113, 1876–7 (Leipzig,
1879–80), GGA vii: 1 Sonata, F, K533/494, 2 Phantasia und Sonata, C, K475 and 457, 3 Sonata, C, K545, 4 Sonata, G,
K283
51 Altnorwegische Romanze mit Variationen, 1890 (Leipzig, 1890), GGA vii
2 pianos 8 hands
11 I høst, GGA v [orig for pf 4 hands]
Other works
all are exercise books from Grieg’s period of study in Leipzig
[ Harmony exercises for R. Papperitz and E.F. Richter, 1858–9, MS in Troldhaugen, Grieg’s home in Bergen
[i Theory exercises for Richter, 1852–62, N-Bo
[ii Harmony exercises for Papperitz and M. Hauptmann, 1859–62, Bo
[v Counterpoint exercises for Richter, 1859–60, Oum
Writings
ed. Ø. Gaukstad: Artikler og taler [Articles and speeches] (Oslo, 1957)
ed. B. Kortsen: Grieg the Writer, i: Essays and Articles (Bergen, 1972)
Bibliography
Catalogues and bibliographies

Edvard Grieg (Bergen, 1962) [exhibition catalogue, incl. letters and other documents]
D. Fog: Grieg-katalog: en fortegnelse over Edvard Griegs trykte kompositioner (Copenhagen, 1980)
Page 29 of 33
Edvard Grieg: katalog over manuskripter, Bergen offentlige bibliotek: Griegsamlingen (Bergen, 1986)
Other important bibliographies in Abraham (1948) and Benestad and Schjelderup-Ebbe (1980)
Letters and other autobiographical writings

‘Brever fra Edvard Grieg og Nina Grieg til Presten Louis Monastier-Schroeder’, NMÅ 1946, 54–63
Ø. Anker: ‘Knut Dale – Edvard Grieg – Johan Halvorsen: en brevveksling’, NMÅ 1946, 71–90
A.M. Abell: Talks with Great Composers (Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 1964)
H.J. Hurum: Vennskap: Edvard Grieg og Frants Beyer i lys av glemte brev (Oslo, 1989)
F. Benestad and B. Kortsen, eds.: Edvard Grieg: Brev til Frants Beyer 1872–1907 (Oslo, 1993)
F. Benestad, ed.: Edvard Grieg: Dagbøker: 1865, 1866, 1905, 1906 og 1907 (Bergen, 1993)
L. Carley, ed.: Grieg and Delius: a Chronicle of their Friendship in Letters (London, 1993)
E.A.C. Eikenes: Edvard Grieg fra dag til dag (Stavanger, 1993)
F. Benestad and H. Brock: Edvard Grieg: Briefwechsel mit dem Musikverlag C.F. Peters 1863–1907 (Leipzig, 1997)
F. Benestad and H. de Vries Stavland: Edvard Grieg und Julius Röntgen: Briefwechsel 1883–1907 (Utrecht, 1997)
F. Benestad: Brev i utvalg, 1–2 (Oslo, 1998) [c1500 letters]
General studies
B. Bjørnson: ‘Edvard Grieg’, Norsk folkeblad, 4 (1869), 101–2
A. Grønvold: Norske musikere (Christiania, 1883)
W. Mason: ‘Edvard Grieg’, Century Magazine, 47 (1894), 701–5
H.T. Finck: Edvard Grieg (London, 1906, enlarged 2/1909/R as Grieg and his Music)
E. Sjögren: ‘Edvard Grieg: några erinringar’, Ord och Bild (1907)
J. Röntgen, ed.: Edvard Grieg (The Hague, 1930, 3/1954)
D. Monrad Johansen: Edvard Grieg (Oslo, 1934, 3/1956; Eng. trans., 1938/R)
G. Abraham, ed.: Grieg: a Symposium (London, 1948/R)
H.J. Hurum: I Edvard Griegs verden [In Grieg's world] (Oslo, 1959)
J. Horton: Grieg (London, 1974/R)

Page 30 of 33
F. Benestad and D. Schjelderup-Ebbe: Edvard Grieg: Mennesket og kunstneren (Oslo, 1980, 2/1990; Eng. trans., 1988)
B. Asafjev: Grieg: innledning, oversettelse og kommentarer ved Asbjørn Ø. Eriksen (Oslo, 1992)
D. Bredal and T. Strøm-Olsen: Edvard Grieg: ‘Musikken er en kampplass’ (Oslo, 1992)
A. Kayser: Edvard Grieg i ord og toner (Bergen, 1992)
R.J. Andersen: Edvard Grieg: et kjempende menneske (Oslo, 1993)
J.N. Baumann, P. Buer and Ø. Norheim, eds.: Det var dog en herlig tid, trods alt: Edvard Grieg og Kristiania (Oslo, 1993)
K. Falch Johannessen: Edvard Grieg (Bergen, 1993)
R. Matthew-Walker: Edvard Grieg: a Biographical Study (Kenwyn, 1993)
E. Solås: Ensom vandrer: fantasier og refleksjoner i Edvard Griegs landskap (Oslo, 1993)
A. Kayser: Troldhaugen: Nina and Edvard Grieg's Home (Bergen, 1994)
K. Baekkelund: Edvard Grieg: a Harbinger of Spring from the North (Oslo, 1995)
Studies on life and works

O. Winter-Hjelm: ‘Om norsk musik og nogle kompositioner af Edvard Grieg’, Morgenbladet (14 and 16 Sept 1866)
O.M. Sandvik: ‘Det religiøse i Griegs musikk’, Gamle Spor: Festskrift til Lyder Brun (Oslo, 1922)
T. Fischer: ‘Den instrumentale viseform hos Grieg’, NMÅ 1942, 15–26
O.M. Sandvik: ‘Griegs melodikk’, NMÅ 1942, 8–14
O. Gurvin: ‘Three Compositions from Edvard Grieg's Youth’, NMÅ 1951–3, 90–104
J.R. Greig: ‘Grieg and his Scottish Ancestry’, Music Book, 7 (1952), 510–23
D. Schjelderup-Ebbe: Edvard Grieg 1858–1867: with Special Reference to the Evolution of his Harmonic Style (Oslo, 1964)
K. Skyllstad: ‘Theories of Musical Form as Taught at the Leipzig Conservatory, in Relation to the Musical Training of
Edvard Grieg’, SMN, 1 (1968), 70–77
Ø. Gaukstad: ‘Edvard Grieg og Adolf Brodsky’, Norsk musikktidsskrift, 4 (1967), no.1, 1–15; no.2, pp.41–50
L. Mowinckel: ‘Grieg og Debussy’, Norsk musikktidsskrift, 10 (1973), 68–75 and 123–9
L. Reznicek: Edvard Grieg og tsjekkisk kultur (Oslo, 1975)
J.-R. Bjørkvold: ‘Peter Cajkovskij og Edvard Grieg en kontakt mellom to ändsfrender’, SMN, 2 (1976), 37–50
K. Skyllstad: ‘Thematic structure in relation to form in Edvard Grieg's works’, SMN, 3 (1977), 75–94 and vi (1980), 97–
126
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F. Benestad: ‘Edvard Grieg og Henrik Ibsen: to ulike kunstnernaturer i samarbeid’, Nordisk tidsskrift (Stockholm, 1987)
M.-L.G. Mydske, ed.: Grieg og folkemusikken: en artikkelsamling
R. Matthew-Walker: The Recordings of Edvard Grieg: a Tradition Captured (St Austell, 1993)
F. Benestad, ed.: International Edvard Grieg Symposium: Bergen 1993, SMN 19 (1993)]
W.H. Halverson, ed.: Edvard Grieg Today: a Symposium (Northfield, 1994)
Studies on songs
A.Ø. Eriksen: ‘Griegs mest impresjonistiske romanse?’, Norsk musikktidsskrift, 13 (1976), 9–11
A.Ø. Eriksen: ‘Forholdet mellom harmonikk og tekst i noen Grieg-romanser’, SMN, 7 (1981), 29–57
B. Foster: The Songs of Edvard Grieg (Aldershot, 1990)
P. Dahl: Jeg elsker dig på 252 måter: et sangerleksikon og en diskografi over grammofoninnspillinger av Edvard Griegs
romanse opus 5 nr. 3 (Oslo, 1993)
Studies on piano music

W. Niemann: ‘Kjerulf und Grieg’, Die nordische Klaviermusik (Leipzig, 1918)
J. Horton: ‘Grieg's “Slaatter” for Pianoforte’, ML, 26 (1945), 229–35
S.R. Reynolds: The ‘Lyric Pieces’ of Edvard Grieg (diss., h, 1979)
E. Stewart-Cook: Grieg, Norwegian Folk Music, and 19 Norwegian Folksongs, opus 66 (diss., U. of Oregon, 1985)
E. Bailie: Grieg: a Graded Practical Guide (London, 1993)
E. Steen-Nøkleberg: Med Grieg på podiet: til spillende fra en spillende (Oslo, 1992)
Studies on other works

J. Horton: ‘Ibsen, Grieg and “Peer Gynt”’, ML, 26 (1945), 66–77
P.A. Grainger: ‘Grieg's Last Opus’, Music Book, 7 (1952), 524–9
B. Kortsen: Four Unknown Cantatas by Grieg (Bergen, 1972)
F. Benestad: ‘Et ukjent Grieg-brev om strykekvartetten i g-moll’, Norsk musikktidsskrift, 10 (1973), 188–92
G. Johnson: ‘Edvard Griegs c-moll symfoni som mediabegivenhet’, SMN, 7 (1982), 53–68
F. Benestad: ‘A Note on Edvard Grieg's “Forbidden” Symphony’, Analytica: Studies in the Description and Analysis of
Music Festskrift til Ingemar Bengtson, ed. A. Lönn and E. Kjellberg (Stockholm, 1985)
Page 32 of 33
J.H. Peed: Edvard Grieg: an Analytical Survey of Unaccompanied Partsongs for Male Chorus (diss., U. of Northern
Colorado, 1989)
A. Yarrow: An Analysis and Comparison of the Three Sonatas for Violin and Piano by Edvard Grieg (diss., New York, U.,
1985)
F. Benestad and D. Schjelderup-Ebbe: Edvard Grieg: Chamber Music: Nationalism, Universality, Individuality (Oslo, 1993)
P.O. Höcker: Ich liebe dich: ein Grieg-Roman (Berlin, 1940)
C.L. Purdy: Song of the North: the Story of Edvard Grieg (New York, 1946)
S. Deucher: Edvard Grieg: Boy of the Northland (New York, 1946)
Y. Armand: Edvard fra Strandgaten (Bergen, 1994)
K. Bjørnstad: G-moll balladen (Oslo, 1986)
See also
Concerto, §4(ii): The 19th century: The place of virtuosity
Delius, Frederick, §1: Life
Norway, §I: Art music
Oslo
Svendsen, Johan, §2: Works
Ternary form, §3: After 1750
More on this topic

Grieg, Edvard (opera) <http://oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/
omo-9781561592630-e-5000008833> in Oxford Music Online <http://oxfordmusiconline.com>
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Grieg, Edvard (Hagerup)

Grieg, Edvard (Hagerup)

1. Early years and apprenticeship, 1843–64.

2. Nationalism and fame, 1864–79.

Ex.1 Slåtter op.72 no.12

In 1900 Grieg wrote to his American biographer Henry Finck:

Ex.2 String Quartet in G minor op.27, 1st movement

Ex.3 Spillemaend (Minstrels) op.25 no.1

Ex.4 String Quartet op.27

9. Influence and reputation.

Edvard Grieg: Gesamtausgabe/Complete Works (Frankfurt, 1977–95) [GGA]

— Arnljot Gelline (op, B. Bjørnson), sketch frag. Bjarkemål, 1872,

22 Sigurd Jorsalfar (incid music, Bjørnson), 1v, TTBB, orch, 1872,

Act 1: I bryllupsgården [At the Wedding, Prelude to Act

Act 2: 4 Bruderovet. Ingrids klage [The Abduction of the

Act 3: 12 Åses død [The Death of Åse, Prelude to Act 3]

Act 4: 13 Morgenstemning [Morning Mood], 14 Tyven og

Act 5: 21 Peer Gynts hjemfart. Stormfull aften ved havet

Other vocal works with orchestra

— Ouverture, 1862, inc., lost

16 Piano Concerto, a, 1868 (Leipzig, 1872), rev. 1907, GGA x

— Piano Concerto, EG 120, b, 1882–3, inc., N-Bo, GGA x

Choral with piano or unaccompanied

all in GGA xvii

— Dona nobis pacem, mixed vv, EG 159, 1862

— Rückblick, mixed vv, pf, 1863, lost

— (H.C. Andersen), EG 161, 1864 Danmark [Denmark]

— Holberg-kantate (N. Rolfsen), with Bar, EG 171, 1884 (Christiania, 1896)

— Flaggvise [Song of the Flag] (J. Brun), EG 172, 1893

— Sporven [The Sparrow], female vv, 1895 [arr. of song, EG 152d]

— Jaedervise [Westerly Wind] (J. Dahl), EG 174, 1896

— Impromptu (Bjørnson), EG 175, 1896

— Til Ole Bull [To Ole Bull] (Welhaven), EG 176, 1901

in GGA xiv–xv, unless otherwise stated

English translations as given in GGA

— Ser du havet? [Look at the Sea] (E. Geibel), EG 121, 1859

— Soldaten [The Soldier] (Chamisso), EG 125, 1865 (Copenhagen, 1908)

— Taaren [Tears] (Andersen), EG 128, 1865 (Copenhagen, 1908)

— Vesle gut [Little Lad] (K. Janson), EG 129, 1866

— Bergmanden [The Miner] (Ibsen), EG 132, inc., c1870

— Prinsessen [The Princess] (Bjørnson), EG 133, 1871 (Copenhagen, 1871)

— Suk [Sighs] (Bjørnson), EG 134, 1873 (Copenhagen, 1908)

— Den blonde Pige (Bjørnson), second setting, EG 138, 1874

— Jenta [The Lass] (Vinje), EG 141, 1880

— Attegløyma [The Forgotten Maid] (Vinje), EG 142, 1880 (Oslo, 1880)

— Dyre Vaa (Welhaven), EG 143, inc., c1880

— Ragnhild, EG 181, GGA xx [same text as op.44/3]

— Blåbaeret [The Blueberry] (D. Grønvold), EG 145, 1886

— Påskesang [Easter Song] (A. Böttger), EG 146, 1889 (Leipzig, 1906)

— Simpel sang [A Simple Song] (Drachmann), EG 147, 1889 (Copenhagen, 1908)

— Ave, maris stella, EG 150, 1893 (Copenhagen, 1893)

— Faedrelandssang [National Song] (Paulsen), EG 151, c1890

— Jeg elsket [I Loved Him] (Bjørnson), EG 153, 1896 (Copenhagen, 1908)

— To a Devil (Benzon), EG 154, 1900

— Gentlemen-menige [Gentlemen Rankers] (R. Johnsen, after R. Kipling), EG 156, 1900

— Jaegeren [The Hunter] (W. Schulz), EG 157, 1905 (Copenhagen, 1908)

— String Quartet, d, 1861, lost

— Fugue, f, str, 1861, EG 114, GGA ix

8 Sonata no.1, F, vn, pf, 1865 (Leipzig, 1865), GGA viii

— Intermezzo, a, vc, pf, EG 115, 1866, GGA ix

13 Sonata no.2, G, vn, pf, 1867 (Leipzig, 1871), GGA viii

27 String Quartet, g, 1877–8 (Leipzig, 1879), GGA ix

— Andante con moto, pf trio, EG 116, 1878, GGA ix

36 Sonata, a, vc, pf, 1882–3 (Leipzig, 1883), GGA viii