GRIEG, get*, Edvard, Norwegian com poser: b. Bergen, 15 June 1843; d. there, 4 Sept. 1907. His great-grandfather, Alexander Greig, was a Scotchman who emigrated to Nor way after the battle of Culloden (1745) and changed his name to Grieg. Edvard's father was British consul at Bergen; he married the Norwegian Gesine Judith Hagerup, a descend ant of Kjeld Stub; from her, Edvard inherited his musical gifts; she was a good musician and gave him lessons. By the advice of Ole Bull, Edvard was sent to the Leipzig Conservatory at the age of 15; he remained there three years, studying with Plaidy, Wenzel, Moscheles, E. F. Richter, Hauptmann, Reinecke. Their lessons, and the music he for the most part heard and studied, impressed a German stamp on his mind, which characterizes his first compositions. His studies were interrupted by an illness, a severe case of pleurisy, which destroyed one of his lungs and left his health impaired for life. On his return to the North he came under the in fluence of three Scandinavian musicians: the composer Gade, who gave him many useful hints; Ole Bull, an ardent musical patriot, who made him familiar with the charming folk-tunes of Norway, which he played so entrancingly; and Richard Nordraak, who encouraged him in his natural inclination to get out of the mael strom of German music and steer into the fjords of Norway. From 1866 to 1873 he lived at Christiania, conducting the Philharmonic concerts and giving lessons. He also gave sub scription concerts, with the aid of his cousin, Nina Hagerup, whom he married on 11 June 1867; she was an excellent vocalist, whose art was a great aid in winning favor for his songs. In 1868 Liszt accidentally came across Grieg's first violin sonata (Op. 8), and was so much impressed by the evidence of creative power it gave that he invited him to come and spend some time in his studio. It was in consequence of this flattering letter that the Norwegian gov ernment gave Grieg a sum of money which en abled him to visit Rome. There he repeatedly met Liszt, who became more and more im pressed by the boldness and the national traits of his genius; he urged him to perserve in his original course and not to let critics intimidate him.
In 1874 Henrik Ibsen asked Grieg to write the music for a stage version of his Gynt.' The offer was accepted and the play was produced, with much success, in 1876. It is often given in Scandinavian cities; elsewhere it has not succeeded because of its untheatrical, fantastic character and its grotesque local color ing; but the music, arranged for the concert hall in the form of two suites, soon made Grieg one of the most popular composers in all countries. In the same year that Ibsen invited him to compose the music for Gynt,' the Norwegian government honored him with an annuity of 1,600 crowns for life. This relieved him of the drudgery of teaching and enabled him to devote most of his time to composing.
For several years he lived at Lofthus, on the Hardanger Fjord. At Bergen, 1880-82, he con ducted a musical society called the ien.' In 1:.:5 he built the elegant villa Trold haugen, overlooking the fjord, about eight kilometers from Bergen; there he lived till his death. After his fame was well established, about 1880, he left his home frequently for concert tours in Germany, France and England. Everywhere he was acclaimed as one of the most individual and enchanting of pianists (he played only his own pieces), and usually all the seats for his concerts were sold long before their dates. Sometimes he conducted his orchestral compositions. "How he managed to inspire the band as he did and get such nervous thrilling bursts and such charming sentiment out of them I don't know,' wrote Sir George Grove in 1888. In 1893 a writer in the Pans Figaro said: 'Among the most famous living musicians there is none I know of whose popu larity equals, with us, that of M. Grieg." In 1899, Colonne invited him to Paris to conduct a Grieg concert; but it was just after the ver dict in the Dreyfus case, which .had made Grieg so indignant that he refused the invita tion. When it was repeated four years later, he accepted. There was a tremendous crowd; cries of "apologize, you have insulted France!' were but the vast majority was with him, and the concert proved one of his biggest triumphs.
Grieg did for Norway what Chopin did for Poland, Liszt for Hungary, Dvorak for Bo hemia; he created a new national art. This great achievement, unfortunately, stood in the way, of the full recognition of his superlative genius. It is still commonly assumed that he did little more than transplant to his garden the wild flowers of Norwegian folk-music, whereas, in truth, ninety-five hundredths of his music is absolutely his own. He ranks with Schubert and Chopin both as a melodist and a harmonist. His persistent ill-health prevented him from writing operas and symphonies; most of his works are songs and short pianoforte pieces. The songs, 125 in number, are of striking originality and depth of feeling. The equally numerous short pieces for piano (in chiding 66 'lyric pieces' in one vol.) are as idiomatic as Chopin's. There are also five sonatas: one for piano alone, three with violin, one with 'cello, beside a string quartete. The orchestral list includes: Overture,
the Autumn' • (Holberg" suite; two