Grieg Edvard

Grieg, Edvard (Hagerup) Page 1 of 30
Grieg, Edvard (Hagerup)

(b Bergen, 15 June 1843; d Bergen, 4 Sept 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.
2. Nationalism and fame, 1864–79.
3. Maturity, 1880–1907.
4. Style.
5. Songs.
6. Piano music.
7. Chamber music.
8. Other works.
9. Influence and reputation.
WORKS
WRITINGS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
JOHN HORTON/NILS GRINDE (1–3), NILS GRINDE (4–9)
Grieg, Edvard
1. Early years and apprenticeship, 1843–64.
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
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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.
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.
Grieg, Edvard
2. Nationalism and fame, 1864–79.
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.
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 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.
Grieg, Edvard
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, 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.
Grieg, Edvard
4. Style.
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 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.
Grieg, Edvard
5. Songs.
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 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.
Grieg, Edvard
6. Piano music.
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.
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.
Grieg, Edvard
7. Chamber music.
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 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.
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.
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.
Grieg, Edvard
8. Other works.
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.
Grieg, Edvard
9. Influence and reputation.
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.
Grieg, Edvard
WORKS
Peters (Leipzig) eventually published nearly all works, but only first editions are cited here; opus
numbers are given in brackets when they duplicate, in the case of arrangements, the opus
numbers of original versions; for clarification see Fog (1966)
Edition: Edvard Grieg: Gesamtausgabe/Complete Works (Frankfurt, 1977–95) [GGA]
EG numbers are given as listed in GGA xx
stage
other vocal works with orchestra
orchestral
choral with piano or unaccompanied
songs
chamber
piano solo
works for two/four pianists
other works
Grieg, Edvard: Works
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]
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]
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]
[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
— 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)
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)
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 Dagte 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
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)
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
— Fuge, 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
45 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
2 [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 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 , 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 Holberg 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]
[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 [Shepherd's 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 [The 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 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]
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
i Harmony exercises for R. Papperitz and E.F. Richter, 1858–9, MS in

Troldhaugen, Grieg’s home in Bergen
ii Theory exercises for Richter, 1852–62, N-Bo
iii Harmony exercises for Papperitz and M. Hauptmann, 1859–62, Bo
iv Counterpoint exercises for Richter, 1859–60, Oum
Grieg, Edvard
WRITINGS
ed. Ø. Gaukstad: Artikler og taler [Articles and speeches] (Oslo, 1957)
ed. B. Kortsen: Grieg the Writer, i: Essays and Articles (Bergen, 1972)
Grieg, Edvard
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)
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, i–ii (Oslo, 1998) [c1500 letters]
general studies
B. Bjørnson: ‘Edvard Grieg’, Norsk folkeblad, iv (1869), 101–2
A. Grønvold: Norske musikere (Christiania, 1883)
W. Mason: ‘Edvard Grieg’, Century Magazine, xlvii (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)
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, vii (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, i (1968), 70–77
Ø. Gaukstad: ‘Edvard Grieg og Adolf Brodsky’, Norsk musikktidsskrift, iv (1967),
no.1, pp.1–15; no.2, pp.41–50
L. Mowinckel: ‘Grieg og Debussy’, Norsk musikktidsskrift, x (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, ii (1976), 37–50
K. Skyllstad: ‘Thematic structure in relation to form in Edvard Grieg's works’,
SMN, iii (1977), 75–94 and vi (1980), 97–126
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, xix
(1993)]
W.H. Halverson, ed.: Edvard Grieg Today: a Symposium (Northfield, 1994)
studies on songs
A.Ø. Eriksen: ‘Griegs mest impresjonistiske romanse?’, Norsk musikktidsskrift,
xiii (1976), 9–11
A.Ø. Eriksen: ‘Forholdet mellom harmonikk og tekst i noen Grieg-romanser’,
SMN, vii (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, xxvi (1945), 229–35
S.R. Reynolds: The ‘Lyric Pieces’ of Edvard Grieg (diss., U. of Kansas, 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, xxvi (1945), 66–77
P.A. Grainger: ‘Grieg's Last Opus’, Music Book, vii (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, x (1973), 188–92
G. Johnson: ‘Edvard Griegs c-moll symfoni som mediabegivenhet’, SMN, vii
(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)
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)

Grieg Edvard

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Grieg, Edvard (Hagerup) Page 1 of 30

Grieg, Edvard (Hagerup)

variations. This folklike simple form is especially characteristic and appropriate in

he was either unable or unwilling to confront compositional problems in the same

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

EG numbers are given as listed in GGA xx

other vocal works with orchestra

choral with piano or unaccompanied

works for two/four pianists

Grieg, Edvard: Works

of the Mountain King's Daughter], 10 Peer Gynt jages

all in GGA xvii

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

(Richardt), 4 Den sildige Rose [The Late Rose] (Munch)

Grieg, Edvard: Works

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

— Odalisken synger [The Odalisque] (C. Bruun), EG 131, 1870 (Copenhagen,

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

Grieg, Edvard: Works

Grieg, Edvard: Works

i Harmony exercises for R. Papperitz and E.F. Richter, 1858–9, MS in

Other important bibliographies in Abraham (1948) and Benestad and Schjelderup-

letters and other autobiographical writings

B. Asafjev: Grieg: innledning, oversettelse og kommentarer ved Asbjørn Ø.

SMN, vii (1981), 29–57

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