GRI E G AND H I S

MUSIC
BY

HEN RY T . F I N CK
”
W r iters W agner a nd
”
his W orks ,

/
IV W
9
7
H
”1
24
NE W YO R K : J O H N L ANE CO M PANY

L O ND O N: J O H N L ANE ,
T H E B O D L E Y H E AD
M CM X
 (Eu

ED W A R D MA C D O W E L L
’
AM E R I CA S M O S T O R I G I NAL

CO M PO S E R

W HO W AS MO R E I NF L U E NC E D BY E D VA R D G RI E G

THA N BY A NY OTH E R M A S TE R A ND WHOSE

LAST I NTE LL E CT UA L PL E A S U R E W A S TH E

R EAD I NG OF TH E S TO R Y OF
’
GRI EG S LI F E IN TH E FI RST

E D I TI O N O F TH I S BOO K
 BI R D S-E YE ’
VI EW
Grieg is d f b y d hi re c o n ise gty f th f w ar e on s n t iv
a c e ou n r as on e O e e
m t wh h v ic h d m ic with w m f m l di
’

as e rs o a e en r d h e us ne ean s o e o c an ar
m ic xp i
on e d c td
ress on , t i l t d i ti g i h d by p ti
an rea e a na on a ar s n u s e oe c
f li g d th c h m f m y m d
”
ee n an e G g C p ll
ar O an oo s.
- eor a e en .

H h b ght it b t th t N w gi m d d N w gi
e as rou a ou a or e an oo s an or e an
l if h v t d i t v y m ic m i th wh l w ld
e a e e n e re n o e er B jo us -roo n e o e or
”
.
'

rn son .

G i g v lt g i t G m c l ic i m w th h lthy i t i c t
r e
’
s re o a a ns er an ass s as e ea ns n

o f ma wh han m — g t d l iv
o d as a k f it th m t t l e ssa e o e e r , an se e s or e os n a u ra
m ean s of xp i eD W m M ress on .
”
r . . a son .

T h N th i m t e dl y titl d t l g g f it w
or s os assu re en e o a an ua e o s o n .
”

R b t S h m
o er c u an n

v ; I t l l y y h v th gift d —d t l t th m
.

“
P erse e re e ou ou a e e s, an o no e e
i t im id t y
,
”
n !a e Li t t G i g ou sz o r e .

A t
“
p t i b v ll th i g
on e - oe m tic i t wh h w v if h
s a o e a n s a ro an s o, o e e r, e
d v l p i t g i m y l b c m c l ic l ik Ch p i Am g
,

e e o s n o a e n u s, a a so e o e a ass e o n on
y g t p t I i c l d G i g —H
, .

”
th e ou n er on e- oe s Bdl w n u e r e . an s v on o .

G i g i t p t d h dd d th t i g t
r e s a ru e ly
oe , an as a e an o er s r n o ou r re .
”

P f ro essor F Ni k . ec s
.

W h t c h m w h t i im it bl
“
a ar d ic h m ic l im g y ! W h t a n a e an r us a a er a
w mth d p i h i m l d ic ph w h t t m i g v it l it y i h i
,

ar i an ass on n s e o rases, a ee n a n s
h m y w h t igi l ity d b ty i th t
ar on a or f h i p iq
na t d an e au n e u rn o s u an an
i g i m d l ti d h y thm t wh t i t t
,

n e n ou s o d i
u a ll th on s an r s, an n a e re s a n ere s
v lty d i d p d c
,
”
no e , an T h ik
n ky e en en e . c a ov s .

Th p t wh c l d i th i w p i d
“ ‘ ’
e re are oe s mi o, asse n e r o n er o as n or or
di mi d q i t
s sse as w t i th m i c h m b
ua n
’
f th
are n o see n a ease n e a n a er o e
t mp l v ic i c h i d iv id l t d n
,

M u se s
’
G i g
e e f r e
’
s o e s on e o su n ua en er ess,
m t im f c h b— k vi il ity th t p t ity wil l
.

an d t th a e sa e e, o su e rse r er r a os e r

c g i it l i t d pp l d
, ,

P hil p H l
’

re o n ze , s en , an a au . z a e .

W h I h d v ll d i th m ic f Ch p i d W g
en a re e Li t
e n e us o o n an a n e r, sz
an d F t th
ran z , p i t f i t xic ti I f c i d th t th l t w d
o e o n o n o a on , an e a e as or
h d b
a id i h m
e en y d m l dy ; wh 1 ! I c m
sa n ar th
on an e o en , 0 a e ac ross e

g d pi f t p i c f G i g d d m y lf m v d
f d l ight —
so n s an an o o r e m f e es o r e an on c e ore ou n se o e
t
,
”
to e ars o H T F e . . . .
 CO NT E NT S

BI RD
’
S E YE VIE W
I NTR OD UCTI ON ,
W I TH L E TTE RS F R OM GRIE G

CHAP T E R I
ANCE S TRY AND CH ILD H OOD O LE B ULL
CHAP TE R I I
AT TH E L E IPS I C CONS E RVATO R Y GAD E

CHA P TE R I I I
FR OM GE RMANY TO NORW AY

CHA P TE R I V
CH RI S TI ANI A MARRIAGE L I S ZT

CHA P TE R V
”
I B SE N AND PE E R GYNT

CHAP T E R VI
GRIE G AT H OME P E RS ONAL T R AI TS ANE CD OTE S
CHAP TE R VI I
COND U CTOR AND PI ANI S T D RE YF U S I NCID E NT NINA
GRIE G

CHA P TE R VI I I
NORWE GIAN F OLK- MU S I C GRI E G ’
S O RI GI NALI TY

CHAP TE R I X
L AS T YE ARS ,
D E ATH , AND U
F NE RAL
vi CONTENTS

CHA P TE R X

O RCH E S TRAL AND CHAM BE R MU S I C

CHAP T E R X I
COMPOS I TI ONS F OR P I ANOF O RTE
CHAP TE R X I I
G RI E G S
’
RANK As A COM POS E R

CHAP T E R X I I I
VO CAL COMPO S I TI ONS

CHA P TE R X I V
GR I E G ’
S ARTI S TI C CRE E D — PATRI OTI S M AND RELI GI ON
CHAP T E R X V
GRI E G AND H I S FR I E ND B E Y E R

B I B LI O GRAPH Y

V
E D AR D GRI E G ’
S WORK S
I ND E X
 I LLUSTRATI O NS

ED VARD GRI E G By W i iam

. ll Peters F ron tispiece
FACS I MI LE OF AN I NVI TATI ON (Post card ) -

TH E L AATE F OS S ; TH E NARODAL
GRI E G AS A B OY OF FI F TE E N
GRIE G AND SVE ND S E N
MR . AND M RS GRI E G
. AND MR . AND M RS BJORNS ON
.

A GRO U
P OF DI S TI NGUI S H E D S CAND INAVI ANS
WHE RE GRI E G W R OTE
“
PE E R G NT Y ”

NATI ONAL TH E ATRE , CH RI S TI ANI A

PE AS ANTS MOVI NG GRI E G S M USI C HOUS E ’
-

PE ASANTS LI S TE NI NG TO GRI E G S M US I C
'

GRI E G W ALKI NG TO H I S M US I C H OU S E -

A R O OM IN GRI E G
’
S HO US E AT T R OLDH AU GE N
TW O VI E WS OF GRI E G S H O
’
U S E AT T ROLD HAU GE N
VI LLA T R OLD H AU GE N AND GRI E G
’
S ST UDI O

TROLDHAU GE N
GRI E G FI S HI NG O N TH E HAR D ANGE R FJ ORD
MR . AND M RS GRI E G, LOND ON,
. 1 88 8
ED VARD GRI E G
A HARD ANGE R W E DD I NG ; O DD A, HARD ANGE R FJ ORD
GRI E G S SI X TI E TH BI RTH D A
’
Y
BJ ORNS ON AND GRI E G AT VI LLA T R OLD HAU GE N
ED VARD GRI E G, M AY , 1 904
M R GRI E G, M RS GRI E G, E RC GRAI NGE R , R ONTGE N
. . P Y
LAS T PH OTOGRAPH OF GRI E G
GRI E G ON HI S DE ATH BE D
GRI E G S T OMB
’

GRI E G AND D E GRE E P, TH E BELGI AN PI ANI ST

“ ”
FACS I MI LE OF GRIE G
’
S S ONG, A SWAN
FACS I MI LE OF A NOTE AB O T U PAD E RE WS KI
TW O PI CTURE S OF GRIE G AND BE YE R
Vll
I NT R O D U CT I O N, W I T H L E TT E R S
F RO M GR I E G

N 1 899 M essrs s S ons ask ed

. Charl es S cribner
’

me to contribute a volume on Violi ni sts and

violin music to their M usic L overs L ibrary
’
.

I replied that I would rather prepare one on songs

and song writers not merely because the subject
-
,

interested me more but because strange to say , , ,

there existed no book on that important branch of

music in E nglish or in fact in any language They
, , ,
.

promptly assented and I began to collect my ma

,

terial
. When I came to one of my favourites ,

Edvard Grieg I was unable to find any facts rela

,

ting to his songs SO I wrote to Bergen asking if he

,

wou ld not kindl y give to the world in my book , ,

some information c oncerning their origin such as ,

we possess regarding many O f those of S c hubert ,

Schumann Fran z and other composers

, ,
At the .

same time I sent him a c op y Of the German transla

tion Of my Wagner biography .

His reply dated Copenhagen February 2 3 1 900

, , , ,

“
was as follows : Accept my best thanks for the kind
gift Of your boo k on Wagner AS a matter of course .
,

1X
x INTR O DU CTI ON

your name as that of an excell ent writer on music

had been fa miliar to me for many years In addi .

tion to this I had before my article on M o zart was

, ,

printed a very special reason to be grateful to you

, ,

because you prevented the appearance in it O f an

erroneous assertion on my part regarding Wagner .
l

“
S ome time ago a new method O f carrying out
contracts was introduced in Am erica in consequence ,

O f W hich my works are reprinted there in a way

Which aff ects me grievously The thought Of b e .

coming popular in A m erica therefore has for me ,

as you see exclusively an ideal charm But in

,
.

order to give expre ssion to the feeling O f gratitude

Which as just stated I entertain toward you I take
, , ,

great pleasure in meeting your Wishes to the best

of my powers NOW however comes a but . I , ,
‘
.
’

read very little about music my poor health

makes the greatest possible concentration i m pera
tive and O f the things w ritten about me most Of
those I have seen were quite too stupid and ignorant
to be O f any use Consequently I regret that there
.
,

is nothing O f thi s nature that I could recommend to

you . I am very glad indeed to have my faults , ,

and weaknesses censured if I can onl y detect at the

1I th C nt y M g in
n e e I h d b
ur k d b y th d it t t n
a az e . a e en as e e e or o ra s

l t G i g tic l f m th G m
a e r e
’
s ar d h d
e gg t d th m i i n
ro e er an , an a su es e e o ss o

of th f d t by G i g
e e rror re erre o r e .
 WITH L ETTE R S F R O M GRI E G xi

same time some comprehension Of my intentions .

Wagner sa y s somewhere that one must feel sym

pathy with him in order to understand him I .

have Often thought this over and asked myself if

Wagner does not here invert cause and e ffect .

Well however that may be I S hall be glad to make

, ,

some jottings for you regarding my songs The .

matter seems however intim e an d I feel sure I

, ,

may take it for granted that what I have to say

will be used with the greatest circumspection and
friendly tact I regret to say that at present
I am too busy to be able to promise that my notes
will reach y ou as earl y as the end of April I shal l .

do the utmost that I can promise you It will .

be a p leasure for me to do anything that will help

along your work .

“
America I S hal l probabl y never visit I can .

not endure the sea voyage nor perhaps the climate

,
.

The many invitations to give concerts in America ,

some of whi c h are very tempting I am therefore

,

obliged to decline without hesitation .

“
Should you actually c ome to Norway this sum
mer I would be very happy to meet y ou and your
,

wife.

The next letter is dated Copenhagen April 1 3 ,

I wanted to write to y ou but fell ill seriously O f

,
xii INTR O DU CTI O N

influen za and am far from well now whi c h I regret , ,

very much to say has prevented me to this day

,

from writing anything about my songs and very ,

probably will continue to prevent me For some .

weeks I am not permitted to do an y mental work ,

and late in April I have some concerts to condu c t

in Christiania Not till the middle Of May shall I
.

be back in my home near B ergen But that would .

leave me only eight days for the work if it is to be ,

in your hands by the midd l e Of June It is too .

bad Now comes another thing I have read

.
,

Waldmann s Conversations with Franz [ to which

’

I had called his attention] and have be c ome quite

perplexed For that sort Of thin g I cannot do
.
,
.

I am simply sorry that I read the book E ven a .

master Of song like Fran z ought not to ta lk about

S chubert S chumann and M endelssohn as he has
, ,

done and especially about his own points of

,

superiorit y to these masters If he was not priv .

ileged to see that Schubert and Schumann pos

sessed much greater powers Of imagination than he
did then he will appear in my eyes
,
I regret to
say this somewhat less great than heretofore .

His horizon must have be en limited How gre at .

were L iszt and S chumann for the very reason

that beside their other geniale qualities the y also
, ,
 WITH L ETTE R S FR O M G RI E G iii
x

possessed a wide horizon purified chemically

, ,

—
as it were from all one S idedn ess and overe stim a
,

tion of self A ll that is great is great ! That is

.

and remains my motto ! However I am going ,

astra y —
it is due to the influ enz a a ffected head !
I am very sorry you are not c oming to E urope this
summer You might then have played the rOle
.

of Waldmann so nic el y better in an y c ase than

, ,

he did !
T0 su m u p : I c annot at this moment ma k e
you a promise But should circumstance permit
.

my doing something to meet y our wishes I S ha ll ,

”
certainly do it .

“
In a postscript he adds : I a l most forgot to te ll
you that I entertain the greatest respect and s ym
pathy for y our book on Wagner not only be cause ,

it is planned and exe c uted in a masterl y wa y but ,

because it is written with a rare freedom from

bias You are like myse l f one Of the greatest
.
, ,

admirers of the in c o mparabl e master but not one ,

of the Wagnerites ! In my opinion this rabble

”
c onstitutes his worst ene m ies !
Three months later I was surprised and de
lighted to get from him a letter of thirt y S ix pages -
,

dated Troldhau gen July 1 7 and c ontaining an

, ,

abu ndan c e Of most interesting fa c ts regarding his

xiv INTR O DU CTI ON
'

songs and certain episodes in his life He c on .

cluded by saying: I have as you see made the

“
, ,

same reflections as those which have found such

remarkably eloquent expression in the chapter on
singers and songstresses in your excellent work on
Wagner Why should I hesitate
. and p articu
larly in this instance where my communication is
made with the O bject Of revealing to you the secret
source O f my songs And yet I would never have
.

d ared to do this had not your Wagner book filled

me with absolute artistic faith in you This Privat .

m on olog may tell you as much as is essential for an

estimate Of my songs Much more might be said :
.

but I feel a disinclination to say more .

“
In sending you these notes as a sourc e Of ih
formation to be used by y ou I do it under these
,

express assumptions : ( 1 ) that you return them at

once after making use Of them ( 2 ) Tha t you
.

take only what y ou need for your purposes ; in

other words that you avoid as much as possible
,

to use my own words and never cite me as the

,

speaker (3 ) That as I take for granted in the

.
,

case of an author of your position my comm uni ,

cations are to be regarded as being Of an entirely

c onfidential nature especially where they are Ob vi
,

ou sly of a subje c tive nature (4 ).That you will

 WITH LETTE R S FR O M G RI E G xv

send me in accordance with your promise a c opy

, ,

of the pages relating to me in your manus c ript or

the proof sheets for my inspection
-
,
.

“
Pardon me if I am occasionally too diffuse .

It is sometimes diffi cult to know where to stop .

Above all things I beg you to excuse my bad Ger

man In the use Of der die das I am always a
.
, ,

bungler That I look forward to your book most

1

eagerly I need hardly add You have undertaken .

a task which hitherto has not been solved But .

to a man who has written about Wagner with such ,

deep comprehension as you have S hown one may ,

say what L iszt said to me at R ome in 1 8 70 : You ‘

have just the qualities called

It is easy to imagine the eagerness with whi c h
I read these thirty six pages Of autobiography -

addressed to me I selected the brightest nuggets

.

for my chapter on his songs (subsequently bor

rowing many of them for the present volume ) and ,

in doing S O I could not resist the temptation to

quote his own words here and there regardless Of ,

the second of his four c onditions On S eptember 2 4 .

he wrote to me :
“
I have just received the proof sheets and hasten -
,

Al l of G rieg
’
s l tt
e e rs to m e were wri tt en in G e rm an —g ood, d
i io
On ly c
an oc asion a l l ight
s e rror .
xvi INTR O DU CTI ON

to return them I need not tell you how I rejoi c e

.

at your sympathy and your comprehension Of my

art Hitherto I have always been as regards
.
,

critics a great pessimist Always these gentlemen

,
.

have pointed out my least important things as my

best and unfortunate ly also vice versa How happy
,
.

I am that this is not the case with you You have .

in the main dwelt on the very songs which I myself

consider the best .

“
NOW however comes a big But
,
You have ,
‘
.
’
,

after all cited my own words and very O ften in

, ,

fact where it was not necessary That must be

,
.

avoided and I have as you see indicated the way

, , ,

Of doing S O I beg you urgently to carry out the

.

changes I have marked with ordinary lead pencil

( not blue pencil ) O nly in a few places have.I
”
left myself as the speaker .

The same letter contains a few paragraphs a bout

Gad e Ibsen and S candinavian composers which
, ,

I reserve for later pages in this volume O n the .

twenty first O f D ecember he wrote again from

-
,

Christiania
“
If I had a catalogue Of my books your volume ,

On song writers would be marked with two stars .

Higher praise I could not utt e r And yet : every .

thing in this world has its fault s I confe ss that .

xviii INTR O D U CTI ON

liberal paper Verdens Gang ( Course of the World )

, ,

O f which the editor is M r O T h om assen

”
. . .

In July 1 90 1 I had the pleasure Of paying the

, ,

Griegs a Visit at T roldhau gen which is described ,

in Chapter VI of the present volume In the .

following year the O liver D itson Company asked

me to make a selection Of Grieg s best fifty songs ’

and edit it for their Musicians L ibrary I replied ’

.

that I would gladly do so on condition that a royalty

be paid to Grieg on every copy sold Although .

the absence Of a copyright agre ement between the

United S tates and Norway made it a legal act to
reprint S candinavian music the Boston publishers
,

promptly acceded to this request and furthermore

asked me to Offer Grieg in their name for
a dozen new songs and piano pieces His answer .
,

dated S eptember 3 0 1 90 2 follows

, ,

“
I was glad to see your handwriting again And .
'

I was egoistic enough to hope that you were going

to write me this time about Seidl s orchestration O f ’

the Bell ringing

‘
-
Instead Of that it was some
.
,

thing quite unexpected It is indeed most kind of

.

you to take my part in America and that too in a , , ,

purely business matter I am as you quite cor

.
,

rec tl say not a millionaire But I am not S

y ,
O .

poorly Off as to be willing to take money from

 W ITH LETTE R S FR O M G RI E G xix

American publishers who are inc l ined to reprint

my works M oreover my relations to the Peters
.
,

firm are such that for this reason alone I cannot

entertain the Offer made by M r D itson It will . .

be di fferent if M r D itson makes an arrangement

.

with Peters Then it would perhaps be possible

.

to have my works appear legitimately in Ameri c a

too But if he is not willing to do this things will
.
,

have to remain as they are : the smart Messrs .

Pirates reprint and enrich themselves without con

siderin g the composer Well I am glad at any .
,

rate that an American edition if it cannot be ,

avoided is to be placed in your hands

,
.

“
It is possible that as an American y ou will , ,

not fin d my standpoint smart enough A s a ‘ ’

.

German however (and especially as a German

,

idealist) you will I feel sure agree with me

, , ,
.

“
If I really tol d you that I was not composing
any more this must not be ta ken litera ll y L ast
,
.

Christmas there appeared the tenth volume O f

L yric Pieces S oon all the ten parts will be pub
.

lished in a sumptuous volume by Peters .

“
Accept once more my best thanks for your
kin d intentions With hearty greeting from house
.

to house Your most devoted E dvard Grieg

,
.

His loyalty to his German publisher is illustrated

xx INTR O DU CTI O N

in another l e tter dated January 1 6 1 90 3 in which

, , ,

he says
I tol d y ou [ at Troldhau gen] what is a well
known fact that C F Peters at one time reprinted
,
. .

pieces not protected by Copyright among them my ,

own But very many years ago Peters made an

.

arrangement with th e original publisher Of these

works by which he acquired all rights except for ,

S candinavia I S hould like to see the royalties

.

O ffered me by an American publisher ! S hould

such a thing come to pass I S hall promptly inform
,

C F Peters
. . The only correct thing would be a
.

direct arrangement with Peters without whose ,

agreement I would in no case accept a royalty .

You may think this is foolish But I happen to .

”
be S O foolish .

A deep and sad insight into Grieg s life is given ’

in a letter he wrote me in reply to one in which I

had informed him that I had been asked to write
a book of words on his life and works by
John L an e for the series O f L iving Masters Of Music ,

and begged him to assist me with any material he

could call my attention to or place at my disposal
temporarily His answer is dated Copenhagen
.
,

May 2 1 90 5 ,

“
I would have written y ou long ago to thank
 W ITH L ETTE R S FR O M G RI E G xxi

you for the excellent photographs Of yourse l f and

your wife ( W hat a pity I cannot S how yours to
.

any one because Of the extravagant words on my

art which you wrote on it ) What prevented me
.

from writing was illness and always illness .

Hardly had I arrived here toward the end Of D e

cem b e r when I was confined to my bed ( influenza ,

bronchitis asthm a ) and I have not re c overed

, ,
.

More recently a complicated stomach trouble was

superadded which brought on such complete pros
tration that I am good for nothing unable either,

to write or to make music E ven the writing of

.

this letter is a colossa l e ffort for me I am much .

grieved to be obliged to tell you that for this reason

with the best intentions I cannot comply with
your wishes I n connection with this I must tell
.

you that a German publisher has Offered me a

brilliant honorarium for an autobiography a work ,

which for the reasons just given I have not be gun

, , ,

nor am likely to begin for some time and probably

never will begin .

“
But now arises the question : In what way can
I be Of use to you in your task ? How gladly I
would help ! Unfortunatel y S ince the days Of my
,

youth I have saved hardly any Of the articles written

about my works my con c erts etc I c annot
, ,
.
,
 i
xxi INTR O DU CTI O N

therefore refer you to the periodicals containing

,

.
—
them The article on me in the so called S can ‘

dinavian number of D ie M a sik is by reason of

’

its lack O f understanding and its su p erficiality sheer

nonsense Its author contents himself with desig
.

nating me as a Kleink iinstler (miniature artist )

‘ ’

and acts as if I had written only S hort things ,

although he ought to kn ow that as a matter of fact

I owe my name to my larger works It is unheard .

of that a serious periodical not only is S O unjust

but in addition indulges in cheap witticisms like
this that I never reached the ocean but stuck in
,
‘

’
the fjord .

“
I S hall inform Peters that you intend to apply
to him and S hall ask him to send you the necessary
,

material The few things that I possess are in

.

my villa T roldhau gen near Bergen which I

‘ ’
,

S hall probably not reach till the beginning of June .

A few years ago there appeared here in Copenhagen

a book on me in the Norwegian language written
by the Norwegian composer Gerhard S chjelderu p .

He asked me for contributions to his book but I

had to refuse them firmly The book consequently .

contains many erroneous details The author was .

compelled too to prepare it for the publisher in a

, ,

short time Yet it is written by a sympatheti c

.
xxiv INTR O DU CTI ON

author of the book on Wagner and S ongs and ‘

S ong Writers out of gratitude for his sympathetic

’
-
,

feeling for my art and shall gladly send you what

,

I have when I get home .

“
But now I am don e ! Completely exhausted
by this exertion The parole now is : go to S l e ep
. .

I hope soon to write you more from T roldhau gen ,

.

S even weeks later ( June 2 2 ) he wrote again

Hardly had I got home when I fell ill seriously
—
and not till to day have I been able to delve among
my papers Without result I regret to say News
.
,
.

paper clippings of value there are none Those of .

my early days are too stupid and the later ones I ,

did not save While he was writing these words

.
’

“
his W ife was still hunting for photographs : At
” “
this moment he says my wife has found some
, ,

interesting pictures —
The rest of this four page
.
’

letter is devoted chiefly to remarks about the pic -

tures he is about to send me and to references to a

few reliable sources of information notably Almar ,

GrOnVOld S book and H olter s article in S alm on sen s

’ ’ ’

“
Konversation slex ic on which he says is written in
, ,

many respects with intelligence ”

.

Three months later from Christiania (S eptem ,

“
ber I feel very guilty ! But it was quite im
possible for me to answer y our tw oletters at once .
 W ITH L ETTER S FR O M G RI E G xxv

Then came another journey followed by the politi ,

cal excitement which still continues In S hort I

,
.
,

must b e g your pardon I had told him that I .

had suggested to M r L ane that the medallion to .

be stamped on the cover of my book should rep re

sent the Norwegian flag R egarding this Grieg .
,

“
wrote : Your idea about the Norwegian flag is I ,

think a very good one But I hope the right one

,
.

has be en chosen and not the old one with the S wedish
colours in the corner That would never do (das .

fehlte n ock ) !
Yes I did write articles on the Bayreuth per
,

form an ce s in Au gust 1 8 76 ; they appeared in the

,

Bergenposten a newspaper which does not exist

,

any more T 0 day I can only say this that I was

.
-
,

at the same time wildly enthusiastic and strongly

inclined to criticise The undue lengthening Of .

some of the scenes a ffected me very unpl e asantly ;

so did the dialogue which is often fashioned too
,

much after a theory In other words without .

,

being a Wagnerit e I was at that time already what

,

I am still : an adherent nay a worshipper of that , ,

mighty genius .

“
Apart from articles on M ozart S c humann , ,

Verdi I have not written anything worth men

ly here and there a S hort pa p er in the
xxvi INTR O DU CTI O N

journals whic h I have never gathered together

, .

You exp ress surprise that I endured all the stu

p id ities of the critics S O patiently instead of laying

about with a club long ago Well had I done that .

, ,

I would in my opinion have lost all that remained

, ,

of my artistic pride If there is in my music any

.

thing of lasting value it will live if n ot it will perish ,

.

That is my be lief for I am c onvin c ed that truth

,

”
will prevail u ltim ately .

As the main O bje c t of writing my book on Grieg

was not to make money but to do missionary work ,

for a great genius not fully understood by his con

temporaries I wrote to Bj o rnson asking if he
, ,

would not write a few introductory words Con .

“
cerning this Grieg wrote : It is not probable that
,

you will hear from BjOrnson He seems to be in .

a bad humour and apart from that I cannot for

, ,

O bvious reasons appeal to him personally

,
.

“
Fortunately I am now getting along somewhat
better here in Christiania But creative work is .

still out of the question .

If you have really succeeded in correcting the

many erroneous current notions regarding my
works you will have done me and my country a
,

great service and I shall take pleasure in thanking

you therefor cordially Unfortunately I am some
.
 WITH L ETTE R S FR O M G RI E G xxvu

what pessimistic ; yet I am none the less cordially

obliged to you for your good and artisticall y correct
intentions .

On the eighth of O ctober he wrote again from ,

Christiania
“
Yesterday I received from M r L ane the proof
.

S he e ts of your book whi c h have occupied me u n

,

interruptedly (excepting a few intervals for my

meals and S leep ) In consequence of my imper
.

fect command of the E nglish language it was a

great exertion and I have just finished the task .

I admire the keen scent with which you track facts

like an expert hunter pursuing his quarry But .

so far as your estimate of my works is concerned

I must echo the words of our poet A O Vinje in
. . .

his The L ast S pring : M ore I got than I deserved

‘ ’ ‘

’
and everything must end There are certainly
.

passages in which you have done yourself and me

a questionable service by an excess of superlatives !
But the man y truths which you did not hesitate
to express bluntly have gladdened my heart .

“
S omewhere in your book you express the in
dubitable truth that in art quality is more impor
tant than quantity From this point of V iew I am
.

much surprised that you make no mention at all

of a short composition which to me is Of the greatest
xxviii INTR O DU CTI ON

importan c e : I mean D er Bergentru ck te for bari

‘
,
’

tone S olo string orchestra and two horns The

, ,
.

text follows some very old specimens of folklore

which greatly absorbe d me during my stay at L of
thus This piece contains drops O f my heart blood
. .

S chjelderu p speaks of it in his book Apart from .

this I have nothing to add The politic al situation

.

takes up much of my attention .

“
The compositions of mine that are about to
appear in print are : Op 73 M oods piano pieces ;
.
, ,

op 5 1 O ld Norwegian R omance for orchestra

.
, ,

and Op 5 4 L yrical S uite (from the L yrical Pieces

.
, .

Op .
5 )
6
I am of course delighted that y ou who have ,

so much sympathy with my art were asked to ,

write a book about me and I am under great ,

obligations to you because you are endeavouring

to carry out your task with so much interest and
carefulness At the same time I wish and cannot
.
,

refrain from saying so that you might have had

,

four times as much time at your disposal S O that ,

you might have written a complete and d efinitive

record of my career This wish y ou will easily
.

understand .

“
Those musk melons I envy you ! They are
my favourite food ! W e have them here too in , ,
 W ITH L ETTER S FR O M G RI E G xxix

g reat abundan c e moreover and ver

,
y Cheap You
, .

are wise in devoting as mu c h time as possible to

your garden That keeps the mind fresh and pre
.

”
serves the love of nature !
“
In a postscript he asks : Have y ou seen in the
,

N orth Am erican Review edited by George Harvey , ,

September 1 90 2 an article by A M W ergelan d

, ,
. .

Grieg as a National Composer ? It was written

‘ ’

by a woman who was born in Norwa y and contains ,

”
much that is good and true .

He refers again to the question of a medallion

for the book cover in his next letter (September 4 )
“
I greatly regret that I do not possess my complete
family crest yet I am really glad because I do not
, ,

like the idea of using that The flag would be a .

thing that has special interest at this moment ,

and like my music it points dire c tl y at m y nation

, ,

ality Why not S imply use a portrait ?

. The
interview you referred to is like al l interviews , ,

incorrect .

“
I hope M r L ane will send me a few c opies
.

of your book and I regret that it does not appear

,

”
S imu l taneously in a Norwegian version .

“ ”
Katholisches Hospital these ominous words
are at the head of the last letter I re c eived from
Grieg ; it is dated — D ecember 3 0 1 90 5 : ,
xxx INTR O D U CTI ON

AS y see
ou I am in a
,
hospital be c ause of my
S ins. I have had a bad time with my disordered
organs of digestion and my whole nervous system .

But for this I would have written to you long ago

, ,

to express my most cordial thanks to you for your

book on me I have now read it again in as sober
.

a mood as possible I still must reproach you

.

with having placed me too high But the whole .

book breathes sympathy and love for my art and ,

you have made ex c ellent use Of the material O f .

most particular importance is the chapter on the

relation of Norwegian folksongs to my originality .

For this I must express to you my gratitude in the

highest degree You have succeeded brilliantly in
.

rehabilitating me in face of the man y unjust and

ignorant foreign criticisms .

“
I was deeply grieved to read about the illness
of M ac D owell and have written to his wife in .
,

your care He may i mprove of course but whether

.
, ,

permanently that is the question He is indeed

,
.

the most ideal Of the American composers I know Of .

“
S hould you soon come to Norway again as I ,

hope you will you will fin d a free independent

, ,

people What has happened in our country this

.

year seems like a fairy tale The hopes and long

.

ings of my youth have been fulfilled I am deepl y .

xxxii INTR O DU CTI ON

were thus borrowed and even these were adorned

,

with harmonies entirely his own though like his , ,

own melodies redolent of Norway

,
.

M any of the critics who charged him with borrow

ing did so not from malice but from insu fficient,

information I my self did not know till he told

.

me that of his songs only one S olvejg s L ied

’
, ,

is based on a melody not of his own creation He .

should have told these things publicly S hould have ,

used the cudgels occasionally ; but Of course when a , ,

man has only one lung he is not apt to b e a fighter .

He su ffered in S ilence like the equally modest

,

S chubert Chopin and Franz

,
But I considered
,
.

it my duty to destroy the absurd myths that have

for decades been handed down from book to book
and newspaper to newspaper like hereditary mala ,

dies ; among them this delusion that Grieg did

’

little more than transplant to his garden the wild

flowers of Norwegian folk music — a delusion
which shamefully retarded the recognition of his
rare originality .

T 0 some Of the reviewers of the first edition of

“
this book my comments seemed over enthu sias
,

”
tic
. They would have appeared less S O if it had
been borne in mind that I dwelt only on the best of
Grieg s works I did this not merely because of
’
.
 W ITH L ETTE R S FR O M G RI E G xxxii i

l a c k of spa c e but as a matter of prin c iple Had I

,
.

c o mm ented on ea c h song and on each pie c e there

would have been a c onsiderable amount of faint
praise and some c ensure But what good would.

that have done ? The world is full of imperfect

things ; wh y waste time on them ? The highest
function of c riticism is to c all attention to works
of genius especially those that are neglected or
,

insu fficientl y appreciated This I have tried to

.

do I do not make any pretence to superior in

.

sight in this matter If I am more enthusiastic

.

over Grieg s songs and pieces than some other

’

writers or musicians are it is S imply because I

,

know them and they do not I have had some .

surprising experiences with eminent singers whose

knowledge of these songs was c onfined to half a
do zen of the most popular ones The most origi .

nal and c haracteristic ones such as the dozen

contained in Volume I V of the Grieg Album ( Peters
edition ) they had never seen or heard .

If I a m to be called uncritical because of my

abounding enthusiasm for the be st produc ts of
Grieg s genius uncritical l et me be called
’
,
The .

older I get the more I become convinced that the

“ ”
‘

alleged critical faculty of our times is a mental

disease a species of phylloxera threatening the best
,
 INTR O DU CTI O N

works of genius . L et us enjoy the fresh grape

from which the harmless wine of musical intoxica
tion is made leaving the raisins to the analysts
,

“ ”
and critical commentators Grieg s music is
.
’

as fresh and inspiriting as on the day when it was

c omposed ; most of it is music of the future It is .

only quite recently that what M r Huneker has so

.

happil y called the Greater Chopin has come into

vogue The day will c ome when the Greater
.

Grieg also will be revealed to the public The .

time is ripe for him I cannot refrain from citing

.

the words in which M r L ouis C E lson summed up

. .

“
his review of this volume : In these days when
much musi c suggests nervous maladies and the
mad house when there seems to be a fetid atmos
,

S phere hanging over the concert room and opera

house Grieg c omes to the disgusted and stifling

,

musician like a whiff of pure air and we hope tha t

,

this book will enable even some of our neurotics

to View him in his true light and accord him his
”
deserved homage .

The first edition of this book appeared in the

series of L iving Masters of Music in which it could
,

not remain for Grieg died on September 4 1 90 7

, ,
.

The present edition contains so much added ma

terial that it is prac tically a new book Grieg s
’
.
 W ITH LETTE R S FR O M GRI E G xxxv

l etters to me are now printed for the first time ,

partly in this preface partly I n the succeeding

,

chapters where they help to tell the story of his

life or throw light on his works I have benefited .

by the excellent —
semi offic ial
biography of Schjel
deru p and Neumann published by C F Peters . .
,

and am under great O bligations for the permission

given me by Julius Rontgen Jr to make some ,
.
,

citations from the one hundred and ninety nine -

letters written to Dr Julius Ro ntgen the famous

.
,

Dutch composer and intimate friend of Grieg .

which the same firm has announced for publica

tion M y than k s are also due to M essrs Frank
. .

van der S tucken E douard Colonne Christian and

, ,

Johannes Sct tt Joa c him R einhard Gerhard

, ,

S chjelderu p ; to M r Arthur L aser who in his Ger

.
,

man translation Of the first edition made corrections ,

and additions of which I now gladl y avail my self ;

to Dr William Peters Marc A B lumenberg and
.
,
.
,

Carl V enth for kind pe rmission to use i llustrations

and photographs ; and abo ve all to Mr Frants
, ,
.

Beyer Grieg s most intimate friend for some of

,
’
,

the composer s l etters and an a cc ount of his l ast

’

day s .
 CHAPT E R I

ANCE S TR Y AND CH I LD H OOD O LE B U LL

T may sound paradoxical to say that Norway
owes its great e st composer to the outcome of
a battle fought in the eighteenth century in
Scotland but such is the case
,
It was in July
.

1 74 5 that the Pre tender Charles E dward S tuart

landed in the S cottish county Of L orne and on ,

April 1 6 of the following year his fate was decided

at the battle of Culloden a few miles east of Inve r
,

ness It was an unequal contest in which the

.
,

S cotch were foredoomed to fail ure There were .

only S ix thousand of them whereas the D uke Of

,

Cumberland had twice that number ; and while

the English soldiers were well trained well fed , ,

and headed by experienced commanders the High ,

landers were ragged starving exhausted u noflicered

, , ,
.

In vain they valiantly flung themselves on the Eng

lish front Their undisciplined courage was op
.

’
posed to the trained enemy s guns and bayonets
and heavy charges of horse In an hour all was
.

over The pretender fled with his Officers and of his

.
,
 GRI E G AND HI S M USIC

soldiers who escaped the carnage many were taken

as prisoners to E ngland where the common men ,

were permitted to cast lots one in every twenty ,

to be tried and hanged ; the rest to be transported .

The E nglish were determined to subdue the S pirit

O f the vanquished mountaineers and in pursuit of ,

this purpose they went so far as to prohibit the

Highland garb .

In these troublous times when ever ything seemed ,

lost many S cotchmen left their native country to

,

seek a home elsewhere Among these was a mer .

chant named Alexander Greig of Aberdeen a city , ,

which to this day harbours families bearing that

name L ike others he chose to immigrate to Nor
.
,

way which in climate and general aspect su fli

,

c ien tly resembled S cotland to seem an acceptable

substitute for home He established himself at .

Bergen and changed his name to Grieg in order

,

to make it correspond in Norwegian to its proper

pronunciation He did not sever all connection
.
‘

with his native country however A member of ,

.

the S cotc h R eformed Church he was so strong in ,

1 In t bi g ph ic k tc h f hi c h l d y G i g y th t th
an au o o ra s e o s s oo a s r e sa s a e

na m fG es o l G igh d E l phi t h d b imp d h i

e n e ra s re an n s on e a e en r e sse on s

m m y d p ly v
e or ee i c h i f th
e h d t ld h im th t h i f m il y
er S n e m s a er a o a s a ar s,

w h ic h b hip d t d th t hi igi l
o re a s , t w i ll p b
en o e a s or na ance s or as n a ro a

b ility th S t c h Ad m i l G i h
e co ra re
g .
4 GR I E G AND H I S MU S IC

The elder Grieg did manifest some interest in

music ; he even played the pianoforte a little but ,

the music he liked was not such as his son liked

and wrote When the two made a trip into the
.

mountains together the same di fference was mani

,

fe sted in their love O f nature T O cite O tto S ch m id s

’
.

O bviously authentic remarks

“
Wherever the landscape presented evidence of
human toil in one Of those l eve l fertil e fi elds which
are infrequent in the mountainous North Alexand e r ,

Grieg was pleased and apt to be come i mbu e d with

an enthusiasm which his son however did not ,
, ,

share Where on the other hand nature reveal e d

.
, ,

its grand eur and sublimity ; where snowy solitud e s ,

amid towering precipitous cli ffs sent their rivers ,

of ice th e ir glaciers down into the valley ; wh e re

, ,

the ice coloured streams after devious toilsome

-
,

paths thundered as cataracts over disintegrating

,

rocks , the father was displeased by the sternn e ss

of the scenery the rugged charms of ,

not appeal to him ; whereas the son overwh e ,

by thrills of d elight was struck dumb in deep ,

admiration .
’

From his mother E dvard Grieg inherited not 0

his Norwegian ism but his artistic taste and
,

musical gifts Her pedigree has been trac

.
 T H E L AATE F O S S
P hoto b y C a rl Venth .

THE NAR OD AL ,
W H
IT TH E
JO R D AL S NU T
Photo b y C ar l Ven th .
 ANCE S TR Y AND CHIL DHO O D 5

as far as the beginning of the seventeenth century ,

to the famous Kjeld S tub .

l

O ddly enough as the subjoined genealogical ,

table shows this remarkable personage was bo rn ,

in Sweden ; to say however that E dvard Grieg in , , ,

1 In t he pp dix
a b k E dv d G i g g h V k
en to h is oo ,
“
ar r e 0 an s ae r e r,

S hj ld
c e e ru p p i t
f ll wi g g
t h r n s l gic l t bl t d t d w h ic h
e o o n en e a o a a e, o un e rs an

it i c y t k w th t i th ld t im w h t w w
s n e e ssar o no m ll a n e o e s, en o ns e re s a ,

N w gi
or c hil d w
e an m d ft th m ( ft f m ) d th t
re n e re n a e a er e or a er a ar ,
an a

na m d w t f th c h g th gh ( ) d tt ( d ght )
es u n er en ur er an es rou son son or a er au er

b i g g f t d t th f th
e n ra e m M gi t Kj ld S t b p i h
on o e a
’
er s n a e:
“
a s er e u , ar s

p i t f Ull k w b i H ll d—S k
r es o en sa e r, Sw d as 6 7 o rn n a an aan e , e en , 1 0 ,

an d di d i 6 63
e H wn m i d th tim th l t tim i 6 5 3
1 . e as a rr e re e e s, e as e n 1 ,

to M L aren it d t t S d
au r p d ghtz f am i i t i
er V g ve r e ru ,
au er o a n s er n an ,

H d m k (N w y) ; y f d th 66 9 T h y h d th c hild ‘

e e ar en or a e ar O ea , 1 . e a ree re n ,

on e f wh m G
o hil d S t b ( w h d i d
o ,
un w m id t H u o e as a rr e o an s

L au r it m i i t i S py d b g T h w
ze n , n s er i t c h ild
n f e er e re e re n n e e en re n , o

S p y d b g ( 6 88—75 ) w
.

wh m L o t H d t
o re n ze an s m id t a te r e er 1 1 1 as arr e a

th e g f t w t y t Eil
a e o B t l en K g l S t vik i K o er e r e sen on e , en s n vae rn aes .

Th w
e re f c hil d
e re f wh m w
ou r M gi t E il E il
re n , one o o as a s er er e rse n ,

l t t B i h p i C h i ti
a es s o d ( 7 8n Th gh hi m th h
r s an ssan 1 1 ro u s o er e

w l t d t B i h p H g p i T dhj m d t th g f t w lv
as r e a e o s o a e ru n ron e ,
an a e a e o e e

yea rs h w d pt d
e as a o d c iv d th m Hg p H
e a s a son an re e e e na e a e ru . e

w asm i d t wic th c d tim t Ed di M gd l M g th

arr e e, e se on e o var ne a a ene ar re e

C h i t i ( 75 5 — 8
r s e 1 th d ght f m i i t f m T
1 S O dh d
e au er O a n s er ro vsn aes, n or

l d Ed di C h i t i w
an . var t f th w ll k w Ei ld m
ne r s e as a n a u n O e e - no n S VO s- an

m g i t t W ilh l m F im
a s ra e K Ch i ti
e Th w th c h il
r ann o re n r s e . e re e re ree

dren , on e o f wh m w E dv d H g o p l t t c hi f m gi t t ( tif t mt
as ar a e ru ,
a es e a s ra e s sa

m d) i B g
an n( 78 er en H l w y l iv d i B g
1 1h i m th e a a s e n er e n , as s o er

l ft Ch i ti
e d ft
r s h i f th
an ssan d th ; d t th g f ighta er s a er s
’
ea an a e a e o e

Edv d H g ar p w pl c d i th K th d l c h l i B g ; h
a e ru as a e n e a e ra s oo n er en e

p d th x m i t i i l w d w m i d i 8 8 t I g b g
asse e e a na on n a ,
an as arr e n 1 0 o n e or

B di t J
en e c e ( 78 6 an sond ght f th c t g t (h f g t)
1 au er o e o u r -a en o a en ,

H m er D J an wh l . l m c h t i B g T h w ight
an so n , o e sa e er an n er en . e re e re e

c hild re n ,f wh m G ion e o J d ith H g p ( 8 4 —8 7 m i do ,

es n e u a e ru 1 1 1 a rr e

th E gl i h C
e n l t B g Al x d G i g ( 8 6
s on su a Th er en, e an er r e 1 0 e re

w e reth d ght ree d tw au i c l d i g E dv d H g

e rs an p Gig o son s, n u n ar a e ru r e ,

th c m p
e o ose r .
”
6 GRIE G AND H I S MU SIC

View of this and his S cotch paternal descent was

, ,

not a real Norwegian after all would be to forget ,

the intermarriages of two centuries and a half ,

which were usually with natives and finall y left ,

the Norwegian element far preponderant Kjeld .

1

“
S tub appears to have been an astonishingly strenu
”
ous individual He was engineer teacher parson
.
, , ,

and army Officer at diff erent times and betrayed ,

qualities which Schjelderu p thinks would under ,

other circumstances have made a prominent artist ,

of him From h im the composer may have possibly

.

inherited his fiery temperament his faculty for ,

organising and his power over the masses The

,
.

large admixture of Clerical blood in Grieg s maternal ’

pedigree is also noticeable ; the word parish parson -

oc curs repeatedly .

Apart from Kjeld S tub the most important of ,

Grieg s ancestors was his grandfather Ed vard

’

Hagerup AS S tiftam tm an d of Bergen the second

.
,

city in Norwa y he held one of the highest positions

,

in the country He lived till 1 8 5 3 and as little

.
,

E dvard was at that time already nine years Old

( he was born on June 1 5 and had spent ,

many a day in his ancestor s home he remembered ’

,

It m t b m mb d t th t Kj ld S t b bi thpl c lth gh
us e re e e re ,
oo , a e u
’
s r a e, a ou

now in Sw d b l g d i h i t im t D m k d N w y
e en, e on e n s e o en ar an or a .
 ANCE STR Y AND CHIL DH OO D 7

him well The Am tm and s funeral made a par

.
’

ticu larly deep impression on him partly because ,

of the pomp and solemnit y attending it partly ,

be c ause O f the dirge a funeral march composed

,

by a S wedish Prince Gustav who died in his youth

, ,
.

This march was played by a military band and ,

parts of it stirred the boy so deeply that the y became

indelibly fixed in his memory .

Gesine Judith Hagerup was one of E dvard

Hageru p s eight children (families were large in
’

those days : Gunhild S tub had nineteen sons and

daughters) She herself gave birth to thr ee
.

daughters and two sons ; the composer E dvard and ,

John who became a merchant in Bergen and who

,

devoted his leisure moments to playing the Violon

cello
. M ost of the mother s musical talent was ’

inherited by E dvard and there was a good deal

,
-
Without in the least neglectin g ha
3

to inherit ”

k
.

household duties Gesine Hagerup was able to

,
‘

devote much of her time to music As a young .

girl She had received lessons in S inging and piano

forte playing in Hamburg from Albert M eth fessel ,

an excellent teacher and a composer of songs some ,

of which are still in favour S ubsequently She con

.

tin u e d her studies in L ondon which she Visited ,

repeatedly with her husband and thus She acquired ,

 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

a skill which enabled her to appear as soloist

at concerts in Bergen Grieg remembered p articu .

larly her splendid performance with orchestra ,

and c horus of Beethoven s great Fantasia opus ,

’
,

80 He also specially recalled the remarkable

.

verve and rhythmic animation with which she

always played the works of one Of her favourites ,

Weber .

He could not have had a better teacher than his

mother who began to give him lessons when he was
,

S ix years old M ore important than this instru c .

1

tion however was the musical atmosphere he was

, ,

enabled to breathe at home A boy who is destined

'

to become a great genius can easily teach himself ,

but nothing can atone for the lack Of that musical

nutriment in childhood and youth which builds
the very tissues of that part of the brain which is
set aside for musical impressions Madame Grieg .
‘

not only played a great deal en fam ille but once a ,

week Sh e invited those of her friends who were

1 l dy
A rea b f th i h h d g a y e ar v y g f di c v y
e o re s e a o ne on o a es o s o er .

I vi w f h i f t
n e g t
o sig i t
u i th w l d f h m
u re y
re a n e ss a s an o r n a or n e or o ar on ,

i i xt m l y i t
t s e ti g
re d w h t h h w itt g d i g th t y ;
e n e re s n to re a a e as r e n re ar n a ea r

h ep k f h w d f l my t i
s ea s o
“
t i f c t i w ith w h ic h my
t e on er u s e r ou s sa s a on

arm t tc h d t t th pi t d i c v
s s re e ou m l d y ; th t w
o e an o o s o er n ot a e o a as

f
ar o ff ; th t th i c h thi g h m y Fi t thi d th
no a e re s su a n as ar on . rs a r ,
en

a c h d f th or t th f ll h d f f
o ree n o e s, di g t l en a u C or o o u r, e n n a as

h d O h j y ! c mbi t i f fi t
an s .
,
o a o na on o ve ,

I f d th t t m y h pp i k w b d
ou n a ou a n ess ne no ou n s .
 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

the piano instead of busying my self with the lesson

set
. But my unpardonable tendenc y to dream
ing was already beginning to bring me the same
difficulties which have accompanied me long enough
throughout my life Had I not inherited my
.

mother s irrepressible energy as well as her musical

’

capacity I S hould never in any respect have suc

,

ce ede d in passing from dreams to de e ds .

While M ozart and Weber were Mme Grieg s .

’

favourites She was by no means one of those ama

,

te u rs who are deaf to the beauties of contemporary

music S he appreciated not only the orthodox

.

romanticist Mendelssohn but the more radical and

,

revolutionary Chopin whose delightful and unique

,

pieces were at that time understood by few and ,

therefore underrated It is probabl e that Ch

.

novel and audacious harmonies sowe d the

from which subsequently sprang some Of the
liest flowers Of Grieg s genius ’
.

His first serious attempt to compose was

at the age of twelve or thirteen O ne day he b r .

with him to school a music book on which he had

-

written : Variations on a German Melody for the

“

Piano by E dvard Grieg O pus 1

, ,
He wanted .

to S how it to one of his classmates Unfortu .

n ately the teacher caught sight of it and examined

,
 ANCE STR Y AND CHIL DH O O D

it ; then he sudden l y seized the boy by his hair

till his eyes were black and advised him gru ffly ,

to l eave such rubbish at home ( Subsequently this .

Opus 1 was consigned to the flames ) The teacher .

had no reason to like E dvard who had be en neg ,

lec ting his three and who later confessed

“
that in s c hool he was just as idle as at the piano .

He was ingenious in devising excuses for being

late ; for instance he would stand in the rain or ,

under a dripping roof till he was soaked through

to the skin and the teacher had to se nd him home
,
.

“
The only excuse I wil l make for my se l f is that
—
school life was in the last degree unsympathetic to
me ; its materialism its coarseness its coldness , , ,

were so abhorrent to my nature that I thought of the

most incredible ways of escaping from it if only for ,

a S hort time I have not the least doubt that

.

that school developed in me nothing but what was

”
evil and left the good untouched
,
.
1

Up to this time it had never occurred to E dvard

that he might become an artist He want ed to be .

fi k
u N
F ‘
fi fl o

a pastor To be able to preach to an interested

.

O th
1 m i g cd t
er a d mi i c c f th c h l d y
us n an e o es an re n s en es o e se s oo a s,

as w ll e f t h th y
as o p t t th L ip ic C
e vt y m yb
re e ea rs s en a e e s o n se r a or ,
a e

f
ou n di mi h m k t c h M y Fi t S cc
n a se -
u w itt by G i g
o ro u s s e ,
“
rs u e ss,
”
r en r e

and p i t d i V lh g
r n e n e a en K lasing
’
s M on atsh ef te an d t he N eu e M u sik
it g ( S t ttg t
ze un u ar ,
A c d
on e n se d En gl i h v
s e rsion of th i s m ay
b f
e d i th L d
ou n n e on on C on temporary Rev i w ( J ly
e u ,
1 2 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

congregation seemed to him something very lofty .

T O be a prophet a herald that was what he liked

, , .

He had at this time also a great passion for poetry ;

he knew all the poems in the reading books by -

heart and declaimed them to his parents and sisters

,
.

And when my father after dinner wanted to take

, ,

his little siesta in the armchair I would not leave ,

him in peace but got behind a chair which rep re

, ,

sented my p u lp it and declaimed awa y without any

‘

,
.

consideration .

From E dvard s tenth year on the Grieg family

’

had lived at the fine estate of L andaas a few kilo ,

metres from Bergen O n e summer s day when he

.
’
,

was nearly fifteen years old a rider at full gallop ,

came up the road to L andaas It was one of the .

idols Of Grieg s dreams O le Bull S omething like

’
,
.

an electric curre nt seem ed to pass through the boy

‘

when the world famed Violinist shook his h and :

-

yet he was disenchanted to find one whom he

regarded almost as a god smiling and joking just
like ordinary mortals He listened speechless to the
.

astounding stories of his journeys in America .

Inasmuch as O le Bull on more than one occasion

exerted a great influence on Grieg s artistic care e r ’
,

and paved th e way for it by his persistent e fforts

to establish a Norwegian art centre it is of interest ,
G RI E G As A B OY OF F I F TE E N
‘
 ANCE STRY AND CHIL DHO O D 1 3

and pertinent to recall a few incidents in his roman

tic life He also was born at Bergen thirty
.
, , ,

three years before Grieg but his experience in ,

school when his musical proclivities were discovered

w as zqu ite di fferent from Grieg s The Old rector ’
.

“
of the L atin school said to him Take your fiddle ,

”
in earnest boy and don t waste your time here
, ,
’
.

He followed this advice and became a violinist , ,

c on c erning whom no less an authority than Joachim

“
said : N 0 artist in our time has possessed his poetic
”
power . He went to Germany to study the violin
with the famous S pohr but found his style too ,

academic to suit him The capricious fantastic .

,

Paganini was more to his taste and him he chose ,

for a model so far as any model he may be said

,

to have had He soon won a fame and popularity

.

hardly second to the great Italian s and became an ’

,

indefatigable traveller giving concerts in the cities

,

of Scandinavia R ussia Germany France Italy

, , , , ,

Americ a O nce in Paris he tried to commit suicide

.
, ,

by jumping into the river S eine because his beloved ,

Violin had been stolen ; but he was res c ued and a ,

wealthy lady gave him another Guarneri In 1 8 5 3 .

his violin was again stolen by a Central American

'

at Panama when he was on the way to California

,

with M r S trak osch In trying to recover it he

. .
1 4 GRIE G AND HI S MU SI C

l ost his steamer and while waiting for the next

,

fell a victim to yellow fever A miniature revolu

.

tion happening to be in progress he was not only ,

left unattended but was oblige d to leave his bed

,

and lie on the floor to escape stray bullets S ome .

years later he was on an O hio river steamer which

crashed into another that had a load Of petroleum .

B oth the steamers were at onc e surrounded with

a circle of fire but O le Bull grasped his violin
, ,

jumped overboard and succeeded in swimming

,

ashore .

Perhaps the most memorable of his c oncert tours

was that which he undertook in 1 8 5 3 with the girl
soprano Adelina Patti R eports of the wonderful
,
.

art of this child had gone forth and as one of the ,

“
American critics remarked nothing short of the
,

testimony we have seen c ould make us believe Such

a thing possible Yet the whole artistic life of O le
.

Bull is a guarantee that nothing but sterling merit

”
can take part in his c oncerts O le Bull s object
.
’

in giving this particular series of concerts was to

raise funds for carrying out a patriotic project of
establishing a large Norwegian colony in Penn syl
“ ”
vania A New Norway to cite his own words
, ,

“
consecrated to liberty baptize d with independence
, ,

”
and protected by the Union s mighty flag ’
But he .
I 6 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

he resumed his direction of it appointing B j orn

,

stjern e Bj o rnson as dramatic instructor Three .

years later he tried to found a Norse Music Academy

in Christiania This academy writes Jonas L ie
.
, ,

“
was not founded ; but the seed the thought
was at that time planted Sin ce then it has grown
.

and matured and to day we have a body of artists

,
-

and composers and quite another musica l culture

,

”
ready to receive it .

When O le Bull died in 1 880 his patriotic aspira

tions and services were duly acknowledged The .

King sent a telegram of condolence to the widow ,

expressing his personal as well as the national

loss and BjOrn stjern e BjOrn son said in an address
, ,

“
delivered before thousands of mourners : Patriot
ism was the creative power in his life When he .

'

established the Norse theatre assisted Norse art

,

and helped the National Museum his mighty ,

instrument singing for other patriotic ends ; when

he helped his countrymen and others wherever he
found them it was not S O much for the O bject or ,

the person but for the honour of Norway

,
.

Grieg played the organ at the funeral services ,

and his remarks which followed BjOrn son s must

,
’
,

also be cited
“
Because more than any other thou wast the
 ANCE STR Y AND CHIL DH O O D 1 7

gl ory of our land be c ause more than an y other

,

thou hast carried our people with thee up towards

the bright heights of art because thou wast more ,

than any other a pioneer of our young national

music ; more much more than any other the faith
, , ,

ful warm hearted conqueror of all hearts because

,
-
,

thou hast planted a seed which shall spring up in

the future and for which coming generations shall
,

bless thee with the gratitude of thousands upon

,

thousands for all this in the name of our Norse

,

memorial art I l ay this laure l wreath on thy coffin

,
.

”
Peace be with thy ashes !
Wh en E dvard Grieg spoke these words and for ,

the last time ga zed upon the features of his friend

and benefactor he was thirty seven years Old
,
-
.

When he first became acquainted with him he was ,

as already stated a lad of about fifteen

,
The .

great violinist had returned from Americ a for a

temporary sojourn in his native town He became .

a frequent visitor at the Grieg mansion and he ,

promptly discovered the gifts of E dvard who im ,

rovise d for him at the piano and told him about

p ,

his dreams and hopes of himself be c oming a musi

c ian .

“
To cite Grieg s own words : When he heard I
’

had composed music I had to go to the piano ;

,
1 8 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

a l l my entreaties were in vain I c annot now .

understand what O le Bull could find at that time

in my juvenile pieces But he was quite serious
.

and talked quietly to my parents The matter .

of their discussion was by no means disagreeable

to me For suddenly O le Bull came to me shook
.
,

‘
me in his own way and said You are to go to
, ,

L eipsic and become a musician E verybody

’
.
,

looked at me a ffectionately and I understood just

,

one thing that a good fairy was stroking my cheek

,

and that I was happy And my good parents !

.

’
Not one moment s opposition or hesitation ; every
thing was arranged and it seemed to me the most
,

”
natura l thing in the world .
 CHAPT E R II
AT TH E L E IP S I C CONS E R V ATOR Y GAD E

Y an interesting coincidence the L eipsic ,

Conservatory had been established in the

same year that E dvard Grieg was born
1 84 3
. But its founder Mendelssohn had died
, ,

four years later and S chumann who had been

, ,

—
appointed instructor in score reading had gone ,

to D resden after one year s service ; he died in 1 8 5 6

’
.

The Conservatory was thus at the time of E dvard s ,

’

arrival shorn of its chief glory ; but it still boasted

,

the names of several men famed in the musical

world among them M oschele s the eminent
, ,

pianist and composer ; E F E R ichter author of . . .

,

the celebrated treatise on harmony of which more ,

than twenty editions have been printed ; E F . .

Wen zel the noted piano teacher ; M oritz Haupt

,

mann the eminent theorist ; and Carl R einecke

, ,

famed as M o zart player composer and conductor

, ,

of the Gewandhaus concerts .

“
When Grieg was sent to L eipsi c he fe l t l ike a
1 9
2 0 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC
”
parcel stu ffed with dreams O n arriving in the .

”
mediaeval city (L eipsic has changed very much
“
since that time ) the dark tall uncanny houses
, , ,

”
and narrow streets almost took away his breath .

He continued to wear a short blouse with a belt ,

such as theboys wore at his own home ; it was his

only reminder of Norway and he was very home ,

“
sick But soon he recovered and he says
. Al , ,

though I had not the slightest idea what it meant

to study music I was dead certain that the miracle
,

would happen and that in thre e years when my

, ,

course of studies came to an end I S hould go back ,

home a wizard master in the kingdom O f sounds

-
.

Great surprises and disappointments were how ,

ever in store for him

,
.

The first of his piano teachers was the renowned

Plaidy who us e d to play for his pupils the Sl ow
,

introductory movements of Mendelssohn s Capri ’

c ios and then when he reached the more di ffi cult

, ,

“ ”
allegros remark as if casually : And S O on ;
, ,

seriously imagining that the boys did not see through

him ! S ome Of the students among them J F ,
. .

Barnett nevertheless S howed brilliant techn ical

,

results under him Grieg was much better pleased

.

with his next teachers E F Wenzel the gifted ,

. .
,

friend Of S chumann who soon became his idol ;

,
 AT P
THE L E I SI C C ONS E R V AT O R Y
and the famous Igna z M oscheles For him also .
, ,

Grieg stands up with the greatest warmth :

“
It is true that he was naive enough to believe
that he imposed on us by seizing every opportunity
to run down Chopin and S chumann whom I secretly ,

adored ; but he could play beautifully : and he did ;

often taking up the whole lesson E specially his .

interpretations of Beethoven whom he worshipped , ,

were S plendid They were conscientious full of

.
,

character and noble without any straining after

, ,

e ffect I studied Beethoven s sonatas with him

.
’

by the dozen O ften I could not play four bars

.

together without his laying his hands on mine ,

pushing me gently from my seat and saying Now , ,

‘

listen how I do that In this wa y I learned many a

.
’

little technical secret and came to value his expres

,

sive interpretations at the very highest I was told .

at the Conservatory but here fortunately I , ,

can speak from personal experience that he gave

his pupils the advice : Play diligently the Old ‘
,

masters M o zart B eethoven Haydn and — my

, , ,

self
.
’
I do not guarantee this anecdote But I .

call attention to the fact that I myself following his ,

advice took in hand his twenty four S tudies (op

,
-
.

7)0 and played them all to him which I do not in ,

the least regret I liked them and therefore I did

.
2 2 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

my best to please him and myself He must have .

noticed that for he became from day to day more

,

friendly and it was perhaps a small but n everthe

,

less an important success for me when one day

after I had played one of his études without being
once interrupted by him he turned to the other ,

‘
students with the words : There you see gentle ,

men what I call musical playing

,
How glad I .
’

was ! O n that day the whole world lay before me

”
flooded with sunshine .

In the harmony class it was characteristic of

Grieg that as he confesses he always wrote to
, , ,

the given bass harmonies which pleased himself

, ,

instead of those prescribed by the rules of thorough

bass But E F R ichter was not the man to en
. . .

“ ”
courage these harmonies of the future as one ,

might call them ; with an indulgent smile he wou ld

”
say : NO ! Wrong ! and correct them with thick
“

“
pencil marks which however Grieg adds by no
, , ,

means converted me He did not realise at this

.

time he admits that he was a pupil and S hould

, ,

have kept within bounds R ichter did not argue .

or explain ; he simp l y smiled patiently and used his ,

pencil .

His other harmon y teacher R obert Papp eritz , ,

gave him a freer rein which encouraged him to ,

 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC

quartet was nevertheless written

,
a mediocre
,

piece on the lines of S chu m ann Gade and Men , ,

del ssohn but when it came to the overture he

lit e rally stuck in the middle and could get no further
,
.

“
There was no class in the Conservatorium in which
”
one could ge t a grounding in these things .

Whil e th e untamed Norwegian lad found it hard

to breathe the atmosphere of an institution in which
Mend elssohn was the latest approvable composer ,

wh ere as his own idols Chopin and S chumann not

, ,

to speak O f Wagner were looke d at as rather dange r

,

ous revolutionists he now declares that if he mad e

, ,

little progress the fault was largely his own ; in part

, ,

“
it was perhaps national
, ,
We Norwegians espe
.
,

c ially
,
usually develop too slowly to S how in the
”
l e ast at the age of eighteen what we are good for .

“ ”
There were other foreigners at the Conservat ory
“ ”
who made immense strides forward ; among them ,

by an interesting coincidence as many as five boys ,

who subsequently b ecame leaders in the musical

world Of L ondon Grieg writes .

“
Among these were Arthur Sullivan afterward ,

so celebrated as the composer of the M ikado the ‘

,
’

pianists Franklin Taylor and Walter Bache and ,

'

E dward D annreuth e r too early taken from us ,

so gifted and S O unwearied as the champion of

 AT THE L E I P SI C CONS E R V AT O R Y 2 5

L iszt ,and who also was one of the first to enter

the lists on behalf of Wagner in E ngland He was .

an exceedingly able man and an eminent player

, .

L astly there was the fin e musician John Francis ,

Barnett whom I have mentioned above and who

, ,

passed his life as a teacher in L ondon Sullivan .

at once distinguished himself by his talent for com

position and for the advanced knowledge of in
,

stru m en tation which he had acquired before he

came to the Conservatorium While still a student

.

he wrote the music to S hakespeare s Tempest ’ ‘

,
’

a few bars of which he once wrote in my album ,

and which displays the pra c tised hand of an old

master Although I did not come across him
.

much I once had the pleasure of passing an hour

,

with him which I shall not forget It was during

,
.

a performance of M endelssohn s S t Paul ’

We‘
. .
’

sat and followed the music with the score and what ,

a score ! It was Mendelssohn s own manus c ript

’
,

which S ullivan had succeeded in borrowing for the

occasion from the D irector of the Conservatorium ,

Conrad S chleinitz who was as is well known an

, , ,

intimate friend of Mendelssohn s With what ’

.

reverence we turned from one page to another !

We were amazed at the clear firm notes which S O
,

”
well expressed the ideas of the writer .
 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

The truth gradually dawned on Grieg that if he

would progress like these English boys he must ,

like them submit patiently to drudgery The

,
.

pangs of conscience drove him from one extreme

to the other ; he worked day and night scarcely ,

allowing himself time to eat and sleep and the ,

result was a complete collapse in the spring of ,

1 8 60 .As soon as his mother was informed Of his

condition S h e hastened from Bergen to his bedside .

The illness culminated in a severe case of pleurisy ,

or inflammation Of the membrane enfolding the

lungs In those days physicians had not yet dis
.

covered modern methods of dealing with this serious

malady and the result was that Grieg s health
,
’

remained impaired all his life ; for more than four

decades he had only one lung the right to -

breathe with All the more must we marvel at

.

his achievements ! But genius cannot be curbed

m§
1 T56d a fi m
“ “

even by impaired Vl t works

Of would never have been
written .

M me Grieg took her son ba ck with her to Ber

.

gen where he slowly improved In the hope that

,
.

he might recover completely ii he remained during

the winter too his parents were anxious to have him
,

stay under their roof ; but he preferred to return to

 AT T HE LE I P SIC C ONS E R V AT O R Y 2 7

L eipsi c ,
where even if the Conservatory was not ,

quite to his liking there was abundant opportunity ,

to hear good music and meet prominent musicians .

He applied himself diligentl y to his tasks and was ,

thus able in the spring of 1 86 2 to pass his examina

, ,

tions with c redit ; he played on this occasion the

four pieces sub sequently printed as his opus 1 and ,

won applause and praise both as compose r and

performer .
1

R eturning to the North he enjoyed a Norwegian ,

summer at the country home of his parents at

L andaas In the following season he gave his
.

first concert in B ergen at which his Conservatory ,

string quartet was produced beside the piano ,

pieces of opus 1 and the Four S ongs for Alto , ,

opus 2 With the net receipts which were en

.
,

c ou raging he purchased a number of scores of

,

orchestral and chamber music and now for the , ,

—
first time applied himself diligently to score read
,

ing an important branch of his art to which the

,

1 fi t
T he i h w v w h G i g m ic w p f m d
rs occ as on , o e e r, en r e
’
s us as e r or e

was i th p i g f 8 6 wh
n e s O tt S c hm id
r n lt
o C
1 vt y
0, e n , as o re a es, a o n se r a or

p p il pl y d m f hi p i p i c wh ic h h w v h v t b
u a e so e o s an o e e s, ,
o e e r, a e no e en

p i t d C c i g th x m i t i c c t i 8 6 j t f d t
rn e . on e rn n e e a na on on e r n 1 2 ,
u s re e rre o,

G i g w it
r e I pl y d
r m p i f t p i c f m y w ; th y w
es :
“
a e so e an o o r e e es o o n e e re

l m p d cti
a e ro gh d I t ill bl h t d y th t th y pp d
u on s e n ou ,
an s us o- a a e a e are

i p i t
n r n p ; b t it i f t th t I h d im m
as o us I cu d s a ac a a an e n se su c e ss
,
an

w as c ll d fa e v l tim or se e ra es .
”
2 8 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC

L eipsic Conservatory appears to have paid in su fli

cient attention after the departure Of S chumann .

In the spring 1 86 3 he took up his sojourn in Copen

, ,

hagen which being a much larger city than Bergen

, , ,

O ffered better opportunities to an aspiring musician ,

and which moreover was the home of the head of

, ,

the S candinavian school the famous Niels W ,

Gade .

It has O ften been said that Gade was at one time

the teacher of Grieg This is not strictly true for
.
,

Gri eg never took lessons of him ; yet he frequently

as e d the O lder master s opinion Of his new works
k ’

and admits that he may have profited more by his

hints than by the Conservatory course at L eipsic .

S hortly after arriving in the D anish capital ( in

May Grieg met Gade at Klampenborg a ,

popular summer resort near Copenhagen and was ,

asked if he had anything of his own composition

to S how Now while it is true that S chube rt and
.
,

Mendelssohn had written two of their master

“ ”
works the E rlking and the Mid summer
,
-

Night s D ream overture as lads most of the

’
,

other masters if asked that question at Grieg s

,
’

age (he was not quite twenty) would have been ,

obliged to answer as he did that he had nothing

”
of importance to S how Very well then retorted
.
,
 AT T H E L E I SI C C ONS E R V AT O R P Y

Gade , go home and write a sy mphony This .

suggestion caused Grieg to pull himself together ,

and a fortnight later he had actually composed

and orchestrated the first movement of a symphony ,

whi c h he submitted to Gade who was much pleased ,

with it and spoke words of encouragement that

,

fired the young man s ambition as nothing else had ’

done there tofore .

l

Gade has been called the chief of the S c andi

navian romantic S chool and su c h he was until ,

Grieg came forward with his best works Gade s

’
.

”
c ompositions have been shelved too soon ; his
”
O ssian overture and one or two of his symphonies
would even now give more pleasure to concert
goers than most Of the contemporary products of
Germany and France because he was a melodist ,

as well as a colourist Hans von Biilow likened .

his mastery of orchestration to Wagner s and L is zt s ; ’ ’

he was pleased with the deliberateness with whi c h

Gade scored his works and his conscientious regard ,

for details in reference to which he cites the English

, ,

1
j v il y mph y w ft w d c mpl t d b t h
T hiS u en e
.

s v on as a er ar s o e e ,
u as n e er

b p bl i h d i it t i ty I c v t i w ith th R W A
e en u s e n s en re . n a on e rsa on e ev . . .

G y p t d i th W m t H m f J
ra , re or e n y 8 94 G i g id
e o an a o e or an u a r ,
1 , r e sa

th t ld L mby c d c t d it
a o u v i g ( h th ght it w i 864 ) t
e on u e on e e en n e ou as n 1 a

a symph y c c t t t h T iv l i T h c d d th i d m v m t
on on er a e o . e se o n an r o e en s a re

now cc aibl i p i t
e ss p 4 T w S y m ph ic Pi c f p i
e n rn as o us 1 ,
“
o on e es
”
or an o ,

f
ou r h d an s.
3 0 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

Trifles make perfection and perfection is no

,

”
trifle. But what made the emin ent D anish com
poser S pecially interesting to his contemporaries
was the S candinavian local colour in his works .

Concerning this R obert S chumann wrote in one

,

of the last essa y s that c ame from his suggestive

pen :
“
We have in him an entirely new artistic type .

It appears indeed as if the nations bordering on

, ,

German y were trying to emancipate themselves

from the leadership of German music ; a chauvinist
D eu tsch titm ler)
( might grieve thereat but to,
a
thinker and student of mankind it will seem natural
and gratifying Thus Chopin represents his native
.

c ountry ; Bennett E ngland ; in Holland J Ver

, ,
.

hulst arouses hopes of becoming a worthy rep re

sen tative of his country ; in Hungary likewise , ,

national e fforts are being made And while they .

all regard the German nation as their first and

most esteemed teacher no one S hould be surpris e d
,

at their wishing to have a national musical lan

g uage of their own without
,
be coming faithless to !

the teachings of their mistress .

“
In the north Of E urope too we have seen mani
, ,

fe station s of national tendencies L indblad

. in ,

S tockholm (the teacher of Jenny L ind ) translat e d ,

3 2 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C
”
the Northern S chool is now following But in .

private letters to the author of this volume Grieg

has twice regretted if he S hould have uttered such
a sneer at Gade whom he has always held in the ,

highest esteem both as a man and a composer,

.
.
’

However if he had made that remark it would not

, ,

have been w ide of the mark for Gade certainly ,

does S how the influence of Mendelssohn and other

German composers much more than that Of the
S candinavian folk music — Had Grieg followed his .

example he would not have become a specifically

Norse composer but what some have foolishly
,

reproached him for not being a cosmopolite — .

L uckily there were two other S candinavian musi

c ian s Norwegians both who led him back from
, ,

—
the over tilled German fields to the Virgin forests ,

the pe asants the peaks the fjords of Norway

, ,
.

ic ht b w t d i A ic ht j m l i
“
‘

I h bi mi
1
c n r n e u ss ese ns e a s n so c r asse n

W t g d ii k t
o r en h b U d i h bi i
au s e r c zu g a V h
en . n c n e n zu ro sse r e re re r

vo n G d in i b t W ka e d b i ih m
se n en vi l c h ld ig m
e s en er e n, un n zu e s u , u

e in e so p ie
’

t at lose An sic ht colp o rt ieren zu h lfe en . A sol bitt h

e, erau s

d am i t! ”
 CHAPT E R III
FR OM GE RMANY TO NOR W AY
HE two men referred to were O le B ul l
and R ichard N ordraak It was stated .

on a previous page that O le Bull on two

occ asions exerted a great influence on Grieg s .
’

career The first was when he persuaded his

.

parents to send him to L eipsi c ; with the second

we are now con c erned .

O le Bull a lways when possibl e went home to

, ,

spend the su mrner in his country house at Vale

’

strand on the Island O stero en about twe nty miles

, ,

east of Bergen It was here that Grieg beginning

‘

.
,

with the year 1 864 formed an intimate friendship

,

with the great Violinist They O ften played M o zart s

.
’

sonatas and other duos together ; sometimes John

Grieg joined them with his V ioloncello and they ,

had trios At other times E dvard Grieg and O le

.

Bull made excursions together into their favourite

mountain regions and these were particu l arl y
,

potent in directing the trend of Grieg s genius ’

.

Profes sor R B Anderson on c e asked Ole Bu ll

. .

33
34 G RI E G AND HI S M USI C

what had inspired his weird and origina l melodies .

“
His answer was that from his earliest childhood
he had taken the profoundest delight in Norway s ’

natural scenery He grew eloquent in his poetic

.

description of the grand and picture sque fl ower

clad valleys filled with soughing groves and singing
,

birds ; of the silver crested mountains from which

-
,

the summer sun never departs ; of the me l odious

brooks babbling streams and thundering rivers ;
, ,

of the blinking lakes that sink their deep thoughts

to starlit skies ; of the far penetrating fjords and
-
,

the many thousand islands on the coast He spoke .

with special emphasis of the eagerness with which

he had devoure d all myths folk tales ballads and
,
-
, ,

popular melodies ; and all these things he said , ,

‘
have mad e my music
Sara Bull relates that when in early c hildhdod
, ,

playing alone in the meadows he saw a delicate ,

blue bell gently moving in the breeze he fancied

-
,

he heard the bell ring and the grass accompany

,

it with most enrapturing fine voices ; he fan cied he

heard n atu re sing and thus music revealed itself
, ,

or came to his consciousness as something that

might be reproduced He was never happier
.

than when he could persuade his grandmothers

to tell him strange ghost stories and S ing the wild,
 F R O M GE RMAN Y TO NO R W A Y 35

songs of the peasantry He so on formed the

.

habit of visiting remote valleys listening to the ,

dances and other tunes of the peasants and trans ,

ferring them to his V iolin ; and it was with these

”
wild tunes with the S aeterb e soeget the Saeter ,

” “ ”
n ten s S ondag E n M oders B oen and the like
j e , ,

that he aroused the wildest enthusiasm of his a u di

e n c es in all parts of E urope and America .

To hear such a man play to play with him to

, ,

a cc ompany him to the home of the peasants and

hear their music there these were the privileges
of E dvard Grieg in his twenty first year and later -
,

and the consequences were inevitable O le Bull .

“
whose motto was My calling is Norse music
, ,

was naturally pleased to have so sympathetic and

talented a young companion although there were ,

reasons for disapprova l of him While both agreed .

in their love of M o zart the violinist had no use for

,

the modern composers of whom his young friend

was enamoured Wagner he positively detested :
.

“ ”
he ought to be lodged in prison he used to say , .

In Grieg s compositions too he could not fail to

’
, ,

discover traces Of heretical modernity even at this ,

early period but he generously made allowance

,

for these in View Of other qualities that did appeal

to his taste .
 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

At th is early period in Grieg s artistic career we ’

already come across one of his noble traits He .

may have been weakened in body but his mind ,

was sturdy and inflexible Neither of his best .

friends his father and O le Bull approved of

what was most original and best in him yet that ,

did not prevent him from following whither his

fancy led regardless of consequences Herein he
,
.

resembled Wagner who when his contemporaries , ,

found him too Wagnerian retorted by becoming ,

more and more so .

1

His determination to follow the bent of his own

genius must have been gre atly strengthened at
this time by his fri endship with R ikard N ordraak ,

a young Norwegian composer O f rare talent who ,

might hav e done as much for his native coun try

.

as G rieg himself had not death carried h im off ,

before he had completed his twenty fourth year -

.

E ven in this short span of life he created some

notable works among them pianoforte pieces , ,

1
b
I t h as l t d th t w h G i g h w d hi fi t vi l i
een re a e ta en r e s o e s rs o n son a a

t
o G d th t m i t c mp
a e, a e d i c v d th i m c h v id c f
n en o o se r s o ere e re n u e en e o

t l t b t th ght it t N w gi
a en , u ou B t G i g i f m d m th t
“
oo or e an .
”
u r e n or e e a

thi is Th fi t
s an e rror : t ( p 8 ) h d G d w m y mp th y
“
e rs son a a o . a a
’
e s ar s a ,

th c d (i G)
e se on th nth h d h f d t N w gi
,
on e oAft er an ,
e ou n oo or e an .
”
er

th fi t p f m
e rs c f thi
e r or t i C p h g G d c m i t th
an e o s son a a n o en a en , a e a e n o e

ar ti t s m
’
d id
s roo D
'

G i g th xt
an sa t y m t l ly
: e ar r e , e ne son a a ou us re a

m k l N w gi
a e e ss G ig w i d fi t m d d t t d
or e an .
”
r e as n a e an oo an re o r e :
“
O th n t y P f
e con rar th xt will b m
, !
ro e ssor, e ne e ore so
”
 FR O M GE R MANY T o N O R WAY 37

“
settings of his c ousin B j ornson s Mary S tuart in ’

” “ ”
S cotland S igurd S le m b e
,
and the patriotic ,

”
song Ja vi elsk e r
,
.L ike O le Bull he was patriot ,

to the verge of fanaticism and Grieg who had , ,

loved his fatherla n d above everythin g even before

he knew these two men had his glowing feelin gs
,

fanned to a bright flame by interc ourse with them ,

especially with Nordraak who being on l y a year

, ,

older was the more suitable companion for him

,
.

The y first met in the winter of 1 864 and it was a ,

case of friendship at first sight N ordraak a ecom .

an ie d Grieg to his home and there as on many

p , ,

subsequent occasions the y indulged in music to

,

their heart s content and discussed patriotic topics

’
, .

The most important e ffect of the friendship with

Nordraak was that it hastened Grieg s journe y ’

from Germany to Norway musical ly speaking , .

Up to this point he had fe l t the L eipsic shackles

the need of being more or less German in his themes
and modes of utterance He had been in danger
.

Of b e swal l owed up in the great mae l strom of

n
German musi c ; but he saw his peril in time and
steered bac k into the Norwegian branch of the
ocean He had been somewhat timid but Nord
.
,

raak s c ourage and enthusiasm proved contagious

’
.

He now dared to b e h im self and Norse If he was .

3 S GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

proud of being a Norwegian by birth why S hould ,

he be ashamed to be Norwegian in his music ?

“ ”
He wrote his four Humoresken opus 6 dedicated , ,

them to Nordraak and the die was cast Thence ,

.

forth he was free to do as he pleased and in a S hort ,

time the germs of individuality that are not absent

even in his first works grew and expanded until
they formed a new kind of music di ffering from the
c lassical German art somewhat as an exotic orchid
of the forest diff ers from our no less beautifu l but
more regular garden flowers .

There are several ways of fostering nationa l art

by discussion by creation and by public perform
, ,

ance Grieg and Nordraak adopted all of these

.

methods In the winter of 1 8 64 6 5 they founded

.
-

at Copenhagen the E uterpe S ociety the object of ,

which was to bring forward the works of yohng

Northern composers With them were associa ted .

the ope ra composer H om em ann and the organist

and composer Matthison Hansen But the E uterpe -
.

lived only a few seasons In the sprin g Nordraak .

left Copenhagen and went to Berlin while Grieg ,

spent the summer with the D anish author Benja

min Feddersen in the village Rungsted ,
The .
1

1 j mi F dd
B en a n e e rse n h as vo er a h d d l tt
un re e e rs w ritt en to h im b y
G i g ; b t th h v
r e u ese a e no t y t b
e e en pitd
r n e .
 FR O M GE RMANY T o NO R W A Y 39

followin g details are cited from the interview placed

on record by the R ev W A Gra y in The W om an
. . .
,

at H om e:
“
Whether it was the lovely S ituation or the ,

invigorating air whi c h inspired me I won t pretend ,

’

to say At any rate within eleven days I had com

.
,

pose d my sonata for the pianoforte and very soon ,

afte r my first sonata for the violin I took them .

both to Gade who was living out at Klampenborg

,
.

He glan c ed through them with satisfaction nodded , ,

tapped me on the S houlder and said ,

’
That s very nice indeed Now we l l go over .
’

them carefully and l ook into all the seams .

’

“
S o we climbed a small steep staircase to Gade s
’

studio where he sat down at the grand pianoforte

,

and played with absolute inspiration .

“
I had often be en told that when Gade was in ,

spired he drank Copious draughts Of water That

,
.

day the Professor emptied four large water bottles -

.

Gade however wasn t always so good humoured

’
-
.
, ,

When for example I brought him some time after

, ,

wards the score of my overture In Autumn he ‘

,
’

shook his head :

“
No Grieg ; that won t do You must go home
‘
,
’
.

and write something better .

’

“
I was quite dishearten e d by this verdict S oon .
4 0 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

after however I obtained an unexpected revenge

, ,
.

I arranged the overture as a duet for the pianoforte

and sent it to S tockholm where just then the
, , ,

Academy of Music had a nnounced a prize for

the best ov e rture I was awarded the prize by the
.

judges of whom Gade was one He must either

,
.

have forgotten the pi e ce in the intervening time or ,

hav e been in a very bad temper on the day when I

”
showed it him .

The ove rture refe rred to Grieg s first orchestral

’

work had been compose d during his first sojourn

in R ome in the winter of 1 86 5 In the following
,
.

March he was deeply grieved by the announcement

Of the death O f Nordraak which he commemorated
,

in tones by writing a funeral march He narrowly .

escaped joining his friend for he was prostrated

,

by the R oman feve r Fortunately some Da nish

.
,

friends were at hand to take care of him but it ,

was not till Ma y that he was able to return to

Norwa y .
 CHAPT E R I V

CH RI S TI ANI A MAR R I AGE L I S ZT

F Grieg s Jeg elsk e r dig ( I love thee

’ “
is ” “

one of the most impassioned and popular of

all love songs there is a reason for it The ,
.

date of its composition is 1 864 ; in that year he b e .

came engaged to his cousin M iss Nina Hagerup , ,

love for whom had inspired him to set to music

H C Andersen s h eartfelt lines Three years
. .
’
.
,

however elapsed be fore he was able to marry he rl

,

M iss Hageru p s mother had no high Opinion of’

“ ”
her prospective son in law ; He is a nobody S he -
,

“
said to a friend ; he has nothing and he writes ,

”
music that nobody cares to listen to The fact .

that only two copies were bought of his first printed

songs seemed to con firm her conviction ; but the
S inger S tenberg (subsequently one of the be st inter

re ters of Grie li der ) advis d her to wait and

’
p g s e e

see predicting that E dvard would become famous

,
.
1

1 Nin a H a g p e ru g dd ght f
w as b o rn at g i
Be r en n 1 84 5 — a ran au er o

E dv d H ar Aft h ag p e rul iv d t C p h g
. er er sev th y
en ear sh e e a o en a en .

H m th w
er f m o D er wh
as a m d th m g
a ou s i h ct
an s a ress, o assu e e an a e

m t f h
en fi t h b d (W ligh ) c mp y Aft h m i g
o er rs u s an
’
s er
’
s o an . er er arr a e

t H m
o H g erp h l ft th t g Ni H g p vid t l y i
an n a e ru s e e e s a e . na a e ru e en n

4 1
4 2 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

There was no Opposition to the marriage ; it was

simply the old story : the compose r was too poor
to support a wife When he returned to Norway .

from R ome he took up his residence in Christiania ,

eager to do any work that would contribute to his

subsistence O n his way to the Norwegian capital
.

he made a stop of a few months at Copenhagen ,

where he took lessons on the organ of Matthison

Hansen and played at the German Churc h (Fried
,

rich sk irche ) during his teacher s va c ation

’
It was .

toward the end of September 1 866 that he arrived

at Christiania S oon thereafter he gave a concert
.

with the aid Of his fiancee and Mme Normann .

Neruda (L ady Hallé ) the eminent violinist The , .

programme wa s notable inasmuch as it was prob ,

ably the first one ever made up entirely of N orwe

gian music It contained the following numbers
.

1 . Grieg : Violin sonata ,

O pus 8 .

2 . Nordraak : S ongs .

3 . Grieg :
Humoresken for piano opus 6 , ,
.

4 Grieg : S ongs
. .

G rieg : S onata for p ianoforte Opus

5 .
7 , .

6 Kjeru lf : S ongs
. .

h er m th d m tic g ift v l d i h i gi g f G i g
’
it d h
’
e er o er s ra a s, as re ea e n er s n n o r e s

son g D i g th p i d f th g g m t t h i D i h b id G i g
s . ur n e er o o e en a e en o s an s r e, r e

w as so m c h d D i h i fl c th t S hj ld p p k f it
u un er an s n u en e a c e e ru s ea s o as

th e D an is hp e rio di n th e d v l pm t
e e o en of h is g en iu s.
 CHRI STIANIA MARRIA GE LIS ZT 43

This c on cert was a most en c ouraging su ccess ,

both with the public and the press Grieg s posi .

’

tion seemed assured The Philharmonic S o c iet y .

appointed him conductor and he was in great ,

demand as a teacher For a time al l his energies .

were thus absorbed so that little leisure remained ,

for c omposing For eight years Christiania was his

.

home He married Nina Hagerup on June 1 1

.
,

1 86
7 and ,
gave subscription concerts with his young
wife beside the Philharmonic entertainments
,
.

Presently however interest in the new national

, ,

movement began to subside and his life was made ,

a burden S which owed their existen c e

totlié Energetic war he

"”
i

l ’

partly to j
had been waging on amateurish mediocrity When .

in 1 868 his be st friend and ally Halfdan Kjeru lf

, ,

died he felt quite isolated and became discouraged

, , .

In the following year he lost his daughter aged ,

thirteen months the only child he ever had and the

m
, ,

cup of bitterness m ffle dregs

'
r

Yet he persevered stubbornly in his struggles to

educate the musical taste of the communit y Among .

1Kj lf w h w
eru b in 8 5 w
,
o as ll y th fi t f th N w gi
o rn 1 1 ,
as rea e rs o e or e an

na ti l c mp
on a o H t bl i h d
o se rs. i ef b c ipti c c t
es a s e a se r e s o su s r on on e r s

a t Ch i tir si i 85 7
an a Am g h i c mp it i
n 1 . th on b t h s o os on s e re are a ou a un

d d g d f t y p i p i c th t
re son s an or m t l y t i g d with N
an o e es a a re os n e orse

c l
o ou r H h
. b e f dt as m t y b t G i g w it
een re e rre Kj lf
o as a ar r, u r e r es : e ru

liv d in Ch i t i n i
e t h nd c mp
r s a a as pp c i t d by ll
eac er a o ose r, a re a e a .
”
44 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

the works produced under his direction were S chu

“ ’ ” “ ”
mann s Paradise and the Peri and Gipsy L ife ,

“ ” “
Gade s E lve rsk u d
’
L indblad s Vin terqu all
’ '

, ,

“ ”
Kjeru lf s T ru b adu ren
’
L iszt s Tasso sel e c ’
,

tions from L ohengrin Mendelssohn s E lijah

“ “ ”
,
’
,

M o zart s R equiem He also found time amidst

’
.
,

all his discouragements to compose some O f his ,

best works songs pianoforte pieces and the , ,

superb piano concerto This conc e rto he informed .

,

me was written during his vacation in the summer

, ,

of 1 86 8 in the Danish Village O f SollerOd whence

, ,

we may infer that like Wagner he was quite as , ,

“ ”
busy in his own way during his va cation as
, ,

“ ”
during the season in town .

O n e of the pleasantest episodes of the eight

years sojourn in Christiania was related by Grieg
’

himself in an article he wrote in 1 90 2 as a c ohtri

b u tion to a brochure printed in honour Of his dear
friend Bj o rnson s seventieth birthday It is one
’
.

of those fragments that make one regret keenly that

Grieg did not write his autobiography .

“
It was on Christmas E ve 1 868 at the Bjdm , ,

sons he relates
,
“
The y lived at that time in the
.
1

R osenkranz S treet My wife and I we re so far .

,

1 My t l ti
ran s a on is md a e af e r t th e G m
er an v e rsion , w i h c h pp a e are d
in th e B erlin er Tageb latt .
46 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC

title VaterlandSlied ( Patriotic

‘
This I ’ ‘

pla y ed for Bj o rnson and he liked it S O well that he ,

felt inclined to write a poem to it I was delighted . .

Afterwards however I was afraid it would remain

, ,

a mere inclination He had other things in hand . .

The very next day however I found him to m y , , ,

surprise in creative fervour over it

,
I am getting .
‘

on with it finely he said It is to be a song for

,
’
.
‘

all young Norwegians But at the begin ning there .

is something that has so far baffl ed me A quite .

definite W ortklang I feel that the melody demands

.

it yet it eludes me But it will come

,
Then we. .

parted .

“
The next morning while I was sitting in my ,

garret room in the Upper Wall S tre et giving a lesson '

to a young lady some one in the street pulled the

,

bell cord as if he were trying to tear out the whole

thing Then there was a clattering as if a wild
.

horde were breaking in and a voice shouting , ,

‘
Forward ! Forward ! Hurrah ! I have it ! Forward ! ’

My pupil trembled like an asp en leaf My wife .

,

in the adjoining room was almost frightened out of ,

her wits But when a moment later the door was

.
, ,

opened and BjOrn son stood there j oy ous and beam

, ,

ing like a sun there was great glee And then we

,
.

listened to the beautiful poem just completed :

 CHRI STIANIA MARRIA GE L IS ZT 47

Fre m ad ! Podr es h oie Hartag var,

Fre m ad ! Nordm and, ogsaa vi det tar !

The song was sung for the first time by the

students at their torchlight procession for We l
haven in
,

In the same week that this amusing episode

occurred a letter was written that was destined to
,

p rove a great aid to Grieg in his struggles O n .

D ecember 2 9 1 868 Franz L iszt wrote to him

, , ,

from R ome the following letter in French

, ,

“
Monsieur it gives me great pleasure to tell you
,

of the S incere enjoyment I derived from a perusal

of your sonata (opus It bears witness to a
strong talent for composition a talent that is re ,

flective inventive provided with excellent material

, , ,

and which needs only to follow its natural inclina

tions to rise to a high rank I comfort myself with .

the belief that you will find in your country the

success and encouragement you deserve ; nor wil l
you miss them elsewhere ; and if you Visit Germany
this winter I invite you cordially to spend some time
at Weimar that we may become acquainted
,
.

Veuillez bien recevoir monsieur l assurance de, ,

’

mes sentiments d estime e t de c on sideration tres

’

”
distin guée .

Without exception the writers on Grieg have

,
48 G RI E G AND H I S MU SIC

assumed that he had sent his sonata to L iszt for a

critical Opinion Now L iszt complains in one O f
.
, ,

his letters of the mountains of manuscript and

,

printed music thus sent to him by composers ; but

Grieg was not one of th e se ; he assured me that he
had not sent L iszt anything and had had no per ,

“
sonal relations with him up to that time ( Ich
hatte L iszt nichts geschickt und hatte iib e rhau p t
gar keine p ersOnliChe Beziehungen zu All
the more significant was that cordial letter from
L iszt ; it indicated that that great pianist and com
poser who se chief delight in life was the discovery
,

and encouragement of musical genius had scented ,

a new track which he amid the surrounding wild s

, ,

Of worthless manuscripts was as e age r to follow as a

,

—
naturalist explorer is to discover new flora or fauna
in regions unknown And the lette r had moment
.

ous consequences Unsolicited commendation from

.

one so famous as L iszt was a gre at feather in the

— —
cap of a twenty five year Old composer ; it induc e d
-

the Norwegian Gov e rnment to grant Grieg a sum

of mon e y which enabled him in the following ,

year to visit R ome again and there to meet L iszt

, ,

personally He left Christiania in O ctober and

.
,

a few months lat e r he wrote to his parents two

extremely interesting le tters regarding his visits
 CH RI STIANIA MARRIA GE LIS ZT 49

to L iszt which he has fortunately given to the

,

world The fir st meeting was at the monastery

.
1

near the forum R omanum which L iszt made his

home when in town The D anish musician R avn .
,

kilde who reside d in R ome had told Grieg that

, ,

L iszt liked to have his invited Visitors bring along

something to S how and to play .

“
Unfort unately Grieg writes
3?
my last com , ,

positions were at home or in Germany ; S O I had to

go to Winding to whom I had given a copy of my ,

‘
last violin sonata and play the giver who takes ,

’
his present back Winding kept the cover I took .
,

th e contents and having written on the outside , ,

‘
Til D r F L iszt med b e u n dring to D r F L iszt
. .
’
. .

with I took also my funeral march

on the death of Nordraak and a volume of my
songs (the one with the Ausfahrt in it [ opus ‘ ’

and with all these und e r my arm I tramped down

the street with I must admit some qualms which
, , , , ,

however I might have saved mys e lf for a more

, ,

kindly disposition than L iszt s is rarely met with ’

.

H e came smilingly towards me and said in the ,

most genial manner

Nicht wahr wir haben ein bischen k orresp on
‘
,

Th 1
ig i l w
e fi t p i t d in 8 9 i p mphl t i d i
or na s e re rs r n e 1 2 n a a e ssu e n

B g er b y w y f c l b t i g G i g ilv w dd i g T h y d t d
en a o e e ra n r e
’
s s er e n . e a re a e

F b e y 7 d Ap il 9 8 7
ru a r 1 an r ,
1 0 .
5 9 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

dirt ? ( We have had some little correspondence

’ ‘
,

haven t ’

“
I told him that it was thanks to his letters that I
was now here — which made him laugh quite like
O le Bull His eyes in the meantime were fixed
.

with a hungry expression on the package I had

under my arm Ah ha I thought R avnkilde
.
‘
, ,
’
,
‘

’
was right And his long spider like fingers ap
.
-

roached the package in such an alarming manner

p
that I thought it advisable to open it at once He .

now comm enced to turn over the leaves that is to ,

say he skimme d over the first movement of the

,

sonata and that there was no sham about his reall y

,

reading it he soon showed by significant nods or a

,

‘
bravo or a sehr schOn
,
’ ‘
very fine when he ’

came across one of the best passages He had now .

become interested but my courage dropped be low ,

zero when he asked me to play the sonata It had .

never O ccurred to me to attempt the whole score

on the pianoforte and I was anxious on the other, ,

hand to avoid stumbling when playing for him

,
.

”
But there was no help for it .

“
S o I started on his splendid Ameri can grand

( Chi ck ering ) R ight at the beginning

. where the ,

violin starts in with a rather baroque but national '

passage he exclaimed : Ei wie keck ! Nun hOren

,
‘
5 2 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

time ; he was visibly inspire d I asked him and he .

,

S hrugged his shoulders a little ; but when I said

it could not be his intention that I S hould leave

the South without having heard a singl e tone by
him he made a turn and then muttered : Nun ich
,
‘

spiele was S ie wollen ich bin nicht S O ( Ve ry well ,

’ ‘
,

I ll play whatever you like I am not like that

’
,

and forthwith he seized a score he had lately finish e d ,

a kind O f a funeral procession to the grav e of Tasso ,

a supplement to his famous symphonic poem for

the orchestra Tasso : L amento e Trionfo ,
‘
Then .
’

he sat down and put the keys in motion Yes I .

,

assure you he discharged (u dspy ede) if I may use

, ,

so inelegant an e xpression one volley after another ,

O f heat and flame and Vivid thoughts It sounded .

as if he had evoked the m an es of Tasso H e made .

the colours glaring but such a subj e ct is ju st the ,

’

thing for him ; the expression of tragic grandeur

is his strong point I did not know what to admire .

most in him the composer or the pianist for he

, ,

played superbly No he does not really play .

,

one forgets he is a musician he becomes a prophe t ,

G i g vid t l y did t k w w h t d d l y i h c mm itt d i

1
r e e en no no a a ea s n e o e n

as ki g L i t t pl y H i m t i t im t f i d i c l d i g th P i c
n sz o a . s os n a e r en s, n u n e r n e ss

von Wittg t i v d d t d th t d if y
ens e n , ne l did it h
er are o o a , an an on e e se e

al m t i v i bl y f d H i y i g I h b i ic ht
os n ar a re u se imp l i.th t s sa n ,
“
c n n so ,
”
es a

h w e will i g
as thi cc i t m k
n ,
on xc pt i t h i l w h ic h
s o as o n , o a e an e e on o s ru e ,

i it l f w
n se xt d i y c mp l im t t th y g N w gi
as an e raor n ar o en o e ou n or e an .
 CHRI STI ANIA MARRIA G E L IS ZT 53

pro c laiming the L ast Judgment till al l the spirits

of the universe Vibrate under his fingers He enters .

into the most secret recesses of the mind and stirs

,

one s inmost soul with demonic power

’
.

“
When this was done L iszt said jauntily Now ,
‘

’
let us go on with the sonata to which I naturally ,

retorted : NO thank you after this I do not want

‘
, ,

to.
’
But now comes the best part O f the story .

L iszt exclaimed
‘
Nun warum nicht geben S ie , , ,

mal her dann werde ich es thun ( Why not ’

?
‘
.
,

Then give it me I ll do Now you must bear ,

’

in mind in the first place that he had n ever seen

, ,

or heard the sonata and in the second place that ,

it was a sonata with a violin part now above now , ,

be l ow independent of the pianoforte part And

,
.

what does L iszt do ? He plays the whole thing ,

root and branch violin and piano nay more for , , , ,

he played fuller more broadly The Violin got its ,

.

due right in the middle O f the piano part He was .

literally over the whole piano at once without miss ,

ing a note and how he did play ! With grandeur

, ,

beauty genius unique comprehension I think I

, ,
.

laughed laughed like an idiot And when I .

stammered a few complimentary words he mut ,

tere d : Nun das werden S ie mir doch zutrauen

‘
, ,

etwas vom Blatt zu spielen ich bin ja e in alter ,

54 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

ge rwan dter ( you must expect me Musiker .

’ ‘
S urel y
to be able to play a thing at sight for I am an old ,

experienced
“
Was not this geniality itself from beginning to ,

end ? No other great man I have met is like h im .

In conclusion I played the Funeral March which ,

also was to his taste Then I had a little talk with .

him telling him among other things that my father

,

had heard him in L ondon in 1 8 2 4 which pleased ,

him ( Yes yes I have travelled and played much

‘
, ,

in the world too much he said ) took my leave ,

’
, ,

and walked homeward feeling strangely hot in ,

my head but with the consciousness of having

,

spent two of the most interesting hours in my life .

I am invited for to morrow and am naturally -

,

very glad of it .

“
The day after the first meeting just described ,

the Italians Sgambati and Pinelli (a pupil of ,

1

Joachim) played my first violin sonata at a matinée

, ,

which was attended by all society L iszt came in .

the middle of the concert just before my sonata , ,

and this was fortunate for me The applause the

‘

1 g mb ti w h m th w
S a a E g l i hw m
,
w p ci l
ose o er as an n s o an , as a s e a

p tégé t l y f L i t b t f W g
ro ,
no on wh c mm d ti
O sz ,
u o a n e r, on ose re o en a on

S c h tt p b l i h d h i c h mb
o u m ic d c h t l w k H w th
s e s a er u s an or e s ra or s. e as e

fi t t p d c B th v
rs o ro E ic y mph y d Li t D t
u e ee o en s
’ “
ro a
”
s on an sz
’
s
“
an e
”

sy mph y i R m on n o e .
5 6 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

first p art of the concerto too fast and the beginning ,

—
consequently sounded helt e r skelter ; but later on ,

when I had a chance to indicate the tempo he ,

played as only he can play It is significant that

.
'

h e played the cadenza the most di fficult pa rt best

, ,

of all His demeanour is wort h any price to see

. .

Not content with playing he at the same time

,

converses and makes comments addressing a bright ,

remark now to one now to another O f the assembled

,

guests nodding significantly to the right or left

, ,

particularly when something pleases him In the .

adagi o and still more in the finale he reached a

, ,

climax both as to his playing and the praise he had

to bestow .

“
A really divine episode I must not forget .

Toward the end of the finale the second theme is ,

°

as you may remember repeated in a mighty for

,

tissim o .In the very last measures when in the ,

first triplets the first tone is change d in the orchestra

from G S harp to G while the piano part in a mighty
, ,

scale passage rushes wildly through the whole

,

reach of the keyboard he sudd e nly stopp e d rose

, ,

up to his full height left the piano and with big

, ,

theatric strid e s and arms uplift e d walke d across

the large Cloister hall at the same time lit e rally
,

roaring the theme W h en he got to the G in ques

.
 CHRI STIANIA MARRIA GE LIS ZT 57
I

tion he stretched out his arms imperiously and

exclai med : G G not G sharp ! Splendid ! That
‘
, ,

is the real S wedish Banko ! to which he added V e ry ’

softly as in a parenthesis : S me tana sent me a

,
‘

sample the other day He went back to the piano .

’

repeat e d the whole strophe and finished In con ,

.

clu Sion he handed me the manuscript and said

, , ,

in a peculiarly cordial tone : Fahren Sie fort ich ‘

,

sage Ihnen S ie haben das Zeug dazu und — lassen

, ,

S ie sich nicht abschrecken ! (

’
Keep steadily on ;
‘

I tell you you have the capability and — do not

, ,

let them intimidate

This final admonition was of tremendous im
portance to me ; there was something in it that
seemed to give it an air of san tification At time s .
,

when disappointment and bitterness are in store

for me I shall recall his words and the reme m
, ,

brance of that hour will have a wonderful power

”
to uphold me in days of adversity .

O n his return from R ome Grieg resided again

at Christiania resuming his former activity and
, ,

“
in the fol lowing year he founded the Musical
S ociety In the conducting Of this he had a valu
.

able Coadjutor in Johan S vendsen who became ,

1

1
v d
S en se n , w h o w as th ree y e ars o l d th
er an Gig r e ,
w as t iv
a na e o f
Ch i t i i
r s an a, an d r an k
s as on e Of th e l di g
ea n Norw e ian g c mp
o ose rs .
5 8 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

his suc c essor when he himself left the capital in

1 8 74 S vendsen had given a concert at Christiania
.

in 1 86 7 of which Grieg had written an enthusiastic

,

notice anonymously in one of the local newspapers .

The two composers now became intimate friends ,

each benefiting by the other s criticism and sym ’

pathy The Musical S ociety had choral works on

.

its programmes and as Grieg was also conductor,

O f the Philharmonic S o c iety he thus had opp or ,

tu n ity for acquiring a thorough familiarity with

—
the master works in diverse branches of music
a familiarity which while it widened his horizon ,

and sharpened his tools did not in the least impair ,

his originality whi c h grew apace with every su c

,

c e ssive work Not a few of his compositions of

.

the Christiania period were inspired by the writin gs

of BjOrn stjerne BjOrn son Of whose friendly inter ,

course we have already had a d elightful glimpse .

Un i lk G ig
e b l k f w h w k i f p i f t d l v ic
r e , th e u o o se or s or an o or e an so o o e,

h w t c h i fl y c h mb
e ro e e m ic d c h t l c mp iti ; th l tt
a er us an or e s ra o os on s e a er

b l g t th g
e on o f p g mm m ic
e e n re o d th i m ro lra e us ,
an e re s o re o r ess n a

l c l i g t bl y i th f N w gi Rh p di s
“ ”
ti on a o ou r n ,
no a n d the ou r or e an a so e an e

iv l Sv d G i g d d i t d hi d vi l i
”
“
N C
orse T
arn a . o en sen r e e ca e s secon o n

t
son a a .
60 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

close association with another of the re markable

group of great men produced in modern Norway
Henrik Ibsen .

If it is remarkable that a town of the size of »

'

Bergen should have gi ven to the world so many

—
notable men of geniu s Holberg the social re ,

former and founder of modern D anish literature ;

th e poet W e lhave n the painter D ahl the musicians
, ,

O le Bull and Grieg — it is ev e n more re markabl e

that three of the most promin e nt lit e rary and musi
cal creators of the nineteenth century Ibsen ,

BjOrn son Grieg

,
should hail Norway as their
native country T O understand the full significance
.

of this we must n ot look at the size of Norway

square miles) but at the number of its
,

inhabitants (about At the same ratio

E ngland ought to have about fifty and the Uriite d ,

S tates about a hu ndred lit erary and musical creators

,

of the same rank an d fame — figu re s O f which we

fall short l amentably .

Henrik Ibsen who has been almost as much

‘

abuse d and praised as R ichard Wagner first appears ,

in our story of Grieg s life in January 1 8 74

’
On .

the t we nty third day Of that month he wrote a letter

-

from D resden which is so interesting that it must

,

b e cit e d here in full

62 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC
voices m u st b e su n g; c h im es and a c h oir sin ging a c h oral are

h eard far aw a y .

“
I n the th ird ac t I n ee d h arm onies — b u t S p arsel y — for
t h e sc en e b etw een P eer the wom an and the trollju nge [p p , , .

2 72 —7 L ik e w ise I h av e soft m u sic in V iew for p ag es 2 8 1 —8 4 .

“
Near l y all of the fou rth ac t is to b e om itte d at the p er
form an c e I n its p l ac e I h ave im ag in e d a g reat m u sic al t on e
.

p ain tin g w hic h su gg ests P eer Gyn t s g add ing ab ou t in the ’

w id e w orl d ; A m eric an E n g l ish an d Fre n c h m e l od ie s m igh t

, ,

app e ar t h e re in an d r e c u r as m otive s
,
T he c h oru s of An itra .

an d th e g ir l s [p p — i b h d b h i d i
3 0 8 9] s t o .e e ar e n t h e c u r t a n ,

su stain e d b y orc h estral m u sic Me an w h il e the cu rtain rises .

an d th e S p e c t ators se e as in a d ream t h e t ab l e au as d esc rib e d

, ,

[p . in w h ic h S o l ve j g a s a m idd l e ag e d w o m ,
an sits in t h e -
,

su n sh in e in fron t of th e h ou se an d sin g s After sh e h as fin .

ishe d h er son g the c u rtain fall s sl o w l y th e m u sic is c on tin u e d ,

b y the orc h estra and p roc eeds to p ortray the storm at sea with
w h ic h the fif th ac t b eg ins .

T he fi ft h ac t w h ic h at t he p erform ance w ill b e c all e d the

“
,

fou rth or a p ost l u d e m u st b e c on sid erab l y re d u c e d

,
Be .

ginning w ith p ages 3 4 6 4 9 a m u sic al acc om p an im ent is

—
,

c all e d for T h e sc en e s on th e b oat an d in the c e m e tery -

. w il l
b e o m itted S o l vejg sin g s [p 3 66] an d the p ostl u d e acc o m
. .

a n ie s the S p e e c h of P eer Gyn t w h ic h fo ll o w s after w h ic h it

p ,

p asses into the c h oru ses [p p 3 6 7 T h e sc e n e s w ith t he

.

b u tton m ak er and the D ovre k ing will b e abbreviated The

-
.

c h u rc hg oe rs [p 3 9]
8 S in g .o n t h e ir w a
y t h ro u gh t h e w o o d s .

Ch im es an d d istan t c h oral son g are su gg e ste d b y the m u sic

as t he ac tion p roc e e d s u n t il S ol vejg s son g c on c l u d e s th e
’
,

p iec e ; w h ereu p on the c u rtain dr op s W h il e the c h oral ag ain ,

resou nd s n e are r an d l ou d er .

S u c h app rox im ate l y is m y p l an and I n ow b eg you to

“
, , ,

le t m e k n ow if you are w ill ing to u n d ertak e t h is w ork I f y ou .

c on sen t I S h al l at on c e c om m u nicate wit h the d irec tor of the

,
 I B S EN AND
“
P EE R GYNT ”
63

C h ristian ia T h e atre , give him a Cop y of the m od ifi ed te xt and ,

e n su re in a d van c e a p erform an c e of t h e p l ay T he roy al ty

.

I sh a l l insist on w ill b e 4 00 S peciesthaler to b e d ivid e d b etween

,

u s in e q u al p arts . I t ak e it for gran te d t h at w e c an a l so cou n t

on p erform an c e s of t he p l ay in Cop en h agen an d S toc kh ol m .

B u t I b eg you to tre at th e m atter for the p re sen t as a secret ,

an d to l e t m e h ave an an sw er as soon as p ossib l e .

“
You r d evoted friend ,

H E NRI K I B S E N .
”

Here was something to kindle the ambition and

fire the imagination of the thirty one year old - - -

Grieg ! He lost no time in accepting the tempting ,

Offer and wrote for Ibsen s play a number of in

’
,

spired pieces of music which subse quently grouped

, ,

together as suites and played in conc e rt halls ,

helped p e rhaps more than any of his other works

, ,

to make him known the world over as an original

and fascinating composer We S hall return to .

this music in a later chapter In this place it will.

“
su ffice to record that the first performance of Peer
”
Gyn t was given at the Christiania Theatre on
February 2 4 1 8 76 just half a year before the first
, ,

W M yr eu th The plan had been

.

somewhat modified and the cuts we re not entirely

,

identical with those suggested in Ibsen s letter ’

.

The play proved a genuine success ; it was given

thirty S ix times that year and up to 1 90 5 had been
-
,

heard as I was informed by M r Halvorsen seventy

,
.
,
64 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC

times in Christiania and many times also in the other

,

S candinavian cities Considering that the poem

.

is quite as fantastic and as untheatrical as the

”
second part of Goethe s Faust this is certainly ’
,

a remarkabl e record for which Grieg s delightful

,
’

music is largely responsible Ibsen himself realised .

that it had been a hazardous undertaking to put

this poem on the stage and he confessed in a letter
,

that the success had surpassed all his expectations ,

“
adding that h e was also cordially pl eased to hear
that there was but one opinion on this point in
”
Christiania .

When I was at work on the first edition O f this

book I wrote to Gri eg asking for information re
garding the circumstanc e s und e r which Peer Gynt
was writte n and produced His answe r dated .
,

T roldhau ge n July 3 0 1 90 5 was as follows

, , ,

“
You want to know some thing about the origin
of the Peer Gynt music How gladly I would
‘ ’
.

mee t your wishes But my memory says no How

. .

ev e r I will see if anything is left in my brain I

,
.

be lieve it was in the winter or spring of 1 8 73 that

Ibs en asked me to write the music to P G I ‘
. .
’

began it in the summer O f 1 8 73 in Sandviken n e ar

Bergen continued it the following winter in Cop en
,

hagen and orchestrat e d the whol e thing at Freden s

,
~
 I B SEN AND
“
PEE R G YNT ”
65

borg in D enmark during the summer of 1 8 75 .

Unfortunately I was not able to decide myself at

what points the music was to be introduced and
how long each number S hould be All that was .
.

determined by the Swedish theatrical director

Josephson at that time chef O f the Christiania
,

Theatre I was thus compelled to do real patch

.

work In no case did I have an opportunity to say

.

all I wante d to say Hence the bre vity of these

.

pieces The performance Of the music by the

.

very inadequate (bescheidene) forces of that time

was anything but good I did not hear the first .

performanc e as I was living at that time in B e rgen .

But I was told that the orchestral e ff ects were not

well brought out (dass die Klangwirkung sehr
m ittelm assig war) It was really not till the last
'

years in the eighties after the numbers printe d ,

as suited by C F Peters had appeared that the

. .
,

music won its chie f success In the new National .

Theatre in Christiania Ibsen s inspired work was ’

taken into the repertory again a few years ago ,

and it always draws a ful l house The music .

,

which is playe d by the new orchestra under the ,

direction of our excellent conductor Johan Hal ,

vors en now goe s well and as executed at present

, ,

contributes materially to the success If you had .

66 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC

an opportunity to attend one Of these representa

tions you would discover that it requires the stage
perform a n c e to clearly bring out the musical in
tentions It is greatly to be regretted that the
.

l ocal colouring and the philosophical tone O f much

of the dialogue present a great Obstacle to the suc
cess of Ibsen s work outside of S candinavia In
’
.

Paris where it was staged a few years ago the

, ,

music (played by the L amoureux orchestra ) had a

colossal success but Ibsen was not understood ,
.

In Berl in last year the work was S imply a failure

, , .

’
And yet I hold it to be Ibsen s greatest creation .
l

In the Fatherland it will always be considered a

monument to him and keep its place on the stage
even as a folk play ( Volhsstitch) -
.

1 I n th e p refa ec to h is t ran s a l tion o f Pe e r Gy t n

”
( R ecl m d iti )
a e on ,

L . Passar g
e y
I
sa s : N w y th i p
“
n or a s oe m is g e n e ra ll y c id d it
on s e re s

au th ’
or s m t im p t t w k
os or an or .
”
 CHA PT E R VI
GRI E G AT H OME PE R S ONAL TRAI TS
A NE CD OTE S

OME months after Peer Gynt had its first

hearing Grieg again made Christiania his
,

home But the country always had a greater

.

charm for him than any city and from the spring
,

of 1 8 77 we find him domiciled for several years at

the picturesque L ofthus about half way between
,
-

E ide and O dde on the branch of the Hardanger

Fjord known as the S o rfjord or S outh Fjord which ,

is doubly starred in Baedeker and of which this

description is given : The lofty rocky banks fro m ,

which a numbe r of waterfalls descend show that ,

this fjord is of the nature of a huge chasm between

the snow clad F olgefond and the centra l Norwegian
-

mountains to which it belongs At pla c es par .

,

ticu larly at the mouths of the torrents al l uvia l ,

deposits have formed fertile patches of l and where ,

cherries and apples thrive luxuriantly especially ,

near the c entre and northern parts of the fjord ,

where it is never frozen over The banks are there

.

67
68 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC

fore comparatively well peopled and the great ,

charm of this fjord lies in the contrast betwe e n the

smiling hamlets and the wild fjeld (mountains )
towering above the m .

O f L ofthus itself we get a pleasant glimpse in

.

Sara Bull s biography of O le Bull :

’

“
The summer of 1 8 79 was one of the happiest
ever spent by the artist in Norway O n e m e mo .

rable day was when a party of friends went down

to the little hamlet of L ofthus in the Hardanger
, ,

to be i m mortalised as O le Bull told the peasants

, ,

because the composer Gri eg had chosen to stay

there for months and to write some of his best
works They had now come to celebrate his birth
.

day NO spot could b e more enchanting so wonder

.
,

fully blended were the beautiful and the subl i me I n

.

nature The little study of one room erected by

.
,

the composer for perfect retireme nt was perched ,

half way up a rock and near the fjord In the field

-
.

above the apple trees were in bloom about an old

,

farmhouse where the guests assembled From

,
.

the summit of the beetling cli ffs not far away

fell a beautiful waterfall while the Opposite moun
,

tain S hore of the broad fjord clothed with heavy

,

forests of pine above and the feathery birch below ,

presented range after range of lofty peaks and

 GRI E G AT H O M E 69

domes crowned by the grea t F Olgefond with its

,

eternal snow The day was as p e rfect as friendship

.
,

”
music and lov e ly surroundings could make it
,
.

Vivid glimpses of Grieg s activity at this stage

’

in his career are given by the well known artist -

,

William Peters in the Centu ry M agazin e for

,

November 1 90 7 It was he who had helped

,
.

the composer to find a temporary home in that

garden spot O f western Norway the bewitching ,

Hardanger Fjord and h e stayed with him through

,

summ er and winter studying Icelandic sagas while

Grieg was composing .

Th e two friends had found good quarters in the

“
Village at Ullensvang and says M r Pet ers on
, ,
.
,

the most suitable that is the most inaccessibl e

,

spot where nobody could come and listen Grieg

, ,

built his studio Not only was there no road to

.

the house but from his place at the piano Grieg

,

could see like O din from L idsk jalf whenever

, ,

anybody tried to approach from afar I was chosen .

architect and superintendent of building an easy ,

enough task because the house was nothing but

,

a square wooden box big enough for a piano a ,

fir eplace and the master himself .

Grieg could not stand having anybody listening

“
to him when he was playing and composing ; if
79 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

he noticed an auditor he immediate l y shut the piano ,

and cea sed to work His wife was his inspiration

.

as well as his best interpreter ; for no one can S ing

his songs as She does I be lieve that during their
.

l ong married life they were both about twenty

when they married they were never a day with
’
out each other s company ; but even with her in
the room he could not work In Christiania he .

found a work room in a piano factory where they

-
,

were tuning pianos all about him But a steady .

”
noise like that did not annoy him .

A favourite diversion during the L ofthus summer

“
was fishing on grey days We would put on our
.

fishing togs and sit for hours in a small boat haul ,

ing in fish while the mist made fantastic caps and

hoods for the mountain peaks and a musical quiet ,

reigned undisturbed except for the jovial song of

—
a bird or two while the far away waterfalls fur
,

”
n ishe d the tuneful undertone .

D uring the winter on stormy days when the ,

wind shook our house rattling doors and windows

,

l ike spirits playing an immense orchestra Grieg ,

sat in a corner listening I have known composers

.

who in writing a little song would use up a cart

, ,

l oad of paper Not so with Grieg : he would use

.

only a single sheet He wrote his music with a

.
72 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC

us indelicate hands The house had to be taken

,
'

up to the highway and from there down to the

fjord and at every ten paces there was a stop in
,

the work filled in with cakes and drinks laughable

, ,

stories and witty remarks The way down to the .

final stopping place passed through some wood -

land and trees had to be cut and stones broken up

, ,

until at last the job was done and there the little ,

house stood amid big boulders and green trees .

'

The house itself seemed to like the place it gave ,

such a bright reflection in the water The piano .

was soon in its place and Grieg started a Halling ,

‘
,
’

while the people danced and threw pine cones at -

one another But soon he struck a minor tune

.

and the melancholy strains of his own music sounded

over the water while the peasants sat down around,

the house looking at the far away blue mounta ins

,
-
,

every one putting his own dream thoughts into the

master s music and when he stopped there was
’

not a dry eye .

Thus was the tune house moved ; yet even

this spot was not su fficiently secluded When it .

“ ”
became known that Grieg had his com p ository
there people began to row in and listen
,
a thing -

which as we have seen,

he could not endure .

S o in 1 8 8 5 he gave up this spot also and taking

, , ,
G RI E G W AL K NG o H S M U S I C HO USE
I T I -

B y Willi m P t
a e er s
.
74 GRIE G AND H I S MU SIC

walk to Grieg s house from that station if we c ould

’
,
“

find a boy to S how us the way O ne Of them .

actually went in search Of a boy None could be .

found however so as the train was ready to return

, , , ,

we decided to go back as far as Hop (pronoun ced

'

Hope) There the station master spoke English

.
-
,

and sent us to Grieg s unde r the sole care of his

'

sturdy boy of six who walked and skipped up hill ,

so fast (though he never missed the strawberries

on the way) that I could hardly keep pace with
him He received : a crown for his services and
.
,

left u s at the gate with vociferous directions in

0

Norwegian about the way to the door I think

, , ,

for he evid ently suspected we had designs on the

kitchen entrance where a very neat maid in , 5 ,

national dre ss answered Ja to Henry s questi on

,
‘ ’ ’

as to the house being Grieg s ’

.

“
We had a glimpse of a pretty garden plot of
‘

roses Iceland p oppies and other flowers before

, , ,

—
we entered the glass enclosed verandah to be ,

greeted b y Mme Grieg who im mediately won our

'

.
.
,

hearts by her appearance and charm of manner

'

She is fshort and Somewhat broad with a face that ,

her photographs do not do justice to because there ,

is a peculiar mixture Of shyness and vivacity that

eludes the camera ; S he has grey hair cut short and , ,
76 G RI E G AND H I S MU SI C

It seems to us that the neighbourhood of B erge n

is not at all the place for him to live for it rains a ,

great deal here and it is usually e ither damp and

,

cold or damp and warm a bad thing for one who

is not robust Norway presents curious cli ma tic
.

contrasts even in places not very far apart like

, ,

—
Bergen an d Chris tiania O u r guide book says re .

garding Bergen that the climate is exceedingly mild

and h umid resembling that Of the west coast of
,

S cotland The frosts of winter are usually slight

.

and of short duration the the rmometer Ve ry rarely ,

—
falling below 1 5 2 0 Fahr and the average rain o
.
,

fall is 72 inches (in the Nordfjord about 3 5 inches ,

at Christiania 2 6 inches only) There are good .

reasons to be sure why the Griegs should be at

, ,

tac h e d to their villa It is beautifu lly situated on .

an inner branch O f the fjord which here looks like ,

a lake and has several islands dotting its surface

,
.

It must be lovely here in sunny weather yester

day it was persistently cloudy but depressing I ,

sh ould think the re st of the time especially in the

‘

, ,
.

long dark W in ters He nry urge d him to move to a

'
'

dryer sp ot and h e replied t ha t he had long thought

,

he would go and live in the mountains n ear Chris

tian ia ; that he had just about de c ide d to do so in .
,

fact.
TROLD H AU GE N, S H WN
O I G G RI E G
’
S H OU S E
78 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

other topi c s Among other things he spoke of

.
,

the losses which he and Ibsen and other Norwe

gians su ffered because Norwa y did not enjoy the
benefits of the in ternational copyright law From .

France however he had had some income since

, ,

he joined the S ociety of D ramatic Authors which ,

collects fees for public performances ; at the end of

the year he was surprised on receiving a cheque
for 1 2 00 francs Both the Griegs had many ques
.

tions to ask about America and Americans espe ,

c ially the M ac Dowells to whom they sent the ,

kindest messages .

“
When we left them at about ten it was still , ,

very light They laughed when I said I always

.

thought it was four o clo ck the sun misled me S O

’
,

about time We were glad that we had not reached

.

them by an earlier train for three hours Of talking ,

must have been quite enough for Grieg and if we ,

had be en there longer he might have had reason

to regret our visit He said good b y to us at the
.
-

door while she and her sister went as far as the

,

gate with us I told her how well we knew and

.

loved her husband s songs and piano pieces and

’
,

how often we played and sang them He will .

probably never come to America although he has ,

had many tempting off ers His health would not .

V ILLA T RO L D H AU G E N AND G RI E G
’
S S TU D I O
80 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

permission to sit in the orchestra at re hearsals but ,

in such a way that Gri e g said : What if I should ‘

Of
‘
come without p e rmission ? Oh course I
’
, ,

couldn t help that retorted R ichter ; so he attended

’
,
’
,

and R ichter afterwards told him he was glad he

had come At the final rehearsal for the R ing
.
‘
,
’

Grieg said it was droll to hear Wagn e r with a sten

torian tone like Fafner give the signal for every
thing to be gin — for his life s dream to unfold ’
.

The King of Bavaria was there and Grieg and others

,

had been admitted on condition that they would

sit in the dark still as mice and not make any
, ,

disturbanc e trying to see the King ; but when they

heard a noise they did get up whereat Wagner ,

came to the edge of his box and scolded them

all roundly But they all mad e allowances for
.
,

”
Wagner was naturally n e rvous and overwrought .

A Vivid gl impse Of T roldhau gen we owe to a

writer in Le M en estrel :
’

“
About a half hour s ride by rail from Bergen
-
’
,

in the heart of the mountains on the borders of a ,

little lake is a charming domain that Grieg pur

,

chased from a peasant some twenty years ago

'

,
.

The surroundings breathe calm and peace and as ,

the re sidents of the country remark e verything ,

seems to sing S olvejg s S ong At the entrance to

’
.
82 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

wegian p ersonalit y has got into print notwith

’
s ,

standing the universal interest in his works ; a fa c t

due partly to his retiring disp osition partly to the ,

remoteness of his residen c e : 1

“
Wh en I first came to L eipsic in 1 8 78 my whole , ,

musical luggage consisted Of a set of songs published

that y ear AS a stranger in a strange country my
.
,

on l y method to get some recognition was to send

c omplimentary copies to the musical periodi ca l s
and to the prominent musicians who l ived in L eipsi c
at that time O ne morning after breakfast I was .
, ,

—
sitting in my l onesome den in the Post strasse at
work on a new song when a rap at the door ,

announced my first visitor : and presently a little

gentleman with flowing blonde l ocks with friendly
, ,

and bright blue eyes walked towards me and in ,

trodu ce d himself as the Norwegian composer Gri eg

who wanted to make the acquaintance Of the young

musician whose first c ompositions he had received
,

and read with great interest E ver S in c e that hour .

M V 1 d St k
r . w b i T x in 8 5 8 H c iv d hi
an er uc en as o rn n e as 1 . e re e e s

m ic l d c t i
us at A tw p
e d i G m
u c iti i c l d i g W im
a on a n er an n er an es, n u n e ar,

w h e re L isz t c
at on e re o n ise c g d h i gift
s s as c mp
o ose r . In 1 88 4 he b m ec a e

c nd ct
o u or o f th e Arion in Ne w Yo k ;
r s in ce 1 8 95 h e h as b e en at th e
h d f th c h t
ea o d Ce v t y t Ci ci ti B id
or e s ra gan on se r a o r a n nn a . es es son s

d pi f t pi w itt p m ic t ”
“ “
an an o o r eh h Vl d
e ce s Th e as r en an o e ra, as a, us o e

T mp t R t c l iff v t T D m d th vcl d ”
” “ ” “
e es , a a o er u re , a e eu ,
an o er o a an

or c h t l w k H i mp iti
es ra or s c h t i d b y th
. m s co os on s are arac e r se e sa e

l iv l y t mp m t th t m k him i t ti g
e e e ra en d ct a a es so n e res n as a c on u or .
 GRI E G AT HO M E 83

our friendship was sea l ed and scarc el y a day passed ,

during Grieg s stay in L eipsi c that we were not

’

found together either at dinner supper or some

, , ,

musi c a l or dramatic performance Through him .

I was introduced to the artistic life Of L eipsi c and ,

more espe c ially to his S c andinavian friends S inding , ,

Kajanu s Holter O lsen and others

, ,
Grieg was ,
.

fond of c ards and after l unch we used to sp end

,

one hour at the Cafe Frangais p l a y ing whist He .

was a very lively c omrade in good c ompany and ,

liked to tel l and to hear a good squ are jest ; but

when we were alone the ke ynote of his character ,

was a gentle melan c holy resignation tempered by ,

witty satire and weird phanta sy He was rather .

‘ ’ ‘ ’
a gourmet and even a gourmand
,
A fine por .

tion of oysters c aviare or Norwegian snow hen

, ,
-
,

with a glass of good old wine cou l d excite and ,

cheer h i m u p wonderfull y O ne day we lingered .

1

before the sh op window of a renowned delicatessen

store when he ,
armed with his inseparable gloves ,

umbre ll a and galoshes

,
ex c l aimed enthu siasti ,

cally : What an ideal symphony ! How perfe c t in

‘

all its details in form c ontents and instru menta

, , ,

tion ! ’

I h i l tt
1 n t hi D t h f i d J l i
s e ers o R tg n th
s u c m y r en u us on e e re are an

f c t th d l ight f y t
re e ren e s o e ti g i H ll d O c h d c l
e s o o s e r ea n n o an . n e e e a re s

h c
e ld w it in h t in p i f th y t
ou r e n e s ee s ( H T F) ra se o ese o s e rs . . . .
84 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

His favourite modern composers were then , ,

Chopin S c humann and Wagner

,
He also spoke ,
.

in the highest terms about his countrymen the ,

composers Svendsen and Nordraak and the cele ,

b rated authors Ibsen and Bj o rnson the friends , ,

of his youth and manhood who had such a decisive ,

influence on his career In music as in literature .

,

Grieg also had a great penchant for the French

masters because they express so clearly whatever
,

they have to say He always was a R epublican at .

heart and spoke about Norway s absolute inde

,
’
.

p en den ce as long as I knew him citing Bj o rnson

as sharing his Opinions I am sure that he n ow .
1

rejoices greatl y about the present turn of a ffairs

in S candinavia .

“
With all that he l iked and was liked by the ,

D anish royal family Princess T hyra one of King .

,

Christian s daughters invited him several times to

’
,

play the piano for and with her At a time when .

Grieg concertised in several German towns he was ,

invited by the reigning duke of a smaller S tate to

visit him In the course O f the conversation the
.

Th
1 m i t D i h th G g B d
e e n en an sm k i p iv t au or,
’

e or ran es, re ar s, n a r a e

l tt t th w it f thi v l m I h v h d m p
e er o e r er o l cq i t
s o u e:
“
a e a so e e rso n a a u a n

c w ith G i g d h v t lk d with h im
an e r e ,
an v l cc i b t a e a e on se e ra o as on s, u

ou r c v ti w
on ersat b t m ic b t b t p l itic l d t i l
on s e re n o a ou us , u a ou o a an na on a

t p ic Y k w th t h i
o s . ou d t N w gi H h l w y
no a e s an ar en or e an . e as a a s

t d by th l ft ; d i g th D yf ff i h f d t p l y i F c
s oo e e u r n e re us a a r e re u se o a n ran e .
”
 86 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

f L iszt admired the originalit y of the music , he sug

gested several alterations in the inst rumentation .

The c omposer who at that t ime was rather doubtfu l

,

about his orchestral knowl edge accepted these ,

suggestions and the score was published accord

,

ingly . But on this Occasion L iszt had made the

mista ke Of following his own fiery temperament
instead of considering Grieg s more idyllic nature
’
,

and so the scoring turned out to be too heavy for

( its poetical contents L ater on Grieg published a
.

revised edition of the concerto in which he partly

,

reverted to his fir st simpler and more appropriate

scoring A S ingle example shows plainly the dif
.

ference of the two versions ; the beautiful second

theme of the first movement was given by Grieg
to the cellos q uite in keeping with the tender
’
,

can tabile character of the melody ; L iszt sugge sted

the trumpet and at once introduced a theatrical

,

tinge that never existed in Grieg s make u p For ’

-
.

man y a day the manuscript of this concerto had

remained in the hands of Carl R einecke for Grieg ,

’
wanted to know his former teacher s opinion of his
work After waiting in vain for a note on the sub
.

je c,
t he called on R einecke to get the score and ,

was received most cordially The conversation

.

tou c hed all possible topics but the c oncerto was

,
 GRI E G AT HO M E 87

never mentioned . the Norwegian wa lked home

So
with the s c ore under his arm and some fierce
motive in his ragin g soul Grieg l ike Wagner .
, ,

was very sensitive to adverse criticism and I ,

remember his highly c ol oured expressions abou t

-

some musi cal journalists of the day .

“
In the summer O f 1 883 Grieg c ame to l ive near
,

me in R udolstadt a beautiful town in Thuringia

, .

He expected to go to Paris in the winter and I was ,

to help him to master the French language It .

was a most delightful period in our lives He lived .

in a very gem iithliches out of town hotel whil e I

‘ ’ - -
,

had rented a modest V ill a be l onging to the same

con c ern for my smal l family In the morning we .

worked separately at our own a ffairs and in the ,

afternoon I ordinaril y met him in the M orla Graben ,

a beautifu l vale near by There I often found .

him lying on his back in the S hade of a tree dream ,

ingly gazing at the sk y whi l e his hand reposed on

,

the grass holding an open Fren c h book O u r

,
.

Fren c h lessons never lasted very l ong for they ,

invariably passed into musical dis cussions After .

supper we walked about town or country with m y ,

wife and Child He was very fond of my littl e

.

daughter Gre ty and Uncle Grieg was quite a

,
‘ ’

favourite of hers He l iked c hildren very mu ch

.
,
88 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC

and used to speak about a child of his a girl that ,

had died very young How tenderly he would.

mention her name and relate incidents of her S hort

life ! In R udolstadt I translated several of Grieg s ’

songs and At the Cloister Gate into French

,
‘ ’
,

and added a second German verse to the c elebrated

’
song Ich liebe dich for Peters in L eipsic
‘
, .

O n Grieg s instigation I Visited L iszt in Weimar

’
,

and thus owe him all my subsequent career for ,

a concert of my own compositions given under

L iszt s auspices in November 1 88 3 called the atten
’

tion of the press to my name Grieg was present at

.

my con c ert and we also met at two interesting

,

entertainments given by L iszt who was very kind ,

to me during my sta y in Weimar .

“
As a performer Grieg is the most orIginal
,

pianist I ever heard Though his technique su ffe

. red
somewhat from the fa c t that a heavy wagon crushed
one of his hands and that he lost the use of one
of his lungs in his younger days he has a way of ,

performing his compositions that is S imply unique .

While it lacks the breadth that the professiona l

virtuoso infuses in his works he Offsets this by a
,

most poetic conception of lyric parts and a wonder

fully crisp and buoyant execution of the rhythmical
passages I heard him pla y the concerto and the
.
96 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

completel y exhausted The illness which weakens

.

his strength makes it impossible for him to endure

the fatiguing tasks Of virtuosoship especially that ,

of giving a whole c oncert without assisting artists .

The depressionhe felt brought on an extraordinary

state Of nervous excitement and he pa c ed the room ,

feverishly paying no further attention to anything

,

going on about him merely fixm g from time to, ,

time on one or another his childlike ga ze gentle

, , ,

and kind in which one cou l d read something like

,

anguish And in a feeble voice he k ept repeating

.

feverishly in German the words : No ! A whole

, ,
‘

c oncert ! It is too mu c h too mu c h I cannot !

— I
In his —
portrait of Grieg the same
pen and ink
-

“
writer refers particularl y to his eyes eyes
superb green grey in whi ch one seems to c a
, , ,
tch
a glimpse of Norway its melancholy fjords and ,

its lumin ous mists His ga ze is serious inde

.
,

sc rib ab ly tender with a peculiar exp ression at

, ,

on c e ailing restless and c hildishly nam e The

, ,
.

entire e ffect is that Of kindness gentleness sin , ,

c erity ,
and genuine modesty He has re .

mained what he alwa y s was a man who detests

clamour abhors the hubbub of ovations the tri
, ,

”
umphs of vogue and c elebrity .
 GRI E G AT HO M E 9 1

When T c haikovsky first met Grieg he wrote 1

that even before he knew who he was his exterior ,

“
at once attracted his sympathy : he had an u n
c ommon charm and blue eyes not very large but
, , ,

irresistibly fas c inating recalling the glan c e of a ,

charming and candid child I rejoiced In the .

depths of my heart when we were mutually intro

du ce d to ea c h other and it turned out that this ,

personality which was so inexplicably symp athetic

,

to me belonged to a musician whose warmly e mo

,

tional music had long ago won my heart He .

concludes his remarks on Grieg and his music

“
with the exclamation that it is not surprising that
every one should delight in Grieg that he should ,

be popular everywhere in Paris L ondon and , ,

Moscow that his name S hould appear in all

c oncert programmes and that visitors to Bergen ,

should deem it a pleasant du ty to make a p ilgri

mage to the charming though remote haven among
the rocks of the shore where Grieg retires to work
”
and where he spends most of his life .

To Mr Christian SchiOtt I am indebted for the

.

following amusing ane c dote O ne day at Bergen .

, ,

Grieg went out fishing in a small b oat with his

1 “
D iar y of M y Tou r in 1 88 8 , em b di d
o e in R osa Ne wm arch ’
s
“
T c h k v ky
ai o s ,
H is L ife an d W k or s.
”
Jh L
o n an e , 1 900 . Pp . 1 —
91 1 93 .
92 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC

friend Frants Beyer After a while a musi cal theme

.

suddenly came into his head He took a piece of .

paper from his pocket quietly jotted it down and

, ,

put the paper on the bench at his side A moment .

later a gust of wind blew it overboard Grieg did .

not see it but Beyer saw it and picked it up Being

,
.

himself something of a composer he read the m elody

and after putting the paper in his pocket whistled
, ,

“
it Grieg turned like a flash and asked : What
.

“
was that ? Beyer answered nonchalantly only ,

”
an idea I just got whereupon Grieg retOrted :
,

“
T he devil you say ! I just got that S ame idea
”
myself !
O ne Of the anecdotes related by M r Van der .

S tucken illustrates Grieg s indi fference to badges

’

and orders He received many of these but never

.
,

wore any of them He was proud on the Other

.
,

hand Of the honours conferre d on him by in stitu

,

tions Of art and learning and he was particularly

,

pleased when on the occasion of his S ixtieth birth

,

day his bust was placed in the hall at L eipsic

,

where the famous Gewandhaus concerts are given .

In 1 8 72 he was appointed a member of the Swed ish

Academy of Musi c ; in 1 88 3 corresponding member
,

Of the M usical Academy at L eyden ; in 1 8 90 Of ,

the French Academy of Fine Arts In 1 893 the .

 GRI E G AT HO M E 93

Universit y of Cambridge conferred on him the

honorary degree of D octor of Music The occa .

sion was a most interesting one for Tchaikovsky , ,

—
S aint Sa ens Max Bruch and BoI to also had
, ,

degrees conferred on them on the same date and ,

assisted at the musica l performances Un fortu .

h ately Grieg s state of health did not allow him

’
,

to be present ; but on the tenth of May 1 894 he , ,

was in Cambridge to receive his degree In the .

same month two years later O xford also b e

, ,

stowed the honorary degree Of D octor Of Music

on the composer who as one writer has said
, ,

was the most popular musi c ian in the home life

“

”
O f E ngland S ince M endelssohn .

While he valued such expressions of esteem he ,

never changed his attitude toward badges and

orders ; unlike his friend Bj o rnson however he , ,

accept e d these because he considered it discourteous

to refuse them In a letter (dated February 4
.
,

1 8 96 ) to his friend O s c ar M eyer the song writer , ,

“
he remarked wittily : I thank you most kindly
for your congratulations M y election as a member
.

of the French L egion of Honour is however an , ,

’
‘
honour I share with legions so let us not waste
’ ‘
,

more words about it .

To Julius Ro ntgen he on c e wrote that he found

94 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

the summer an unfavourable time for composing ,

be cause of the number of visitors who took up his

time He disliked making new acquaintances but
.
,

became warmly attached to those he found con

genial The most intimate of all his friends was
.

Frants Beyer who lived across the fjord at Naesset ;

,

their rowboats were in daily requisition during the

summer for mutual c alls and they often climbed
,

the mountains together Another very intimate

.

friend was R Ontgen who also O ften went with

,

him on ex cursions by land or water O n one occa .

“
sion he relates
,
Grieg invited a player of the
,

Hardanger fiddle to go along He performed his .

tunes for us during the picturesque trip How this .

music harmoni zed with the surrounding scenery !

one fe l t that the one had sprung from the other .

Grieg listened delightedly marking the rhythm,

with his head and holding in his hand a cup filled

,

with port wine whi c h every now and then he o ffered

to the spielm ann with a skal This is Norwa y
‘ ’ ‘
,
’

”
he ex c laimed and his eyes sparkled
,
.

Another mountain S ketch from R ontgen s ’

”
R eminiscences may be cited as a sample of the
good things in that book
“
Beside O le Berger s hut there were two sater
’
,

in which the dairymaids lived On the very first .

96 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

A S candinavian friend who kn ew the Griegs well

writes to me that like BjOrnson Grieg was ex
, ,

c e e dingly headstrong
— W hich indeed is a promi , ,

nent Norwegian characteristic Mrs Grieg s gentle . .

’

feminine diplomacy often smoothed over the u n

pleasant impression produced by her husband s ’

somewhat inconsiderate assertiveness This is put .

ting it mildly for great composer and noble u p

, , ,

right man as Grieg certainly was in all essential

actions and dealings his manner especially his
, ,

way Of expressing opinions was often little short ,

of insulting His wife in the fullest sense of the

.
,

word devoted herself to him She is — well the .

, ,

’
word saint somehow doesn t seem to fit her pure and ,

self sacrificing though she has always been

-
but
she is as near perfection as any woman could p os
”
sib ly be .

O f his l a c k of diplomacy I have an amusing

illustration The G erman theorist Georg Capel
.
,

len had written a book in which he devoted a chap

,

ter to Grieg pointing out his great harmonic origi

,

n ality The same book contains a new theory of

.

harmony somewhat diffi cult to comprehend After .

reading it I wrote to Grieg asking him what he

,

thought of this book He answered ( July 3 0 .

,

“
M r Georg Capellen has written to me
. .
 GRI E G AT HO M E 97

But I answered him quite frankly just what I am

now telling you ; that I lack entirely the scientifi c
knowledge qualifying me to pass judgment on his
work I expressed myself as amiably and politel y
.

as I could But he has not written me again so

.

that I have every reason to suppose that he regards

‘ ’
me as an ox Well I must bear that too As a
.
,
.

matter of course I feel that a deep truth l urks in

Only I a m
’
his remarks regarding Overtones ‘
.
,

”
not able to discuss this matter .
1

1 1 n so m e of G rieg ’
s l tt
e e rs to mep i t d i thi v l
rn e n s o u me, I hv
a e

o mitt d l i
e ne s in w i h c h h c itic i e r se s p till l ivi g
e rson s s n .
 CHAPT E R VII
CONDU CTOR AND PI ANI S T DR E YF US I NCI D E NT
NI NA GR I E G

the drawba c k of permanent l y im

E S PIT E
paired health Grieg had succeeded by the ,

year 1 8 80 in establishing his fame in all

musi cal cities as a composer and in many also as ,

a conductor and a pianist At Bergen during the .

,

“
seasons of 1 8 80 to 1 88 2 he conducted the Har ,

”
m onien He was interested in these concerts
.
,

although his orchestra was of course not of the , ,

best S ometimes he visited the members and

.

taught them how to play their parts With in .

creasing frequency from this time on he left his , ,

native country to give concerts in E ngland France , ,

and Germany .

In a letter dated August 3 0 1 888 Sir George , ,

Grove said in speaking of the Birmingham Festi

,

val :
1

A very interesting thing was Grieg s overture ’

d L tt f Si G g G v by C L G v M
“ ”
1
Lif e an e e rs o r e or e ro e, . . ra es . ac

m ill an ,9 3 1P 33 7
0 G.i g p id fi
. v i it
. t E gl d th t f 888
r e a ve s s o n an , a . O 1

b i g th fi
e n e rst.
 1 00 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

Tim es said : Mr Grieg played his own c oncerto

.

in A minor after his own manner The French .

speak of a voix de com p ositeu r; in the same sense

there is a composer s touch on the piano which
’
, ,

when applied to the composer s own works gives ’

,

them a peculiar charm of their own Grieg s

’
.

?
5» 1
t ie re nde rin g of the familiar work was a rev elatibh
xj
although it would be u nju sf to forget that M r
'

E dward D annreu ther who introduced the concerto

,

many years ago invested it with the rarest poetic

,

charm .The concerto is one of the most beauti

ful specimens of its kind The dreamy charm
.

—
of the opening movement the long drawn sweet ,

ness of the adagio reminding one of Tennyson s

,
’

Dark and true and tender is the North the grace

‘ ’
,

ful fairy music of the final allegro —all this went

straight to the hearts of the audience Grieg at .
,

least will have no reason to complain of the passive

,

attitude toward modern music generally attributed

to E nglish and more especially Philharmonic audi
,

en ce s .

The M u sical Tim es said concerning the same

“
performance : Nothing could b e more neat clear , ,

and intelligent than his rendering of the In

it the artist p redorfiira
i
fed over the mere exectifhhffi p

and the audience were held closely observant by

MR . AND M RS . G RI E G, L O ND O N, 1 8 88
1 02 GRIE G AND HI S MU SIC

a cc ompanying with such deli ca c y and poeti c feeling

as drew almost an unfair measure of attention to
the pianoforte The Norwegian master further
.

conducted a performan c e of his suite in four

movements made up from incidental music to
,

Ibsen s Peer Gynt and called by the name of

’ ‘
,
’

that drama Amateurs wil l have in mind that

.

this suite was introdu ced at the L ondon Symphony

Concerts last November but then heard under ,

the disadvantage of no ke y to the meaning of

the musi c and apart from the composer s super ’

Under M r Grieg s dire c tion helped by

’
vision . .
,

genera l knowledge Of the dramati c S ignificance

of the various numbers the work appeared at its
’
best making a genuine sensation
,
The perform .

an c e was most masterly the splendid Philhar ,

moni c orchestra seconding the composer c ondu e tor

to a marvel No more striking and picturesque

.

e ffe c ts have been p roduced in our concert rooms -

”
for a long t ime .

How complete l y Grieg won the hearts of E nglish

music lovers is indicated by the following which
-
,

I find among my newspaper clippings undated : ,

Grieg is so popular in L ondon bo th as composer ,

and pianist that when he gave his last concert

,

people were waitin g in the street before the doors

 CONDU CT O R AND P IANI ST 1 6 3

from e l even o c l o c k in the morning quite as in the

’
,

”
Old R ubinstein days
1
.

In Paris he enjoyed the same favour As the .

eminent composer Gabriel Fau ré wrote in Le , ,

F igaro
Among the most famous livin g musicians there
is none I know of whose popularity equals with ,

us that of M Grieg ; none whose works have

,
.

entered into our inmost musi cal life in the same

degree as have his c ompositions which are so full ,

of S imple charm S O fin e strange ever individual , , , ,

and for the most part of a comparative ease of

, ,

execution which makes them ac c essible to the

lesser talents and has greatly aided their coming
,

”
in to vogue .

It was in Paris that the most exciting episode in

Grieg s life occurred
’
At the time of the D reyfus .

trial it happened that the eminent orchestral c on

ductor E douard Colonne invited him to parti c i
, ,

pate in a concert at the Ch atelet Theatre Grieg .

,

A v t
1
t
o e p p l pi c t k i
as o o c t i with
u ar i f
e es, a en n c onn e on a se r e s o

c c t i Gl g w m y
on er s n g y
as oi ld d t h so h igh t mb f
e e ars a o, e e e es nu er o

b ll t f T c h ik v ky P th tic S y m ph y
a o s or a o s xt c m S c h b t
’
s
“
a e on ne a e u er
’
s

U fi ih d
n n s eth B th v ,
P t
”
l G i g P G y t it
en ee o en s
’ “
as o ra ,
”
r e
’
s
“
ee r n
”
su e,

and B th v ee C mio y mph y I 8 97 G i g g v t c c t

en s
’
n or s on . n 1 r e a e en on e r s

i E gl
n nd t c wd d h
an , Af t
o th t ro th e it i w t th t
ou se s . er e en ,
a cr c ro e a a

i c mp
se r ou s o ght t t w it thi g l ik th N w gi B id l
o se r ou no o r e a n e e or e an r a

P i ( p
roc e ss on w h p G
o i g w
. t t h i f i d R O tg
e reu D on r e ro e o s r en n en :
“
a

hO t ic h d c h ll
r s of did y av h f h f y thing ?
e s au
” “
ou e er e ar o su c a u nn
”
1 04 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

however like many other patriots the world over

, ,

was so indignant at the verdict in this case that he

refused the invitation in a letter which got into ,

print and which enraged the nationalists The

,
.

letter dated Au lestad near Christiania S eptember

,
'

, ,

1 2 ,
1 8 99 is herewith given in an E nglish version :
,

“
D E AR MAS TE R ,
“
Wh il e th ank ing you very m u c h for you r k in d invitation ,

I re gre t to say th at afte r th e issu e of th e D re yfu s trial I c ann ot

m ak e u p m y m ind at th is m om e n t to com e to Fran c e
,
L ik e
,
.

all w h o are n ot F ren c h (t u t l etranger) I am in d ig n an t at t he

’
o

c on te m p t for j u stice sh ow n in y u r c o n try an d t h erefore u m

o u ,

ab l e to e n te r in to re l ation s w it h t h e Frenc h p u b l ic P ard on m e .

if I c an n ot fee l d ifferen tl y and I b eg you to try to u nd erst an d

,

me . My wife and I send you ou r b est re m em b ran ce ”

.

In reply to this letter M Colonne wrote under .

,

date of S eptember 3 0 :
M Y D E AR MAS TE R ,

T he l e tter you add resse d to m e u nd er the sw ay of e niotion

o n t h e da
y af ter t h e t ria l at R enn e s h as c e r t ain l y o u tstripp e d
you r th ou gh ts No m y d ear Master Fran ce h as not c e ased
.
, ,

to b e t he l an d Of l ib erty j u stice an d righ t ,

With u s as e l se
,
.
,

w h ere p ol itical and r e l ig iou s fee l ing s are strong ; t h ey Ofte n

,

p oison or tu rn asid e c om m onwe al q u estions B u t th ese are .

transien t c rises aft er w h ic h w e r e c over ou rse lv e s alw ays an d

, ,

b ec m e ag ain w h at the w orl d has b ecom e acc u stom e d to see

o ,

in u s the Fran c e of e qu al ity an d j u stic

, the Franc e of 78 9 e, 1 .

T h at m y d ear M aster is w h at you forg ot in p u b l ish in g y ou r

, ,

l etter and you r friends w ho are nu m er u s h ere h op e t h at you

, ,
o ,

alre ad y re g re t h avin g written it I t is in t h is hOp e th at I

.

sen d
y ou m y d
, e ar M as te r t h e assu r a n c e of m
, y b est reg ar ds .
1 06 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC
in d ivid u
’
d are to com e t h ere However I b el ieve th at the
if I .
,

e asil y arou se d p assion of th e Frenc h n ation w ill soon b e re

p l ac ed b y a saner attitu de resem b l ing the righ ts of m ank ind

,

p roc l aim ed b y the Rep u b l iqu e fran caise in 1 789 I h op e .

,

p rim aril y for France b u t al so for m y own sak e th at I m ay

,

b e ab l e once m ore to see you r b eau tifu l c ou ntry .

This opportunity c ame in 1 90 3 when Colonne ,

renewed his invitation and Grieg a c cepted it ,

.

His opponents also saw their opportunity As .

soon as his date was announced they began to stir

“
up feeling against him demanding that the in ,

”
su lter of France should be shown the door At .

the opening hour the concert of the Ch atelet Theatre

was crowded as it had never been and hundreds ,

were at the door unable to secure admission Ap .

re n tl those inside were all friends for when

p a y ,

Grieg appeared at the conductor s desk he was

’

received with thunders of applause lasting seVeral ,

minutes When that subsided however the oppo

.
, ,

n en ts made themselves heard with penny whistles ,

“
stamping of the feet and cries of Apologise you
, ,

”
have insulted France While Grieg stood calmly
.

waiting for the tumult to subside the majorit y of ,

the audience protested vigorously against the

disturbance and renewed the applause Before it .

had subsided Grieg gave the S ign for the beginning

Of his overture
“
In the Autumn At its c onclu .
 CO ND U CT O R AND P IANI ST 1 07

sion there was an ovation for him mingled with ,

hisses Presently a man got up in the parquet and

.

“
shouted We applaud only the artist and great
,

musician .

CO NC E R T S - C O L O NNE
T H E AT R E DU C H AT E L E T

Dim anch e 1 9 Avril 1 903 , a 2 h .

( Vin g Qu a tri em t-
e et dern ier Con cert de l ’
ab onn em ent )
SO US LA D I RE CT I O N DE M .

E DV AR D GR I E G
V
A E C LE CO NCO U R S DE Mm e
E LLE N GU L B R ANS ON
du Th éat re d e B a y th
reu

ET DE M .

RAOUL P U G NO

EN AUT O M NE
Au it ion ) d
Ou vert u re de c o nc e rt , op ll ED GRI EG
.

( I re .

T RO IS RO M ANC ES avec ac c om p ag ne m e nt E D GRI E G

’
d orc h est re

i
.

a) B e rc e u se d e S o l ve g ( I B S E N) .

b ) De Mo nt e -Pinc io ( BJ OR NS O N) .

c) Un Cy g n e ( I B S E N) .

M m e E l l e n GU L B R A N S O N .

C O NC ERT O E N LA M INEUR p ou r p iano, op 16 ED GRI EG

.

Allegro m o erato d
d
.

II . A ag io .

II I Alleg ro, presto, m aestoso

U
. .

M R aou l P G NO
. .

1
thi hi t ic c t F G lb
At s g th
s or f G i g c on e r rau u ran son san ree o r e
’
s

song i cl di g Th Sw
s, n w h ic h
u h h d t n p t With th
“
e an ,
”
s e a o re ea . e

c mp
o t th c d ct d k R l P g w
ose r a e t i m ph t
on u or s
’
es ,
aou u no on a r u an su c

c w ith G i g c c t f w h ic h h i till th m t p tic i t p t

e ss r e
’
s on e r o, o e s s e os oe n e r re e r .

G tl y pp c i t d l w
rea a At th C l i t
re G t ( p i ll y th
a e a so e re
“
e o s er a e
”
es ec a e

ch f
oru s o
) d th P Gy t
nu n s l c t i c d ct d by G i g
, an e
“
ee r n
”
se e on s, on u e r e

him lf I l tt t R tg G i g w t th t b f g i g th
se . n a e er o on en , r e ro e a e ore o n on e

t g h h d t k fi d p f p i m w h ic h h d
s a e e a a m k bl y c l m
en ve ro s o o u ,
a
“
a re ar a a

i g ff t
n e O th i t
ec ti g d t il
.
”
giv i RO tg R m i i
er n e re s n e a s a re en n n en s
’
e n s
1 08 GRI E G AND HI S MUSI C

DEUX M ELO DIES E LEG IAQ UES E D GRI EG

Pou r i n st ru m e nt s a c o r es . d .

D
’
ap r es des p o ésies n orvégien n es de A O . . V I NJ E .
) B l es su res au c oeu r
a
i i
.

b ) De rn e r p r nt em p s .

A LA PO RT E DU C LO lT R E ( l re Au i ion) dt ED GRI E G
Poem a d e Bj iir ns o n p o u r so p r a n o e t al t o so l i .
.

Ch ce u r d e f e m m es , o rc h est ra c t o rg u e ( op 2 0)
U
.

M m e E L L E N G L B R A NS O N
l
M l e CL A M O U S .
.

C h m u r d e N on n e s .

PEER G NT, l Y re su i t e d O rc h est re

’
(Op . 4 6) E D GRI EG
.

M u siq u e p ou r l e poém e dram at iq u e de I B S E N

i
.

I . Le m at n .

II La m o rt d Aase
’

d
. .

III . L a a ns e d An it ra
'
.

IV . C h ez l o Roi d es Mo nt ag nes ( Les Cobolds pou rsu ivant Peer Gy nt) .

S ou s la di r e c t ion de M E d GR IE G
. . .

LE C REPUS C U L E DES DI EUX

S c ene fi nal e ( M or t de B r u nn h il e ) d
d
Bru nnhil e : M m e E ll e n G L B RA NS O N
.

U .

S o u s la di irect o n de M L LAPO RTB

. . .

PI ANO PL E YE L .

CE PR OGRAMME E ST DI S TR I B E GR AT I TE M E NT U U
’
Priére de ne pas entrer u i sortir pen a nt l ex écu tion des morcea u x d .

In a private letter printed by Sc hjelderu p Grieg , ,

“
referred amusingly to this concert : I have in my old
days succeeded at l ast in getting hissed I have .

seen much but never su c h a comedy as that in

,

the Ch atelet Theatre on the nineteenth But W ho .

,

can tell if I had not been hissed I would perhaps

,

not have had such an enormous success The press .

was furious over this success Think of it when .

,

I was about to enter my carriage there was a triple

cordon around it I felt myself as important as .

Cromwell — at the very least

”
.

R eferring to an earlier concert given by Grieg

in Paris (D ecember 8 Closson says that his ,

gestures at the conductor s d e sk were free from ’

1 1 0 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

remarkably strong manner in which he brought out

all that was chara c teristic in each sele c tion ‘ ’

that which only the c omposer knows so much

better than any other hand how best to do I .

noticed especially the easy cleam ess of his left

hand work particularly in melody I have never
,
.

heard any one for instance play the left hand , ,

-

’
response in the E rotik as he did It gave the ‘
.

whole pie c e a chara c ter which it had never assumed

before O f course there were numerous en c ores
. .

”
bravos cheers ad infinitu m
,
.
1

D r Han slick wrote after one of Grieg s con c erts

’
.

“
in Vienna : His piano playing is enchantingly
tender and elegant and at the same time entirely ,

individual He plays like a great composer who

.

is thoroughly at home at the piano being ne ither ,

its t yrant nor its slave not like a travelling vir

tu oso who also devotes some attention to com

posing His technic is at the same time flawless

.
,

well groomed and smooth Gri eg need not fear

-
,
.

'

to en ter the lists against many a V irtuoso ; but he

contents himself with the finished execution of
lyrical pie c es and dispenses with capering batt l e
,

horses .

Aft
1 th i n th
er t w giv t whic h B i pl y d th A
s a o e r c on c er as en a u son a e e

mi n orc c t d G i g c
on d c t d th A t m
e r o, an v t th r e on u e e
“
u u n
”
o e r u re , e
“
H lb g o er it d At th C l i t
”
su Gt e, an
“
e o s er a e .
 COND U CT O R AND PIANI ST I I I

When I heard Grieg at Troldhau gen I admired

at first the beauty of his tone and the eloquence of
his pianistic accents Then I forgot that he was
.

pla y ing and heard only the music It is with play .

ing as with acting : the greatest a c tor is he who

makes us forget himself and see on l y the c hara c ter
he impersonates .

The climax of enthusiasm over Grieg as a p l ayer ,

c ondu c tor and composer was naturally reached

,

in the S c andinavian cities At S tockholm for in

.
,

stance in the S pring of 1 90 4 he announced two

, ,

concerts but the interest aroused by them was so

,

great that he had to add another and still another , ,

and then he stopped simply because he did not

feel strong enough for further e ff orts .

At some of his concerts Grieg had a most potent

ally in his wife L et us hear first what Tchai
.

k ovsk y had to say about her (in the D iary of My

Tour in previously referred to ) :
“
Together with Grieg there entered the room
,

where we were assembled a lady who was growin g

,

slightly grey and resembled him very closely being ,

just as small fragile and sympathetic She was

, ,
.

his wife and also his cousin which ac c ounts for

, ,

their resemblance S ubsequently I was able to

.

appreciate the man y and precious qua l ities pos

1 1 2 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

sessed by Madame Grieg In the first place she .

proved to be an excellent though not very finished ,

singer ; secondly I have never met a better informed ,

or more highly cultivated woman and she is among , ,

'

other things an excellent judge Of our literature

, ,

in which Grieg himself was also deeply interested ;

thirdly I was soon convinced that Madame Grieg
,

was as amiable as gentle as childishly simple an d , ,

”
without guile as her celebrated husband .
1

“
In an article on E dvard Grieg and his Wife ,

which appeared in the now defunct L ooker on (New -

York ) some years ago Mr Joakim R einhard said ,

.

that while nothing were easier than to criticise

M rs Grieg s S inging
.
’
yet no singing ever made
su c h impression on me as hers and as far as I , ,

know all that have been fortunate enough to hear

,

her confess to a similar conviction As sood as .

M rs Grieg has been S inging but for a few moments

.

we forget that we are in a concert hall listening to -

a prearranged performanc e W e su ff er with this .

T c h ik v ky l tt f th y d 88 8 c t i v l
’
1 a o s 88 7
s e e rs o e ears 1 an 1 on a n se e ra

oth xp i f d l ight v G i g h i w if d hi m ic U d
er e ress on s o e o er r e , s e , an s u s . n er

dt fJ
a e o y 8 8 8 h w it
an u ar At B d ky th
2 0, 1 w i é, e r es :
“
ro s
’
s e re as a so r e ,

at w h ic h w t by G i g c h t d m G i g d hi wif
a ne son a a r e en an e e . r e an s e are

so d l l y mp th tic i t ti g d igi l th t it i imp ib l t

ro , s a e ,
n e re s n , an or na ,
a s o ss e o

giv id f th m i
e an ea o l tt S M d t T c h ik v ky L if
e n a e er .
”
ee o es e a o s
’
s e

an d L tt f h i b th
e e rs o d it d by R N wm h ( J h L )
s ro e r, e e osa e arc o n an e .

Th l in t ti g gl imp f th G i g i B d ky R mi
e re are a so e re s n se s o e r e
’
s n ro s
’
s e

nisc en c es .
1 1 4 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

Frau von Holstein wife of the composer Fran z , ,

von Holstein and a personal friend of M endelssohn

,

and S chumann once declared that M me Grieg s

,
.
’

singing reminded her of Jenny L ind s in its cap ’

tivating ab andon dramatic vivacity soulful treat

, ,

ment O f the poem and una ff ected manner unlike , ,

that of the typical prima donna E dmund Neu p ert .

sent her one volume Of his etu des with the in scrip
’

tion TO Mme Nina Grieg whose song is more

,
‘
.
,

beautiful and warm er than that of all others Ibsen .

’
,

after hearin g her interpret his poems as set to

musi c by Grieg whispered shaking the hands of
, ,

both Understood
,
‘
T c haikovsky heard her sing .
’

S pringtide ( Album Vol III N6 3 8 ) in L eipsic

‘ ’
. . .
, ,

and tears came to his eyes S ubsequently he sent .

her his own songs wi th a cordial dedication ,

.

“
Mme Grieg made her last public appearance
.

in 1 8 98 in L ondon when she also sang for Queen ,

V ictoria at Windsor Now she sings only for her .

husband and his friends He deeply regrets that .

so few had the Opportunity to hear her when her

voice was in its prime At that time he hardly .

realised her superiority to the average professional

singer It seemed to him a matter of course that
.

one should sing so beautifully so eloquently so , ,

soulfull y as she did Yet her talent was not wasted . .

 COND U CT O R AND P IANI ST 1 1 5

It in spired Grieg to renewed e fforts His best

.

songs were written for her ; they embody his per

sonal feelings and he confesses that he could no
,

more have stopped expressing them in songs than

he could have stopped breathing It is an in terest
.

ing case showing how c onjuga l a ffection may be

,

an I nsp i rer of the arts quite as wel l as the romanti c

”
l ove which precedes marriage .
 CHA PT E R VI II
N OR WE GI AN F OLK MU S I C
-
GR I E G
’
S O R I GI NALI TY

IN G O SCA R of S weden until 1 90 5 —and

, ,

—
of Norway O nce wrote a book entitled
“
Aphoris ms concerning Music and S ong .

O f the popular airs of his realm he said that they

“
seem a part of our very homes on cold long winter ,

evenings by the crackling pine wood fire on the

,
-

hearth ; but they are heard to best advantage per ,

haps far from human habitations during the pale

,

sultry summer nights of the North They do not .

glow with the heat of the sun but with inner wa rm th

,

and unsophisticated feeling They emanate from

.

the innermost parts of a people more than any ,

other the large majority of which is constrained to

,

live a l onesome life and consequently is predis

, , ,

posed to take a melancholy and even mystical

view of the worl d but which owns a generous
,

and true heart and has given countless proofs

,

O f earnest character and enduring will This is .

why the S wedish popular airs always make a

”
deep imp ression upon their hearers .

1 1 6
 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

is as in the prim itive days elsewhere vo c a l instead

, ,

of instrumental and the dan c ers attentive and re

,

sp on sive to the words as the y are sung ; at weddings ,

indeed the first dances are sung to psalm tunes

, ,

and the pre acher in his sacerdotal robe takes part

in them Usually however the dances are too
. .

, ,

lively for vo c al music and the fiddle is brought into

,

pla y The most popular of the folk dances in the

.
-

mountainous regions of Norway are the Spring

dans and the Halling of each of which there are ,

admirable spe c imens among Grieg s works p artly ’

,

borrowed partly original while others have been

, ,

arranged for pianoforte by Kjeru lf L indemann , ,

etc The Sp ringdan s S O called to distinguish it

.
,

from the Ganger or walking dan c e is in three four

, ,
-

measure the Hallin g in two four The Sp rin gdans

,
-
.

is characterised by a striking combin ation of binary

and ternary rhythms and a progressive animation ,

very exciting to th e b earer O f the Ha l ling which .

,

is a solo dance BjOrn son gives a strikin g description

,

“ ”
in his story entitled Arne
“
The music began deep S ilence prevailed and , ,

Nils got ready for the dance Airily he moved .

over the floor marched in time with the music his

, ,

body ha l f bent forward and rocking to right and

left ; now and then he c rossed his legs stood up ,
A H AR D ANG E R W E D D I NG

P hoto b y C a r l Venth .

O D D A , H AR D ANG E R F J O R D
P hoto b y Ca rl Ven th .
1 2 0 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

fiery music —
to the strain proceeding as it were ,

from the depths of the earth from the foaming ,

waterfall from the howling tempest Of the moun

,

tains the kn ives of the men left their sheaths ,

and blood flowed along the floor The cellarman .

,

on going down to get some be er saw seated behin d ,

a hogshead O ld Nick himself playing the fiddle ;

then understanding why blood flowed so freely
,

“
above he came up and cried : S top your ears the
, ,

”
devil plays the fiddle ! There are man y legends
of a similar kind .

“
E veryw here in the North we fin d among the
people tunes that are ascribed to the devil the Nix , ,

or the subterranean spirits The player o ffered up .

a lamb to the river and thus induced the Nix to ,

teach him such tunes But when he subsequ ently .

played them he was unable to stop but played on

, ,

and on like a madman until some one could come ,

”
to the rescue by cutting his fiddle strings .
1

It is necessary to know about such legends if one

would understand the spirit and meaning of N or
w egian music in all its phases A quarter of a .

century ago an E nglish critic brought up on Handel ,

“
and Mendelssohn inveighed against the rowdy
,

Cit d f m D xc l l t t ic l Sc d i vi m ic
’
1 e ro R r . von a vn s e e en ar e on an na an u s

d i t m t i th ppl m t y v l m t M d l M ik l i c h ’
an n s ru en s , n e su e en ar o u e o en e s us a s es
 NOR W E GIAN FO L K —MU SI C 1 2 1

”
ism and brutalities of some Of Grieg s pieces even ’
,

as the German critics did against certa in scenes

’
in Wagner s operas In the meantime most of us
.

have learned to appreciate realism in music and to

understand that a peasant dance is necessarily
wilder than the tunes of our own ball rooms Very -
.

much of course depends on the performance

, , .

When Grieg himself plays these pieces a cultivated

audience is as thorou ghy enthralled as are the
Northern peasants by their fiddlersa E xtremes
meet L iszt was the first pianist who S howed that
.

an artist who plays without his notes is much more

eloquent than one who uses them just as an extem ,

pore sp eake r is more eloquent than one who reads a

lecture Now the Norwegian peasant fiddlers have
.
,

“ ”
never used notes ; they play entirely by heart in
more than one sense ; like the gypsies from whom ,

L iszt learned the secret .

There is another respe c t in which the peasant

fiddlers anticipated the l atest stages of modern
virtuosity S ome of the weird e ffects which caused
.

it to be whispered that Paganini had the devil for

his ally were produced by altering the tuning of
the strings The pla yers of the old Norwegian
.

fele or fiddle have three different ways of tuning

, ,

— — — — — — — —
it ; a d a e ; a e a e ; a e a c sha rp
1 ’ —1 1 ’ 1 1
.
1
 1 2 2 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

Nor is this all When a R ichard S trauss or a .

Martin L oeffler wants to give his orchestral score an

ultra modern colouring he introduces the V iola
-
,
'

d amore which has beside the strings that are

’
, ,

played on an equal number placed below them ,

‘

which Vibrate sympathetically and enrich the tone .

The Norwegian fele has four of these sympatheti c

strings .
1

O n e of the most wonderful of modern songs

S chubert s H u rdy Gu rdy Player (D er Leiermann)
’
-

—
has throughout its sixty one bars a drone bass of -

two tones a fifth apart Such a drone bass of one .

-

or two tones usually accompanies the fele player s ’

melody It is the earliest form of the organ poin t

.
,

or pedal point with which the great masters from , ,

Bach to Wagner have produced some of their ,

grandest e ffects Grieg uses it as quaintly a rid as .

artistically as S chubert did He also uses oc c a .

2

.6 l V th i l tt t th th
1 C ar en f t till th p
, n a e er o e au o r , re ers o s ano er ecu

li ity f t h f l m ic
ar o It w c i t b v th d iff t
e e e us . as u r ou s o o se r e e e ren

p i t f i w f G i g d S i d i g t w d th H d g m ic At
o n o V e o r e an n n o ar e ar an er us .

t im th pl y i g f th H d g fiddl
es e a d t ft t
n o e ar an er e rs so u n s ou o u ne o u s,

b t G i g i i t d th t th y
u r e d m ll i t v l th
ns s e h lf t p
a e u se s a er n er a s an o u r a -
s e s,

an d c l im d th t th i m ic p b bl y c m f m H
a e a g y w hil S i d
e r us ro a a e ro un ar , e n

i g i i t d th t th y pl y d
n ns s e t f t I h v m d
a p ci l t dy
e a e ou o u ne . a e a e a s e a s u

o f th N w gi ef l m ic d m
or th t G i g w c ct
e an e e u s an a su re a r e as o rre .
”

Th d
1 b i c h c t i tic f N th i t m t i g
e ron e ass s a a ra er s o or e rn n s ru en s n en

e ra l P ibl y G i g l v f it w tim l t d l by t vi tic m i i

. oss r e
’
s o e o as s u a e a so a a s re n s

c c f hi S c t c h t c d t T h S c t c h b gp ip with it p bl y
e n es o s o an e e en s . e o a e, s su er

m t d
on o on ou s h m ch g t ti ti v l th
ron e, p as a u re a e r ar s c a ue an ou r su er
1 2 4 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

are certainly destined to play a great rOle in the

music Of the future As regards Grieg s occa .
’

sion al use of them he informs me that they came ,

under his pen almost unconsciously S ome of .

these stran ge harmonies seem to exaggerate the .

lugubriousness of our min or mode .

1

The general spirit Of Norwegian music has been

“
well summed up by Carl E ngel in his S tudy of
“
National Music He thinks it is a curious fact
.

that those nations which possess the most lu gubri

ous music possess also the most hilarious tunes .

The songs of the Norwegians are generally very

plaintive though at the same time very beautiful ;
,

and some of the Norw egian dances have perhaps

more resemblance to dirges than to the dances
of some other nations ; but in single instance s the
Norwegian tunes exhibit an unbounded joy and
cheerfulness such as we rarely meet with in the
,

music Of other people Indeed the Norwegians .

, ,

so far as their music is concerned m ight be com ,

pared to the hypochondriac who Occasionally , ,

-
though seldom gives himself up to an almost
,

”
excessive merriment .

1 F o r fu r th e r rem k ar s on G riegh m ic igi l ity th c h pt

’
s ar on or na ,
se e e a er

on pi
h is an o for e t m ic us . Th t g f D b y h m i i
e s ran e n e ss o e u ss
’
s ar on e s s

du e l g ly
ar e t o his fre e u se o f th m di v l ch ch m d S L w
e se e ae a u r o es . ee a

re n e c G ilm an s
’
ll
Pe ea s e t M el i d p 5
san e,
”
. 1 .
 NO R W E GIAN F O L K—MU SI C

The fundamental trait of Norwegian folk song -

,

”
as contrasted with the German is as Grieg once ,

“
wrote to me , a deep melancholy which may ,

suddenly change to a wild unrestrained gayety .

Mysterious gloom and indomitable wildness

”
these are the contrasts of Norwegian folk song -
.

Grieg is often spoken Of as an embodiment of

Scand inavian music But as he himself on c e
.
,

pointed out in a letter to the N ew York Tim es:

I am not an exponent O f S candinavian music ‘ ’
,

but only O f Norwegian The national character

.

istics Of the three peoples — the Norwegians the ,

Swedes and the D anes — are wholly di fferent and ,

”
their music di ffers just as much It di ffers very .

much as the S cenery does ; the Norwegian is bolder ,

rougher wilder grander yet with a green fertile

, , ,

vale here and there in which strawberries and

cherries reach a fragrance or flavour hardly
attained anywhere else in the world In the .

wildest of Grieg s p I CCCS we O ften are enchanted

’

by glimpses of such green vales one of the

characteristics O f h is music .

Concerning Grieg s relations to the national

’

music of Norway the most ludicrous notions pre

vail among professional musicians and amateurs .

With a persisten c e worthy of a better cause the

1 2 6 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

wiseacres keep telling their readers that Grieg

made a very promising be gin ning at L eipsic in
”
writing world music but that after his return
-
,

to his home he unfortunately turned consciously

“
to No rwegian folk music and struck with the
-
, ,

freshn ess of the native dances transplanted them ,

”
bodily into his academic flow er pots as one critic -
,

puts it ; while a second be wails the fact that thence

“
forth Grieg stuck in the fjord and never got out
Of it A third gives the gist of these lamentations
.

at Grieg s failure to rise to the rank of a writer of

’

“ ” “
world music -
in these words : Grieg despite ,

the many beauties in his works writes in a dialect ,

quite as truly as did Burns Christopher North , ,

”
or Ensign O doherty .

The second O f the critics just c ited is a Ge rman ;

the other two are Americans When a German .

“ ”
fancies that his country owns the world language -

in music one may pardon him for national vanity is

, ,

a universal folly ; but when one who is not a German

“ ”
parrots their nonsense about musical dialects ,

it is time to protest D ialect signifies a provincial

.

mode of speaking a lan guage W hat is No rway .

a province of musically or otherwise ? A wiser

,

and deeper criti c than the men just cited R obert ,

S chumann wrote as we have seen that

, , ,
 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC

D owell An English critic has pointed out u m

.

mistakabl e analogies from the standpoint of techn i

”
cal analysis between the harmonic peculiarities
of Grieg and thos e of R ichard S trauss ; and as
Grieg had done most of his work when S trauss
began he is of course the originator and S trauss
, , , ,

the disciple .

From every point Of View that interests the music

lover Grieg is one of the most original geniuses
,

in the musical world of the present or past His .

songs are a mine of melody surpassed in wealth ,

only by S chubert s and that only because there are

’
,

more of S chubert s ’
.

modulation he has only six equals : Bach S chubert , ,

Chopin S chumann Wagner and L iszt

,
In rhyth
, ,
.

mic invention and combination he is inexhaustible ,

and as orchestrator he ranks among the mosf fas

c inating To speak of such a m an
.
—
seven eighths
of whose works are still music of the future as a
”
writer in dialect is surely the acme of u nin telli
,

“
gence If Grieg did stick in the fjord and never
.

”
get out of it even a German ought to thank heaven
,

for it Grieg in a fjord is much more picturesqu e

.

and more interesting to the world than he would

have been in the E lbe or the Spree .

Many worthy Germans fancy to the present day

 NO RW E GIAN FOL K —MU SI C
1 2
9

that Chopin Tchaikovsky L iszt and Dvofak

, , ,
“ ”
wrote in musical dialects in SO far as they in
c orp ora te d Polish Russian Hungarian and Bohe
, , ,

mian characteristics in their works They forget .

that some of their own masters Beethoven

S chubert and Brahms among them gladly mad e
—
use of the folk music of foreign countries (notably
Hungary) without being accused of speaking a
,

dialect Then there is Haydn usually call e d the

.
,

father Of classical music the world music to -

which Mo zart and Beethoven and all the others

contributed their quota Yet what Haydn did was
.

so precisely like what Grieg is accused of doing

that what Mr Hadow says in the admirable volume
.

“
he contributed to the O xford History Of Music ”
,

concerning the Croatian Haydn applies word for ,

“
word to the Norwegian Grieg : E isenstadt lay
near his home the whole countryside was full of
,

the folk songs which he had loved from childhood

-

songs of the ploughman and the reaper of rustic ,

courtship and Village merry making Half u n con .

sc iou sly he began to weave them into the texture of

his composition ; borrowin g here a phrase there a ,

strain there an entire melody and gradually fashion

, ,

ing his own tunes on these they find

their way into everything quartets Concertos , ,
1 3 6 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

divertimenti even hymn s and masses ;

,
they renew

with fresh and vigorou s life an art that ppeared

a

to b e growing old b efore its tim e .

”

Grieg s
relation to the popular art of his country
’

is admirably indicated in his preface to his Opus 72 ,

“ ”
entitled Sl atter and containing seventeen peasant
,

dances written down by John Halvorsen as played

,

on the Hardanger fiddle by an old musi c ian in

Telemarken :
“
Those who can a p pre c iate this kind of musi c
will be delighted at the extraordin ary originality
of these tunes their blending of delicacy and grace
,

with rough power and untamed wildness as regards

the melody and more particularly the rhythm .

These traditional tunes handed down from an age

,

when the Norwegian peasantry was isolated from

the world in its solitary mountain valleys all bear ,

the stamp of an imagination equally daring and

bi zarre .

“
My object in arranging this music for the piano
forte was to attempt to raise these folk tunes to an -

artistic level by harmonising them in a style suitable

to their nature It is O bvious that many of the
.

little embellishments characteristic of the peasant s ’

fiddle and his peculiar manner of bowing cannot be

reprodu c ed on the pianoforte and had therefore ,
1 3 2 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

music of the people ; and the composers his com ,

patriots imitate and copy him quite innocently

,

in the belief that they are simply making use Of

” “ ”
local colour ! In my S ongs and S ong Writers
I took occasion to say on this point
“
While his compositions are unmistakably N or
w egian it is important to remember that there is
,

m u ch m ore of Grieg in them than of N orw ay The .

melodies though redolent of their native soil are

, ,

emphatically his own you do not find such en

chanting melodies even among Norwegian folk
songs and still more unmistakably his own are
his bold and fascinating harmonies ; for folk music -

in its primitive state has no harmonies at all whereas ,

Grieg s music as I have already remarked rep re

’
, ,

sents the very latest phase in the evolution of

.

harmony His modulations are as unique as u n

.
,

expected as abrupt yet as natural as S chubert s ;

, ,
’

and they have the same power of moving us to

tears As in the case of Chopin imitators have
.
,

copied these in dividual peculiarities of Grieg s ’

genius without any thought of robbing his beehives ,

but simply under the delusion that they were help

ing themselves to the common stores of wild honey .

How delightfully Norwegian ! amateurs and

‘ ’

professionals are apt to exclaim when they ought ,

 O E —
N RW GIAN F O L K MU SIC I 33

‘
to say How delightfully Griegian !
, A mong ’

his seventy [ 74 ] works there are be side two [ 3 ]

, ,

volumes of pianoforte arrangements of popular

tunes only three (notably op 3 0 3 5 and 64 ) in
,
.
, ,

which he has incorporated Norwegian melodi e s ;

all the others are his own S olvejg s L ied is
‘ ’ ’
.

obviously a c onscious imitation of the national

music but it stands almost alone in this respect
, .

O n the whole there is probably more of the N or

w egian colouring in Grieg s pianoforte music than
’

in his songs ; b ut the more we study Norwegian

folk song and the Northern composers before Grieg
-
,

the more we are astounded at his originality .

This matter cannot be too much emphasised .

L argely through indolence and a parrot n pro

n it on the part Of musical critics and historians
p e s y ,

a cruel injustice has be en done to one Of the most

original and influential geniuses in the realm Of
music — an injustice the more to be deplored b e

cause Grieg has been an invalid the greater part

of his life and therefore must have been often
,

d epressed by the customary in correct estimates of

his achievements True the public has been on
.
,

his side but that very fact the pedants have turned
,

“
against him To the musical amateur writes one
.
,

“
of them superciliously no contemporary composer
,
 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

is better known than Grieg E very school girl .

-

plays his piano pieces [ P] young violinists study ,

his delightfully melodious sonatas and few concert ,

pieces are more widely loved than the Peer Gynt

Suite. Yet from professional musicians Grieg does
not meet with such favour Many speak of him .

patronisingly some scornfully

, Grieg ! they say .
’
,

O h yes very c harming but

‘
,
and the sentence
,

”
ends with a shrug .

I S this t rue ? D o professional musicians shrug

their S houlders at Grieg while a mateurs and the,

public adore him ? If so Grieg s immortality is ,

’

assured for the history of musica l genius shows

,

that whenever there has been such a discrepancy

the amateurs have invariably worsted the p rofes
sional s . Now there can be no doubt that pro ies
,

sion al s do speak of Grieg superciliously qii it e

as superciliously as they used to S peak of Bach and

M o zart and Gluck and Beethoven and S chubert
, ,

and Chopin and S chumann and Wagner and L iszt

, ,

and others that is the minor musicians the small

, ,

fry of the profession do this But the great men

,
.

in the profession (it takes genius to appreciate

genius) recognised Grieg at once as a peer O le .

Bull and Gade may be disregarded here for they ,

might have been in fluenced by a S candinavian

1 3 6 GRI E G AND HI S MUSI C

lodic phrases what teeming Vitality in his harmony, ,

what originality and beauty in the turn of his piquant

and ingenious modulations and rhythms and in all ,

the rest W hat interest novelty and independence ! ,

, ,

If we add to all this that rarest of qualities a per ,

fe ct simplicity far removed from all a ffectation ,

—
and pretence to obscurity and far fetched novelty ”
,

etc .

“ —
I trust it will not appear like self glorification
that my dithyramb in praise of Grieg precedes the
statement that our natures are close ly allied .

S peaking of Grieg s high qualiti e s I do not at all

’
,

wish to impress my readers with the notion that I

am endowed with an equal share of them I leave .

it to others to decide how far I am lacking in all

that Grieg possesses in such abundance but I can ,

not help stating the fact that he exercises and has

exercised some measure of that attractive forc e
which always drew me towards the gifted Nor
”
wegian .
1

1 In c on n e cti
th th b v I c t i t th m l ic i imp l
on wi e a o e ann o re s s e a ou s u se

to c ll tt ti t
a a m i g i t c f p f i l h ld
en on o an a u s n n s an e o
“
ro e ss on a s ou er

sh ggi g i th S c d i vi N mb
ru n
”
n f D i M ik ( B l i )
e an na an u er
”
o e u s er n ,

wh m c itic wh l m t d h f c t th t G i g t k i th “
i th
e re n e sa e r o a en e t e a a r e s uc n e

fj d d c l d th t w h il g i h i f h dh m
” “ ” “
or e t ar e a e no a e n u s, e s re s e r an as o re

su b t c th Ch p i d mb l T c h ik v ky w h i t p t
s an e
”
an o n , an re se es a o s ,
o s a re se n

“
v y m ch v t d Th y
er u o ! Th f th g
e rr a e t tm f .
”
e re ou a re ree o e re a es en o

th m d
e m ic l w ld m itt with h j w b f p i t h !
o e rn us a or s en t e a on e o a an o e ac er
 NO RW E GIAN F OL K -
MU SI C 1
37

Hans von Bulow in a letter dated L ondon , ,

November 2 7 1 8 78 exclaimed with reference to , ,

“
certain works of Tchaikovsky : Blasé though I
am I was truly enchanted nay intoxicated by their
, , ,

freshness power depth and originality He is

, , ,
.

a true ton e p oet he declared and added that -

, ,

“
E dvard Grieg is another after explaining that a ,

tone poet is above all things a romanticist who

-
,

however developing into a genius may also become

, ,

a Classic as for instance Chopin In another , ,

.
’

letter dated March 1 6 1 8 74 he says : Hartvigson

, , , ,

who had accompanied me to Moscow gave me ,

enormous joy with a sonata for Violin and piano

( opus 8 ) by G rieg which unites the advantage of ,

Rubinstein s imagination with Ra ff s structural ’ ’

skill The work has appeared in a cheap edition

.

di ely and refresh

( Peters ) you must get it imm e at
”
yourself with it .
1

1 G rieg ’
s t l f I t i f th h
m u si c wi ll t k c
f m
a e are o f i se . s or e on o u r o u

i i
s c an s, an d t p v my ti th t it i th m ll f y d t th h igh
o ro e asse r on a s e s a r an no e

c l p f i l wh h g th i h ld
ass ro e ss on a s t G i g th t I wi h t
o s ru e r s ou e rs a r e ,
a s o

pl ca e c d f w dd it i l p i i w h ic h w ill h l p f t g
on re o r a e a on a o n on s e u u re en

e ra ti t j dg h w f hi w d g i w pp c i t d by h i
o ns o u e o ar s on ro u s en u s as a re a e s

c t mp i
on e I c fi m y l f t ti t c c i g w h
orar e s . on tt it d
ne se o ar s s o n e rn n ose a u e

I c an p kf mp s ea l k w l dg P d w ki t l d m
ro t l
e rso n a g no e e . a e re s o e, no on

a g th t h i dmi t i f G i g w k g w m
o, a s a rad t h m
on o r e
’
s or s re o re a r en t e o re

h e t d i d th m M D w ll impl y w h ipp d G i g t w h m h
s u e e . ac o e S o rs e r e ,
o o e

d d ic t d tw f h i
e a e t H i m ic i l ik
o o gl f f h w t
s so n a as . s us s e a a ss o re s a er

d t h c id t p p il D Alb h l g b G ig
'

”
i
’
n a e se r ,
e on e sa o a u . e rt as on een a r e

mi i y;
ss on ar f h i Am ic t h h dl y g v c c t with
on on e o s er an ou r s e ar a e a on e r
 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

Grieg
had the satisfaction of knowing that what
ever m istakes critics might make in their estimates ,

out p i c by th N w g i R l P g i th wh p l y G i g
a e e e or e an . aou u no s an o er o a s r e

con a m ; d Tore C so d F i B l m fi ld Z i l
o e re sa w h il a rre n o an a nn e oo e -
e ss e r, e

D Wm M
r . th N t . f Am icason , pi i t d t ch w e es or o er an an s s an ea e rs, as on e

of hi p i s c hamp i on eerAm g th g t vi l i i t w h d h im on s . on e rea o n s s o a o re

are B d ky w h h ro w itt
s b t h im i h i R mi i c c ; F it
, o as r en a ou n s e n s en e s r z

K il re s e r and J h W l ff ; th l tt w h m d c c t t i
o an n es . o e a e r, o a e a on e r ou r n

E gln d i 8 97 w ith G i g d ft p l y d w ith h im th C ti t

an n 1 r e ,
an o en a e on e on n en ,

w it t d; th y m ch pl y d b t v y
“
r t m es Hi o g
e: s son a as a re r an e a re u a e ,
u er

f w k w h w t pl y G i g ; y
e no o m t k w h im hi b t if l c t y
o a r e ou u s no , s e au u ou n r ,

an d th N w g i e ch t or Hi w k e f ll f p
an i d p t y;a rac e r . s or s a re u o ass on an oe r

th m e I p l y th m t h m
o re I l v th m
a d lw y I fi d f
e h e o re o e e ,
an a a s n re s n e ss

d b ty G i g i g t m Th v c li t wh giv g ”
an eau . r e s a re a an . e o a s s o e son

rec it l h v t y t g iv G i g
a s a e no g th tt ti th y d ve en r e
’
s son s e a en on e e se r e

t th i
o w d t im
e r o t S m h w v h v d i c v d th t
n e r en . o e, o e e r, a e s o e re e se rea su re s,

t b l y Lill i L hm w h giv th m m c h p c h p g m m
no a e an n , o es e u s a e on er ro ra es .

F or c h t G i g w t c mp t iv l y l itt l b t th t w g t t
or e s r a, r e ro e o a ra e e, u e o rea es

m ic l m i i
u s a i Am ic h h b d l t
ss on ar e s pp t ity t er a as ar o u re os no o or u n o

b i g f w d w h t th w T h d T h m l i t (f w hic h I
r n or ar a e re as . eo o re o as s
’
s or

m i d bt d t M T h m ) i c l d d th c c t v t “
a n e e o rs . I th o as n u e e on er o e r u re n e

A t m Gy t it S ig d J ”
” “ ” “
u u th tw
n, P e o lf Sym ee r n su e s, u r o rsa a r,

ph ic D c
on E v i g i th M
an e s, t i At th C dl
” “
Hen n t n e ou n a n ,
” “
e ra e,
” “
e ar

W d ou n Sp i g s,
”
N w gi “
M l di r n C w k p ,
”
T
p
“
or e an e o e s,
” “
o - ee er s
’
n e,
”

an d C tyD c
“
ou n rc f m O l f T yg an pi c c t
e s, s en e s ro
“
a r vason , an o on e r o,
“
F it S y n dl ( Ch pt X )
.
”
An tg d v l f th
on S ei ,
see a er , a rran e se e ra o e

p i f t p i c f c h t Fi l l y I m y m ti th f c t th t
an o o r e e es or or e s ra . na a en on e a a

t h th it l b g i i g t w k t th f c t th t G i g h ’
e eo r s s a so are e nn n o a a e o e a a r e s ar

m i m k w d p t i m ic I hi D i F ih it d
on e s ar a ne e a r u re n us . n s
“
e re e O er

U f ih it d
n re To e ( L ip ic C F K h t ) G g C p ll
er ne dvt e s : . . a n , eor a e en e o es

t w ty i p g t
en -
s x l y i f G i g h m ic i v t i
a es o an H an a s s o r e
’
s ar on nn o a on s . e

th m p h i vi w G i g i c g i d f b y d h i t iv
u s su s u s e s:
“
r e s re o n se ar e on s na e

c ty
ou n r f th f w m t
as on e o wh h v ic h d m ic with ew e a s e rs o a e enr e u s ne

m f h m ic
ean s o d m l d ic xp ar i on d c td dm i b l
an e o e re ss o n ,
‘

an re a e an a ra e

h m t d i ti g i h d by p tic f l i g d th c h m f m y m d
o e -ar s n u s e oe ee n ,
an e ar o an oo s

( S tim m g i ) F
u n th i th
sre z t d y f h i L y ic l Pi c f
. or s re ason e s u o s
‘
r a e es
’
or

p i i p tic l c t b
an o, n h igh l y c mm d d t m ic l v
ar u ar, ann o e too o en e o us o e r s,

w it
e re l y t m k it c l t th m th t th
on o id d
a ew th t ic l ear o e a e on e -s e n a rro eo r e a

l ll y t ght t ft f il i f c f th i l v l y t with t
r u e s, as u su a au ,
oo o en a n a e o s o e ar , ou

it l i g th
s os n by y f i c h m ere an o ts ar .
”
1 4 6 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

were deeper These pebbles certainly were more

.

opaque than Grieg s diamonds but somehow the

’
, , ,

public preferred the translucent Grieg diamonds .

“
Brahms once said of Dvofak : D em fallt immer
'

” “
etwas ein ( He is never at a loss for an
In a conversation with Saint Sa ens when he was in
-

New York I asked him why he had never written

“
any more symphonic poems Because no more
.

”
ideas came to me he replied Grieg resembled
,
.

—
both D vofak and Saint Saén s : when he se t about
composing a piece he was never at a loss for an
idea ; and when he had no idea he refused to com
pose Had all composers followed his principle
.
,

how much less rubbish the shelve s of our musi c

shops would be burdened with !
Because of this restraint and of his persistent
,

ill health Grieg did not write a great many wofk s ;

—
,

O pus 74 is the last on the list But it is better so

. .

In his garden there are chiefly flowers few weeds ; ,

there is little need of anthologies and selections .

In not all of his pieces and songs of course did , ,

“ ”
he strike twelve but in few of them did he fail
,

to strike eleven or ten ; which can be said of few

composers Ruskin once e xpressed the fear that
.

his books would not live because he had written

so many Grieg had no such reason to apprehend
.
 N R
O W E L —
GIAN F O K MU SI C 1 1
4

the future His works contain that concentrated

.

quintessence of genius for which alone it is safe to

predict immortality .

O n the occasion of Grieg s S ixtieth birthday M r

’
.

L eonard L iebling wrote in the New York M u sical

Cou rier :
“
Posterity will fix his worth as a composer
even th ough some of our contemporaries have
hurriedly tried to forestall posterity It is not .

always safe to deny a composer greatness simpl y

because he is popular If Grieg is but for the
‘
.
’

day he is certainly enjoying a very long day There .

are no perceptible signs of Grieg s waning The ’

.

publishers are doing as good business as ever with

the Humoresken the violin sonatas the cello
‘
,
’
,

sonata the wedding marches the piano concerto

, ,

the songs ( Ich liebe dich I m Kahn D er S chwan

‘
,
’ ‘
,
’ ‘
,

‘
S olvejg s L ied
’
the Peer Gynt music the
,
’ ‘ ’
,

‘ ’
‘
Holberg suite the piano sonata the Ballade
’
, , ,

and the albums of Lyric Pieces I t is stu pid to

’
.

re proach Grieg with b eing too national . H ad he

been less so he w ou ld
That not n ow be u niversal .

is a curious paradox in music See Tchaikovsky .

,

”
D vo rak S metana Verdi Wagner and others
, , ,

notably Haydn L iszt and Chopin , ,

.

Comparing Grieg with Chopin in the Looker ou ,

-
,
1 4 2 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

Joakim R einhard uses a poetic simile which more ,

than pages of analysis explains the charm of the,

mixture of individuality and nationality we fin d

in these composers :
While the genius of ChOp in is as rich and
original as that of Grieg the latter has more of ,

what the Germans call Naturlaute sounds of ‘

,
’

Nature This should not be understood as though

.

the Norwegian were a l ess conscious and con su m

mate artist than the Pole far from it O nly he .

works in material of quite another kind The .

di fference is one of deeper significance than one of

mere training or style Thus both composers are
.

intensely national in the sense that the peculiar

rhythms and harmonious modulations of the folk
music of their respe c tive peoples lie at the root of
their work flow ing throu gh it as the sap of a w
,
ild
tru nk fl ow s throu gh a tw ig f
o a rare an d highly
cu ltivated fru it tree that has b een gra ted f u p on it .

But ChOp in loves unhappy Po land in an elegiac ,

hopelessl y yearning wa y : Grieg is jubilantly proud

of the defiant aggressive country on whose soil he
,

was born To be sure gloom and melan choly may

.
,

occasionally thrive in the deep shadows of Nor

wa y s mountains and that too has been embodied
’
, , ,

by Grieg in his music But un like Chopin he has

.
, ,
 CHAPT E R IX
L AS T YE AR S ,
D E ATH , AND FUNE RAL
R I B O S S ixtieth birthday on June
’
, 1 5 ,
1 9 3,
0

was celebrated not o nl y in the cities of

S candinavia but throughout E urope and ,

A meri ca many concerts b e n devoted entirely or

,

partly to a Commemoration of the event BjOrn son .

delivered one of his most eloquent and patriotic

orations on this occasion .

O n e of the warmest admirers of Grieg was the

German emperor For years he made a tour of .

the picturesque Norwegian fjords e very summer ,

on his yacht H ohenzollern and in 1 90 3 he invited ,

Grieg on board but the Composer had to decline ,

.

O n July 2 1 1 90 4 Grieg wrote to his L eipsic pub

, ,

lisher and friend M r Hinrichsen a remarkably .

in terestin g letter which reads in an E nglish trans1

lation
“
The other day I had a Chance to meet your
Kaiser He had already expressed a d e sire last
.

1 Prin td e in the o ri gi l na in the G i g b i g phy

r e o ra of S c hje lde ru p an d

Nie m ann (C . F Pe
. t e rs ) .
G R I E G
’
s S I X TI E T H B I RT H Y
DA
1 4 6 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

although as a matter of course I had not wanted to

, ,

do such a thing He was very insistent however

.
, ,

that I should make my intentions clear Then he .

illustrated the impression made by the music by

movements of his head and body It was wonder .

ful (gottlick ) to watch his serpentine movements

'

2 la O rientalin while they played Anit ra s Dance

’ ’
,

which quite electrified him .

“
Afterwards I had to pla y for him on the piano ,

and my wife who sat nearest him told me that

, ,

here too he illustrated the impression made on him ,

especially at the best places .

“
I pla yed the minuet from the pianoforte sonata ,

which he found very Germa nic and powerfully

‘

built and the Wedding Day at Troldhau gen

,
’ ‘
,
’

which piece he also liked .

“ ‘
O n the following day there was a repetition of
these things on board the Hohenzollern where we ,

were all invited to dinner at eight o clock The ’

.

orchestra played on deck in the most wondrously

bright summer night while many hundreds nay I
, , ,

believe thousands of rowboats and small steamers

,

were grouped about us .

“The crowd applauded constantly and cheered

,

enthusiastically whenever the Kaiser be came visible .

He treated me like a patient ; he gave me his cloak ,

 L A ST Y EAR S ,
D E ATH , AND F UNE RAL 1 47

and went to fet c h a blanket with whi c h he covered

me carefully .

“
I must not forget to relate that he grew so en
thu siastic over S igurd Jorsalfar
‘
the subject of ,
’

which I explained to him as minutely as possible ,

that he said to von Hil lson the intendant of the ,

royal theatres who sat next him : We must produce

,
‘

’
this work .

“
I then invited von Hulsen to come to Chris
tiania to witness a performance of it and he said
, ,

he was very eager to do 8 0 All in all this meeting .

,

was an event and a surprise in the best sense The .

Kaiser c ertainly is a very uncommon man a strange ,

mixture of great energy great self relian c e and ,

-
,

g reat kindness of heart O f children and animals

.

he spoke often and with sympathy which I regard ,

”
as a significant thing .

On the New Year s day following the Ka iser

’

“
sent Grieg a telegram reading : To the northern
‘

hard to listen to whose strains has always be en a

,

joy to me I send my most sincere wishes for the

,

H
new year and new creative activity In 1 90 6 .
,

’
Grieg having been once more the Kaiser s guest
, ,

“
wrote to M r Hinrichsen :
. He was greatly pleased
with having become once more a grandfather .

He called to me across the table (referring to S igurd

1 48 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

Is it agreeable to you if I call the child

‘

S igurd ? It must be something Urgerm anisch

’
.

An interestin g detail concerning the day when

he was the E mperor s guest on his yacht ’
— an

incident on which Grieg afterwards dwelt with

“

special satisfaction is related in the Berlin Tage

-

b latt: AS the two were conversing on d e ck a cold

breeze suddenly sprang up whereupon the Kaiser ,

gave his military Cloak to the aged and frail com

poser With this over his shoulder Grieg walked
.
,

u p and down deck when an offi cer said to him :

,

“
Take care ! His Majesty s mantl e is dragging !
’ ”

At that m oment the Kaiser returned and remarked

“
with a smile : The main thing is that our master
”
must not catch cold !
Had Grieg been always as solicitous for his ‘

health as the Kaiser S howed himse lf on this Occa

sion h e might have lived some years longe r than
,

he did ; but he continually indulged in activities

which used up his strength The reader will re .

member the close of one of his letters t o the author ,

“
dated May 2 1 90 5 : But now I am done ! Com
, ,

p l e te ly exhausted by this exertion S c hje lde ru p .

’

says he never spared his health but subjected ,

himself to the greatest exertions Good advice .

was entirely disregarded As he seldom was wel l

.
 L A ST Y EAR S , DE ATH , AND FUNE RAL 1 49

enough to be in a creative mood the hearing and ,

performing of his earlier works became a matter of

”
vital necessity to him O n March 2 1 1 90 6 he .
, ,

wrote to D r Abraham that when he was not attend

.

ing rehearsals orchestrating or keep i ng his fin ge rs

, ,

in practice so he could assist in playing his chamber

music he was good for nothing but lying flat on
,

his back and resting .

“
Thus it was the last time I was in L ondon ,

nine years ago I could endure nothing except .

my work went nowhere received no one An d

, ,
.

now it is ten times worse It is S heer recklessness .

on my part to do what I am asked to and you will ,

see me su ffer for it But man hurries to his destiny .

If I ask myself honestly I truly know not why I ,

do these things From a financial point of View I

.

do not need to and a public appearance is the most

,

horrible thing I know My nerves my whole .

,

system su ffer indescribable tortures but a certain

, ,

something I know not wha ,

t urges me on irre ,

sistib ly .I cannot withstand a beautiful orchestral

performance and a sympathetic audience and that , ,

”
I think is what makes me so foolish
,
.

In the same year he wrote to his publisher : From

all Over the world I am now getting invitations to
“
c ondu c t Irony of fate !
.
”
It is a marvellous thing ,
1 5 0 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

the way these foreign orchestras understand a

’
composer s subtlest intentions after a rehearsal or
two Here was the sweet poison which killed
.

him He who had su ffered so much bodily torture

.
,

so much unjust criticism loved to bask in the sun ,

sh ine oi publi c sympathy .

To his friend O sca r Meyer he wrote in April ,

1 90 2 : O n the twenty second I conducted a concert -

at the Philha rmonic with works of my own The .

orchestra played gloriously and the reception I ,

received gigantic I tell you was one such as I

have never yet had to record The publi c in the .
,

end followed me into the street and gave further

,

”
cheers .

My health has been bad throughout the summer ,

“
he wrote to the same friend two years later and ,

I am forc ed to refuse all o ffers to c onduct conc erts .

The second half of one S life ought in fact not to ’

, ,

exist Nature has herein again made a stupid

.

”
bl under .

O n July 4 1 90 6 he wrote , ,

DE AR H OFPI ANI S T,
“
I t is d e l igh tfu l g to h ear from
to b e rem ind ed y ou a ain an d
of h app ier tim es T ru e it is t h at sad ness creep eth into th e
‘
.

h eart ; and yet th ou gh w e c annot get th rou gh l ife with ou t

’
,

sorrow we all stran g e l y en ou gh

, ,
w ant to l ive on With u s ,
.

h ere th ings are not m ovin g very sm ooth l y My w ife had to .

 L A ST Y EAR S , D EATH, AND F UNERAL 1 5 1

un dergo a severe Op eration and is still far from well ; her

,

nerves h ave b een terr ib l y sh ak en an d w e l iv e l ik e h erm its

, ,

for she c ann ot y et j oin in any soc ial intercou rse b u t re qu ires ,

all p ossib l e p eac e and qu iet W e h op e to l eave Troldhau gen

.

tow ard the m idd l e or en d of the m onth and to go u p am on g ,

the m ou ntains . T h ere p erh ap s we m ay ob tain renewe d

h eal th and energy ”
.

In another letter he said : Yes yes at y our age , ,

it is ever : hurrah vivat etc At my age we say :

, ,
.

sempre diminuendo And I can tell you that it

.

is not easy to make a beautiful diminuendo You .

”
will find this out yourself some day .

He touches on this same point in a letter to Dr .

“
Abraham ( 1 900 ) and adds : The good Herzogen
berg once said : L ife is a dinner I have a rrived
‘
.

at the cheese which tastes very good

,
.

It was Characteristic of Grieg thus to take the

most cheerful View of the S ituation In the same .

letter he tells of an accident which nearly ended his

life He was trave lling with his wife and Miss
.

Hagerup to S ondm oer where the y were suddenly

,

“
hurled into an abyss with horse and wagon It .

was a real wonder that we escaped with Ou r lives

yes even without injuries Fortunately we fell
,
.

on a soft pla c e and the horses stuck so deeply in

the mire that they c ould not move The rain .

ca me down in torrents bu t we sang joyfu l tu nes,

1 5 2 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

and were happy as children while we walked several

”
hours along the road to the nearest town .

“
You are perfectly right in being astonished
that I still give concerts he wrote to Meyer under
”
,

“
date of D ecember 2 1 90 6 Th e fact is however ,
.
, ,

that I allow myself to be persuaded to do so : I have ,

unfortunately not strength of character enough to

,

refuse This was hardly to be wondered at when

.
,

for example all the seats for concerts announced

,

by him were sold months in advance O n Feb .

“
ru ary 2 6 1 90 7 he wrote to M eyer :
,
My concert
,

in Berlin is on April 1 2 But the seats have long .

since been sold out It will probably have to be .

repeated on the fourteenth as a m atin ee S till it .

is as likely as not that I will have to decline owing ,

to illness I am not feeling at all well I must

. .
,

however make a good e ff ort and see whe tlier it

,

may not be possible to give the four concerts in

Germany to wh ich I have pledged myself
,
But .

then there must be an end to all concert giving for

me A S hort time ago some one writing from Ger
.

many addressed me as M ost esteemed veteran ! ‘ ’

It is time that I render myself worthy of this honor

”
able title .
1

Th
1 m y th i t ti g g l imp i th l tt t O c
e re are an o er n e re s n ses n e se e e rs o s ar

M y ; ixt
e er i s mb th y w p i t d i th N w Y k M i l
ee n n nu e r, e e re r n e n e e or u s ca

C i f Ap il
ou r er o 9 8 O f M M r y g G i
2 2 g h
,
d h igh
1 0 . r . e
’
e r s so n s r e a a
1 54 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

he has for some time been a D octor of Music of

Cambridge and is t o day to be made a D octor of
,

O xford one finds it hard to think of him as any

,

thing but Grieg The very qualities which have

.

made the p eople love him as they do are just the

least doctorial the Open air freshness the strong -
,

personal note E xperience S hows that the one

.

thing which musicians as a class fin d his greatest

weakness the constant habit of repeating himself
,

more or less is just the thing that has endeared

,

him to the rest of the world They cry manner .

‘

ism the world answers personality

,
’
Musicians‘
.
’

are professing that they have got tired of Grieg ;

the public is fonder of him than ever Musicians .

have frequently to bear the S hock of such u n

pleasant discoveries and only posterity can decide
,

whether the expert or the layman is in the righ t .

“
That Queen s Hall was packed from floor to
’

ceiling when Grieg stepped on to the platform on

Thursday is by now common knowledge ; it would ’

b e interesting to know w hether the hall would have

looked the same if anybody else had conducted
the same programme S till more remarkable is .

the fact that all the seats have been sold for Thurs
day s Chamber con c ert and this will probably be
’
,

the first time that a concert which is not orchestral

 L A ST Y EAR S , DE ATH , AND FUNE RAL 1
55

has had the same e ffect Grieg is c ertainly a .

pi c turesque and enigmatic personality almost the ,

only survivor of the old type of unworldly musi c ian

who shuns the c rowd and thinks his thoughts in
”
solitude .

AS a matter of course a European composer

whose houses were always sold out weeks in ad
vance of the con c ert was bound to get man y o ff ers
from America To one of these made by R E
.
,
. .

Johnston of New York he sent this answer dated

, , ,

May 1 6 1 90 7; it was printed in Mu sical Am erica :

,

“
I have been obliged to refuse all invitations to
visit America because of my delicate health and ,

now I am growing old I am afraid it will be too

late S till if y ou are able to make me the following
.
,

proposal
“
Thirty c on c erts within about three months at
$ 2 5 00 per concert D eposition delivered to C F
,
. . .

Peters editor [ publisher] of music in L eipzig before

,

my leaving E urope Accompaniment by your .

manager All expenses for three persons from

.

Europe and bac k again paid Then I will Consider .

the matter .

He kn ew that he would not survive such an

e ffort and therefore made the terms practically
,

prohibitive A profit of $ 7 . in three months

1 5 6 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

would have been more than the amount he left at

his death (about Good music is not very
profita ble unless it I S operatic To a Viennese
,
.

journalist wh o met him in a theatre at Christiania

after the two hundredth performance of L ehar s ’

sensationally su c cessful operetta “

The Merry
” “
Widow Grieg said : I think I can say truly that
my music too is played all over the world But
, ,
.

all my compositions have not brought me in much

more than L ehar s income from this operetta in ’

”
Christiania alone .
1

The turbulent ocean had as much to do with his

refusal to V isit America as his ill health To one .

of his American visitors who had begged him to ,

come over he said with a twinkle in his eye that

,

he would do so if he could get a guarantee that

the Atlantic would behave itself ; but he all ded
“ ”
, ,

“
it must be a written guarantee .

It was doubtless because of his horror of sea S ick -

ness that he never made the trip to the North Cape .

G i g l t m ch m
1
r e th gh hi c t i h l th w hic h ft
os u on ey ro u s u n er a n ea , O en

c mp ll d h im t th l t m m t t d i pp i t th p b l ic H w m c h
o e e a e as o en o sa o n e u . o u

d id h g t f p tic ip ti g i c c t ? I J
e e or y 96 h w t
ar a n n a on er n an u ar ,
1 0 ,
e ro e

t p f m f eig c c t f l th
“
t R O tg
o I d n en : t o no e r or a a or n on e r or e ss an 1 0 00

m k (b tar s A p bl ic pp
a ou c p t m it t t f ch u a ear an e u s e n o a s a e o su

c l l v
o ossa xc it m t th t I p f t v id it l it bl m
n e r ou s e e en a re e r o a o u n e ss en a es e

t d m li h l imit d m t f y t I M y f th m y ”
o e o s an u n e a ou n o o s e rs . n a o e sa e ea r

h f d£5 f
e re u se xt c c t i L d
1 0 It i p
or an eibl h ra on er n on on .
“
s o ss e,
”
e

w t t b y m y t d l y H lth i m im p t t
“ ”
ro e , o u on e oo e ar . ea s o re o r an .
1 5 8 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

On the third of August he took his friend u p a

-

mountain n ear Bergen called Blaam anden The

‘

climbing was a great e ff ort for Grieg but the glo ,

“
riou s V iew on top compensated the toil Here we .

”
need a peasant fiddler to play a dance for us ! he
exclaimed But this exaltation was followed by a
.

moment of depression in which he exclaimed pro

p h e tically I sha ll never get up here again He .

knew the end was approa ching When his friend .

R Ontgen who visited him about this time left

, , ,

“
he said to him : I fee l it distinctly that we shall
never meet again M y strength is used up and it
.

cannot last much longer We must sa y farewell

.
”
.

“ ”
Hospital in B ergen August 2 8 o 7 is the
, ,
’

o minous heading of a letter to his Swiss friend

perhaps the last letter he ever wrote He had .

once more yielded to temptation Invitations from.

E ngland as king him to conduct a Grieg programme

at the L eeds Festival were so urgent and cordial
that he ac c epted them ; but instead of taking the
steamer to Christiania he had to be conveyed by
order of his doctor to the hospital I was and
.

”
still am ill he writes ; during the last few day s
, ,

indeed I have su ffered so much from insomnia and

,

difficulty of breathing that I had to come here .

For thi s reason pen and ink had to r est too There .
1 60 G RI E G AND H I S MU SI C

board and the flag at half mast It was a lovely -

.

morning and one could see people going joyously

,

to their work as usual absorbed in their thoughts

, .

But as soon as they saw the bulletin board in the

window their expression Changed All stood still ; .

the merchant forgot his business ; workingmen who

,

had been talking loudly suddenly became mute ;

,

a young lady with a roll of music under her arm

turned pale ; laughing and gossiping servant girls
became silent For they all know his name the
.
,

lowly as well as the exalted It is as if all had a .

part in him ; the grief over the esteemed departed

”
unites al l No rwegia ns into one large family .

The city of Bergen claimed the privilege of honour

ing him with a funeral but yielded it on request to
,

the S tate of Norway In accordance with Grieg s

.
’

desire his body was cremated The funeral look .

place at Be rgen o n the ninth of S eptember the ,

first part of the service being held in the Museum

of Art A grap h1 c and touching account of the
“

.
,

funeral was written by the eminent violinist Adolph

Brodsky an in timate friend of the departed It
,
.

appeared in the M anchester Gu ardian and is here ,

with reprodu c ed
“
The most imposing and the most impressive
feature of Grieg s funera l was the c rowd In my
’
.
L AS T P H O TO G R AP H OF G RIE G
1 62 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

orc hestrated it for an ordinary orchestra And he .

did it so well and the instrumentation was so c o m

,

l l Grieg s manner
’
p e te y in that it sounded as if ,

it had been done by Grieg himself It is a beautiful .

pie c e a genuine Grieg and ought to be c ome in

,
‘
,
’

its present form a standing piece on the repertory

of the leading orc hestras .

“
There were fifty seven wreaths whic h had to -
,

’
be laid down by nearly as many d elegates ; and
‘

the Kaiser s delegate L egationsrat S heller S tein

’
,

wartz (himself a good musician and personal friend

of Grieg) made the only long oration

,
— and a
beautiful one The German E mperor s wreath .
’

came next after the wreath of the King and Queen

of Norway which was laid down by General
,
‘

Nissen Then came wreaths from the S torthing

.
,

from the Norwegian Government from the mim i ,

c ip alities of Be rgen and Christiania from the ,

Impe rial Chancellor von Biilow from the R oyal ,

:

Academy Berlin ; from the Queen s Hall O rc hestra

, ,

L ondon ; from the Concert Geb ou w O rchestra ,

Amsterdam ; and from the Brodsky Quartet Man ,

chester AS I brought a wreath from the Brodsky

.

Quartet the committee asked me to take Charge

,

of the wreath of the Concert Geb ou w O rc hestra ,

whic h I did .
G R I E G ON H I S D E AT H BED

P h oto b y J a c ob s on , B er gen .
1 64 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

tow ns professional musicians students workmen

, , , ,

peasants they all were united and led by one

idea to do homage to the remains of Grieg .

Among the many messages of condolence re

c eived by the widow was one from the German

E mperor : I express to you on your husband s ’

,

death my most S incere sympathy Him and his

,
.

art I shall never forget nor will his countrymen

, ,

or the Germans May God give you consolation

.

in your grief I have Charged my Ambassador

.

to represent me at the funeral and to lay upon the

,

”
bier a wreath in my name .

The Nordraak marc h was played at Grieg s ’

funeral in accordance with his own wishes as ex

pressed in a letter to the music dealer R abe in
Bergen dated December 2 9 1 904 in which he said :
, ,

I wish to be buried in my native town a nd I ,

desire that at the interment my Nordraak funeral

march which I always carry with me when I
”
travel be played as beautifully as possible .

Grieg s burial place is as romantic as Norwegian

’
, ,

as his music Projecting into the fjord there is a

.

st eep Cli ff visible from Troldhau gen ; it is about

,

fifty feet high and half way up there was a natural

,
-

grotto at a point which can be reached by water

only In this grotto selected by himself for this
.
,
 CHA PT E R X
ORCHE S TR AL AND CH AMB E R MU S I C
HI L E the majority of Grieg s works are ’

songs and pianoforte pieces there is yet ,

a goodly supply of orc hestral and chamber

“
music The Grieg Katalog printed by C F
.
”
,
. .

Peters in L eipsic contains a list (incomplete ) of ,

“
nine works for orchestra : O verture In the ,

” “
Autumn op 1 1 ; Two E legiac Melodies for
,
.
”

“
string orchestra Op 3 4 ; Norwegian D ances op ,
.
,
.

35 ; Holb e rg S uite for string orchestra op 4 ;

0 ,
.

Peer Gynt Suites I and II op 4 6 and 5 5 ; “Two

”
, ,
.

Melodies for string orchestra op 5 3 ; Sigurd

” “
,
.

”
J orsalfar op 6
5 ; ,
Two Norse M elodies
. for
string orchestra op ,
.

The orchestration of these p ie c es (op 3 5 is by .

another Hans S itt) reveals Grieg as a consumm ate

,

master of the art of painting delicate yet glowing ,

c olours on his canvas These colours are more .

like those of S chubert and D vofak than like those

1 To th e se m u s be t a dd d th
e e
“
O ld Norw e ian R og m ance th V
wi aria

ti
on s,
”
o us
p 5 1 ,
an d th e
“
L y risc h e S t iic k e, ”
p
o us 68 .

1 66
 O R CHE STRAL AND CHAM BE R MU SI C 1 67

of Berlioz and R ichard S trauss ; in the visual world

they have an analogue in the ethereal yet brilliant
beauty of the Santa R osa (Shirley) poppies created
by Luther Burbank of California the floral reformer , ,

“ ” “ ”
which elicit ohs ! and ahs ! from all who see
them O riginality too is manifested by Grieg in
.
, ,

this department of music as in all others Pro .

fessor Prout in his standard work on orchestration

,

Vol II p 5 ) strongly urges students to exa ine

( 2 .
4 ,
. m
” “
as being particularly instructive the Holbe rg
”
Suite written for pianoforte and arranged by the
,

composer for orchestra by way of learning how ,

much alteration may sometimes be necessary in

”
orchestral transcriptions of pianoforte music In .

another place he cites the Andante D oloroso (Aase s ’

“ ”
Death ) from the first Peer Gynt suite where ,

the opening theme is repeated very loudly and ,

“
remarks : Here we have five part harmony ; and -

a strange and very unusual e ffect is obtained by

the f and if for muted strings The mutes are almost .

”
invariably employed only for quiet passages .
1

1
l t i g t G i g ch t l w k d
I n is en n o g m t th
r e i ’
s or es ra or s an arran e en s e ear s

ra vi h d p t ic l l y by th l v l y d v i d c l
s e ar u ar ff c t h c e o e an ar e o ou r e e s e se u re s

w ith t i g l
s r n S i t S e h t l y m k d B y th w y i
s a on e . a n - a ns as ru re ar e : e a n

w h ic h c mp a m k th q t t p k w c g i t h g t m t
o o se r a es e u ar e s ea e re o n z e e rea as e r

h g dd
t e i v l d by h g it R d lf M B ith pt h pt l y
o e ss s re ea e er a .
”
u o . re au as a

c ll d tt t i t th f c t th t i
a e a en d y (wh
on o ch t f v
e a a n ou r a en an o r e s ra o o er

a h d d i ft d m d d t xp t ivi l th ght ) m y m
un re s o en e an e o e ress r a ou s an co
1 68 G RI E G AND H I S MU SI C

Inasmuch as this Peer Gynt

Peer Gyn t .
-

music has probably done more than any other work

of Grieg to make his name known in musical circles ,

it is proper to begin our bird s eye V iew of his com ’

-

positions with it The genesis of this music and the .

,

first performances of it in connection with Ibsen s ’

drama were referred to in a previous chapter As

, .

that drama for the reasons given did not appeal

, ,

to theatre goers outside of S candinavia Grieg very

-
,

wisely combined four of the best numbers into a

suite for orchestra which was publishe d in the late ,

eighties ; it made a sensation is a favourite to day ,

-
,

and will remain so for many years to come Su b .

sequently four other numbers were issued as Suite

,

No II These suites are seldom played without

. .

one number or two being redemanded ; the mns1 c

is here so exquisitely beautiful there so wild and ,

realistic that it carries its own message ; yet it gains

,

a new significance if we know the S ituations for

which it was written wherefore a thumb nail sketch ,
-

of the plot will b e in place here ; with its aid the

reader can easily place the eight numbers of the
suites by their titles .

p ose rs ght p fit by t dy i g G i g t f p d c i g g t c h t l
mi ro s u n r e
’
s ar o
“
ro u n re a or e s ra

ff c t w ith th imp l t m p k i h i Th ” “
e e s D L A C
e S es ean s . r . . . oe rn e s ea s n s e

E v l ti fM d O ch t ti c h t ti t d ” “
f G i g ’
o u on o o e rn r es ra on o r e s or e s ra on as
_
en er,

f v t w i d b ill i t t m y p p l ff c t iv ”
er en ,
e r , r an , s or ,
o u ar, e e e .
 1 7
0 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

leaves her and returns to his mother Aase is on her .

death bed and soon expires in his arms L ater

-
,
.
,

he turns Up in Africa where he has divers adven ,

tures Having succeeded in stealing from robbers

.

a horse and a royal garment he goes among the

‘

Arabs and plays the rOle of a prophet He makes .

love to the beautiful Anitra daughter of a Bedouin ,

chief and elopes with her on horseba c k ; but she

, ,

after cajoling all his stolen jewels from him suddenly ,

turns her horse and gallops back home In the last .

act Peer Gynt after su ff ering shipwreck on the

, ,

No rwegian coast returns to the hut he has built in

,

the forest : there he finds S olvejg faithfully awaiting

his return and dies as she sings the tearful melod y
,

“ ”
known as S olvejg s Cradle S ong ’
.

One need not go so far as D r Han slick who .

,

wrote in 1 891 : Perhaps in a few years I b seri s ’

‘
Peer Gynt will live only through Grieg s musi c
’ ’
,

which to my taste has more poetry and artistic

, ,

intelligence in every number than the whole five

act monstrosity of Ibsen There is no doubt , ,

much that is monstrous and repulsive in this

drama yet there is also much that is highly interest
,

ing poetic and realistically suggestive of Northern

, ,

scenery and legend while the death of Aase and the ,

love of S olvejg are moving episodes worthy of a :

 O R CHE STRAL AND CHAM BE R MU SIC 1 71

great composer s best e fforts ; they inspired Grieg

’

to tone poems which in their way have never

-
, , ,

been surpa ssed As for the conservative Dr Hans

. .

lick his growing enthusiastic over a contemporary

,

composer (apart from Brahms) was such an u n

usual thing that his brief and apt characterisation
of the four numbers of the first suite may also be
Cited : 1 The prelude to th e fourth act Morning
.
,

mood ; a pleasing idyll with dancing lights of flu te

trills on the gentle uniform wave movement 2 -
. .

The dainty dance of the slender Bedouin s daughter ’

,

Anitra ; charming in invention and orchestrated ,

with magic art 3 A sorrowful quiet adagio in

. .

A m inor on the death of Peer Gyn t s mother ; the

,
’

simple song like melody made more impressive

,
-

by some felicitous harmonies Finally 4 The .

,
.

immensely Characteristic clumsily baroque dance ,

‘
of the dwarfs in the cave of the Troll
To fully appreciate the strikingly original and
“ ”
ine ffably beautiful Peer Gynt music one must ,

’
of course hear it with orchestra but the composer s
, ,

excellent version for the piano is also very satis

factory O pen the fir st suite in this pianoforte
.

version (Peter s edition ) at p 6 and ask yourse lf

’
.
,

if there is anything more exquisite in melody and

harmonic sequence in all S chubert or all any
1 7 2 GRI E G AND HI S M U SI C

body than the first five bars There is some .

thing in that musi c which haunts me — and I am

sure it must haunt others like a vision of para
“
dise obtained in a dream M orning M ood is
”
.

“
its title There is a faint sound in the air as of
.

distant bells mingled with the tinkling of cowbells

, ,

and an echo of a mountain jodle : it is S unday m om

”
ing on the sunlit fjord in the words of D orothea ,

—
Casselm ann S chumacher O f Aase s D eath she .
1 ’

“
says : Beside depicting the passing awa y of the
woman Aase the music seems also to have a sym
,

holic suggestion : the dying of nature in the autumn ,

far up in the North the disappearance of the sun for ,

”
months leaving this globe in a ruddy darkness
,
.

In Anitra s D ance there are wondrous ba rs

’

the first twelve on page 1 0 which seem to con -

tain the quintessence of all that is blissful an d

”
ecstatic in love the voluptuous mystery of
the East The music is European in its rhythms
and exqu i sI te melodies yet by some strange magic ,

of genius Grieg seems to give it the very atmosphere

of the tent in the wilds of Morocco where the Arab
girl enchants Peer Gynt with her beauty and her
graceful movements The strings alone are used : .

1
S ee h e r p tic
oe art ic le o n
’
“
Edv d G i g l S c hil d
ar r e a s e re r d
der No r i
sc h en Na t ur
”
l
in t h e B e r in Ta g b l tt f Ap il
e a 9 7
o r 1 0, 1 0 .
1 74 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC

another suite almost equal in value to the fir st ,

the extreme popularity of which has however , ,

k ept the other in the background The first .

numbe r represents Peer Gyn t carrying off the

bride and the agitation among the wedding guests .

Ingrid s L ament follows : a piece which is not only

’

interesting as music but suggests a genuine Operatic ,

vein The Arabian Dance which comes next

.
, ,

though quaint and pretty is not so seductive as ,

Anitra s Dance ; it accompanies the movements

’

of her companions Its orchestral colouring with .

,

triangle and piccolo suggests the O rient M ost ,

.

impressive is the agitated piece depicting the storm

and shipwreck on Gyn t s return to Norwa y There ’
.

are a l so in this suite arrangements of two voca l

“ ”
numbers : Solvejg s L ied one of the most popular ’
,

of Grieg s songs a monologue in which S olvejg

’
,

’
vows she wi ll wait faithfully for Peer s return ;
“ ”
and the celestial Cradle S ong of S olvejg whi c h ,

I would not give for all the songs of Brahms Hugo ,

Wolf and R ichard S trauss put together

,
The .
1

creative thrill of delight which Grieg must have

felt when he penned the last twelve bars of this
1 m vi w f th fi t d iti f thi b k cc d m f y i g
So e re e e rs o e rs e on o s oo a u se e o sa n

th t th i g i w h m th ll th
a s son g f B hm W l f d
s o rt o re an a e son s o ra s, o ,
an

St B tI
r au ss. v m d c h b d t t m t ; I im pl y xp d
u n e er a e su an a su r s a e en s e re sse

a p lp f
e rsona re e ren c e .
 O R CHE STRAL AND CHAM BE R MU SIC 1 75

song which have not their equal in more than

twelve other Songs ever composed surely atoned
for all the disappointments of his life This death .

“ ”
song Closes the quasi operatic score of Peer Gynt -
,

“
and if there is exc epting Tristan and Isolde , ,

an ope ra which has a more deeply emotional or a

more sorrowful ending I have not heard it , .
1

—
To M M onastier S chr oeder who wanted to know
.
,

how many musical numbers there were altogether

“ ”
in Peer Gyn t and where they came in Grieg ,

replied in a letter dated April I 1 90 5 ,

1

I am unfortunately not able to answer your

letter as you wish I have neither time nor strength .

to do so I am stil l ve ry weak after a serious illness

. .

I will nevertheless try to answer some of your ques

tions as far as possible I fortunately have by me
,
.

the R eclam edition of Peer Gynt Ibsen s work .

’

is a masterpiece of the first rank which u nfortu ,

nately you cannot perceive from the lamentable

trans lation That I want to impress upon you

.

above all things The only interesting thing the .

transla tor has done is the preface which I call to ,

.

Li d i i th th i d G i g Alb m f v ic S l jg
“ ” ’
1
S l jg o ve
’
s e s n e r r e u or o e, o ve s

C dl S g
ra i t h fifth
e onTh f ”
c i thi b k i l w y t
n e . e re e re n e , n s oo , s a a s o

th e Pe t d iti
e rs e on .

1
T h i l tt sw efi t p i t d i th igi l G m
er as rs r n e ,
n e or na er an , in D ie M u sik

( B erl i Jn:h g g 7
a N r it ianp i t d i,
t h G o . s re r n e n e erm an t l ti
ran s a on

o f th fi t d it i
e rs f th i b i g ph y f G i g
e on o s o ra o r e .
1 76 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

your attention specially I will now following ,

the R eclam edition [ Nos 2 3 0 9 give a list .

of the places with music

1 Before the first act an introduction entitled
.
, , ,

‘
In the Marriage Court Printed in op 2 3 for .
’
.

four hands (by L ose in Copenhagen ) .

2 Page 2 5 At Peer Gyn t s reply They play for

. .
’
,
‘

a dance a halling (dance ) from the introduction

,
’

is heard behind the scenes .

3 Page. 2 6 A musician. a peasant fiddler S its on , ,

the stage and plays now a halling now a spring ,

dance (unpublished ) .

4 Page.
34 Before the beginning
. of the second
act en tr ac t music called Peer Gynt and Ingrid
,
’
,
.

Printed in the second Peer Gynt suite (op 5 5 ) as .

‘
Ingrid s Lament ’
.
’

5 Pages
. 8
3 39
— Three D airy maids
. is a c om -
,

l t piece of music T h e girls S ing Gynt speaks

p e e .
,

in the intervals (unpublished ) .

6 Page 4 2
. below Peer Gynt jumps on the
,
.

boar s ba ck ; as he rides off a short piece of music

’
,

(unpublished ) .

7 Page.
4 3 In the Hall . of the M ountain King .

Printed in the first Peer Gyn t suite (op In .

the stage performance the music begins as a pre lude ,

and at the big ff (letter B in the s c ore of the suite )

1
78 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

this was really composed for page 83 Morning

14 .Page 8 3 A thief
. and a receiver of stolen
goods ; scene for two voices (unpublished ) .

1 5 .Page 8 7 Chorus of maidens Printed in

. .

the second suite as Arabian Dance but without ‘

,
’

the voice parts The middle section in A minor

.
, ,

S hould be sung by An itra .

1 6 .Page 8 9 The maidens dancing Here is

. .

played Anitra s Dance (printed in the fir st suite )

’
.

The music is conceived as an accompaniment to

Peer Gynt s monologue : Ei wie die B e ine gehen
’ ‘

wie zwei Trom m elstOck e and should therefore ,

’

be played behind the scene pianissimo .

1 7 Page 91
. Peer Gyn t s serenade Publish e d
.
’
.

only in D enmark by Wilhelm Hansen in a piano

score .

1 8 .Page 1 0 1 A summer day in the far north

. .

S olvejg s S ong Printed with a pianofort e ac com

’
.

n im e n t among my songs ( Peters Album No

p a .

also as an or chestral piece in the second suite .

1 9 .Page 1 1 3 Introduction to the fifth act

. .

Printed in the s e cond suite The connection with .

S olvejg s S ong by the woodwind however belongs

’
, ,

only in the suite .

2 0 .
—
Page s 1 3 3 1 3 5 Night ; a wooded h eath deso
.
,
 O R CHE STRAL AND CHAM BE R M U SI C 1
79

lated by a fir e Melodramatic s c ene with Chorus .

behind the scenes (unpublished ) .

2 1 Page 1 5 1
. Church goers singing on the path
.
-

through the woods (unpublished ) .

Page 1 5 4 S olvejg s final song Printed ’

2 2 . . .

among the songs with piano accompaniment (Peters

Album No .

Grieg concludes his remarks on Peer Gynt

“
with these words : I hope the time is not distant
when a complete vocal score or even a complete ,

orchestral score of the entire musi c to Peer Gynt ,

‘ ’

may be published perhaps with the connecting ,

text O n August 2 2 1 90 3 he wrote to the same

.
, ,

“
friend : You are quite right : it is a pity that the
whole Peer Gynt score is not published But
‘ ’
.

the publisher has printed the two orchestral suites

and the songs and does not wish to compete with
”
himself Three years later he wrote
.
1

“
It is a long time S in c e I wrote the Peer Gynt ‘ ’

Ay ft h i d th th f ll ch t l c Gy t w “ ”
1 ear a er s f P ea e u or e s ra s o re o e er n as

p bl i h d by C F P t
u s e d it i . w p. ibl t p d c
e e rs, ll th i an s no oss e o ro u e a s

m ic i t h c
u s c t h ll I t h ld b d
n e on e r hwv a ly i . s ou e on e , o e e r, on n c onn e c

ti w ith th d c l m ti by g d c t f c h p t f th I b
on e e a a on a oo a or, o su ar s o e sen

d mra c a y t l c id t th m ic T h
a as a re n e e ss r fi xt d d
o e u a e e u s . e re are ve e en e

nu mb i th c th t
ers n t i c l d d i th
e s o re it O a f th ar e n o n u e n e su es . ne o e se ,
“
Th D ce f th Man et i Ki g D ght c l d th c d
o e ou n a n n
’
s au e r,
”
o se e se on

su it t fi t ; b t ft
e a rsc d c t i g it t c c t G i g d c id d t mit
u a er on u n a a on er , r e e e o o

it , d h w t
an l tt t R o tg ( F b y 9
e ro e a e i w h ic h h
er o n en e ru ar , n e

t gl y g d him t l v t thi m b nd l th it with

s r on u r e o ea e ou s nu er a C ose e su e

th e Lied in A m in or .
1 80 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

music and the Ibsen songs So long that I conduct

.

and play these works as if they were not by myself .

I desire to develop further and have done so in

,

asm u ch as I now feel di fferently How glad I would

.

have been to give expression in tones to my mental

development at the present time ! Bodily ailments
have been insuperable impediments And now
.

”
the end is near However I am resigned
.
,
.

“ ” —
S igu rd J orsalfar. I i Grieg never wrote an
opera this was due l ess to a lack of in c lination than
,

to his weakened bodily frame which would have

,

made so sustained an e ff ort dangerous if not fatal ,

.

There is much that is genuinely dramatic not ,

“ ”
only in Peer Gynt but in several scores for which
“
Bj o rnson furnished the poetic basis : S igurd Jor
” “ ” “
salfar ,
At the Cloister Gate Recognition of
,

Cbn
” “ ”
L and ,
O laf T rygvason
,
and Bergliot .

“ ”
cerning Sigurd Jorsalfar Grieg wrote in the
,

F estschrift which appeared on the occasion of

B j ornson s seventieth birthday :
’
The play was to
be produced at the Christiania Theatre after such a
short preparation that I was allowed only eight
days to write and orchestrate the music But I .

”
had the elasticity of youth and it went
,
Bj o rnson
.

was not present at the first production but

he was at its reviva l the following Ma y It was an y
.
1 82 GRIE G AND HI S MU SIC

third pie c e is one of the most superb marches in

existence equalled only by the marches of S chube rt
, ,

Wagner and Tchaikovsky It is one of the longest

,
.

of Grieg s pieces and one of the most stirring

’
.

R ich in melody ori ginal in harmony superbly

, ,

orc hestrated it could be made as popu lar as the

,

“ ”
first Peer Gynt suite which it quite equals in
“
inspiration The Triumphal March from Sigurd
.
‘

lf
”
says D orothea C —
a sselm an n S chumacher
J
’
orsa ar ,

“
brings before our eyes the weather beaten song -

lovin g hordes of Normans who joyously greet the

Prince and with crashing shields waken the echoes
of the mountains How many daring but well .

motivated tone combinations are contained in this

-

powerful march I n which the l yrica l elements are

,

”
quite crowded out by the dramatic and the heroic !
The Piu m osso beginning on page 1 2 (of the Ver
sion for piano solo ) is one of the most exquisitely
tender episodes in all musical literature ; a melody
rivalling S chubert the greatest of all melodists
, ,

at his very best Yet how few kn ow this sub

.

lime march ! What a pitiable spectacle to see the

millions eating acorns when they might have am
b rosia ! And the most aggravating thing about it
is that the public would really prefer the food
of the gods if it were only allowed to taste it .
 O R CHE STR AL AND CHAM B E R MU SIC 1 83

Professional musi c ians are the professional enemies

of good music .
1

Concerning the first and second num bers A E ,

. .

Keeton remarks ( Tem ple B ar vol ,

.

“
His incidental music to Bj o rnson s S igurd ’ ‘

rsalfar
J
’
o is wonderfully in character with the
dramatic story of the adventurous Norwe gian cru
sader To those who are fond of comparisons it
.
,

may not be devoid of interest to View its intermezzo ,

Borghild s D ream beside E lsa s vision in Wa gner s

’
,
’ ’ ’

L ohengrin ; the two composers ideas of a wo ma n s

‘ ’ ’ ’

love dream are curiously divergent ; both though

-
, ,

have seized the possibilities of a simple scale as a

means of expressing an emotion With Wagner .

the dream w ould seem to float upwards soaring ,

ever higher and higher ; with Grieg it tends to

”
descend as from heaven to earth
,
.
1

“
B ergliot This work which some c onsider
.
,

the most inspired of Grieg s compositions belongs ’

,

in the same c lass as S chumann s musi c to Byron s ’ ’

“
Manfred being a melodramati c vo ca l and or
”
,

1D i g tw tyurn v y f vic en m ic l c itic I h v

-se en e ars o se r e as a u s a r a e

h d thi pl d id m c h p l y d l y c by
ear s s en ch t Y t it i
ar a e on on e an o r es ra . e s

i
n e erv y w y q l t T c h ik v ky M c h S l v whic h w h
a e ua o a o s
’
s
“
ar e a e,
”
e ear so

o ft en It . b pl y d ff c t iv l y
c an th A l i
e O c h t ll
a e w h ic he e e on e eo an r es re e , on ,

l
a so , A it D nc
“
ni p c li ly ch m i g
ra s
’
a e
”
s e u ar ar n .

2F m d t il d l y i f th S ig d J lf m ic ( ll f
or a ore e a e an a s s o e
“
u r orsa ar
”
us a o

w hic h i p bl i h d ) d Ni m n b k Gig ’
s S hj ld
u p s e , se e c e e ru an e a n s oo on r e ,

48
-
PP 1 45 1
1 84 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

c h e stral accompaniment to a Bjornson poem the ,

content of which is thus given (for use in concert

programmes) in the printed score
“
In the Harold Hadradis Saga towards the
‘
,
’

end of chapter 4 5 it is written : When E inar Tham

‘

b arsk elvir s wife Bergliot who had re m ained in the

’
,

inn at T rondhjem heard that her husband and son ,

( E in dride
) had fallen she at once went up to the ,

royal castle where the peasant army was and ar

, ,

den tly incited them to battle But at that moment .

the King (Harald Hardradi) came rowing down the

river Then said Bergliot : Now we miss here my
.
‘

cousin Hakon I varson ; E inar s slayer would not row ’

down the river if Hakon stood here on the

“ ”
While Bergliot was composed in 1 8 70 or 1 8 71 ,

it was not orchestrated and published till nearly two

decades later It reveals like the declamatory p afts
.
,

of some of Grieg s songs a pronounced dramatic ’

,

instinct for the right thing The most interesting .

part musically is the funeral march toward the

, , ,

close of which there is what seems like a vague

“ ”
anticipation of the Titurel march in Parsifal .

With a great Wagnerian actress to dec laim the text

this melodrama ought to be remarkably e ffective .

1 A F re n c h dm i
a re r o f G ig
r e ,
H en r y M au b e l ( M au ric e B e lv l ) m
a se e s

to c on si e rd “
B e rgliot , ”
th
wi its
“
h m
ar on ie s n o ire s d ’
u ne p l é it d
n u e
1 86 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

is a little disturbing to that seriousness with which

a larger work by a sterling composer ought to be
approached ; but it does not preclude admiration
for the original and ingenious orchestral e ffects
which fill the W ork The S pirit of the piece is u m
.

mistakably Norse and its humour is mixed with

,

that melanc h oly which seems inseparable from the

rugged physiognomy of nature in the north coun
”
try .

To his Swiss friend Grieg wrote regarding this

piece : In the overture the contrasts poetic as well,

as musical are formed by the motive from the

,

song which represents the autumn storm and the

merry reaping song of the peasants There is no .

suggestion of the coming S pring in the overture ;

but there is of a union of the serious and m arry
”
elements which Characterize the autumn .

“ ”
H olb erg S u ite In 1 884 the S candinavians
.

c elebrated the two hundredth birthday of

-
L udwig
Holberg the founder of modern Danish literature
, ,

who has be en called the Moli ere of the North ,

“
although as A E Keeton has remarked
,
. . his ,

purpose and aims were of much deeper import

than can be ascribed to the brilliant and satiric
comedy writer of Fran c e Gade contributed to
.
 O R CHE STRAL AND CHAM BE R MU SI C 1 87

this jubilee an orchestral suite Holb e rgiana , ,

—
while Grieg commemorated his fellow townsman
“
with his Holberg S uite for string orchestra in ye
”
D r Hanslick s c omments on this
’
olden style . .

composition are of interest the more so as that

,

Viennese c ritic seldom had a good word for his

contemporaries
“
A refined happily conceived (geistreiche) work
, ,

less pretentious and exotic than the compositions

of this Norwegian are apt to be The antique is .

cleverly reprodu c ed in the forms rhythms orna , ,

mentations ,
yet fil led with the modern spirit .

Charming is the air in G minor with its gentle , ,

easily soothed melancholy ; while the R igaudon

dance which e ffectively closes the suite is full of
, ,

vivacity and humour Georg Brandes says in an

.
,

excellent essay Concerning Holberg : Whatever he ‘

produces he treats from the merry point of View .

Seldom is there any other than a happy mood very ,

seldom a trait of melancholy once only a touch of,

O f this Characterisation of Holberg we

’
pathos .

were reminded on listening to the s u ite of Grieg ,

which likewise ta k es life easily and makes our

enjoyment easy .

Grieg himself on c e referred to this work jo c osely

1 88 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

as a peruke piece It is beautifully written .

and evinces (as is noted on another page ) his ab so

lute mastery of musical form .
1

Orchestrated S ongs and Pian o Pieces

account of his persistent ill health Grieg was

On -

seldom in a creative mood during the last two

decades of his life yet there were hours when he ,

longe d to exercise his artistic faculty On these .

occasions he followed the example of L iszt and other

great mast e rs of arranging his piano pieces or songs
for orchestra and his orchestral pieces for piano ,

two or four hands It is fortunate he did this for .

,

no one else could have made these translations ,

either for piano or for orchestra in his delightfully ,

idiomatic and racy manner E xquisitely refined .

2

“
in their colouring are the Tw o E legiac M elodies
or S tring ch estra
f O r opus 3 4 The songs are ,
.

” “ ”
entitled S pring Tide and The Wounded Heart
,
.

1 Fo r th e H o l b g f t iv l G i g l c mp d H l b g c t t
er es a r e a so o o se a o er an a a for
m l v ic
a e o e s, a ca p ll
e a I . l tt t i g
J R o
n atg h g iv m e er o . n en e es an a u s n

acc t f h w h xp c t d t c d c t thi p i c i th p
ou n o o e e e i d e o on u s e e n e o en a r un er

an u mb l l m id w h il d t m H tic ip t d c tc h i g
re a, a sn o ,
a ,
an s or . e an a e a n a

f t l c ld b t dd W ll th t w y f dyi g f c t y! ”
“ ’ ’
a a o ,
u a s: e ,
a s on e a o n o r on e s ou n r

H b q t l y d t y d th i c t t
e su se u en es ro e s an a a .

Th G i g C t l g
2
e p bl i h d by P t m ti th d iv
r e a a o ue u s e e e rs en on s e se e rse

g m t Th N w gi D c i p 3 5 w
a rr an e en s . e
“
ch t t d
or e an an e s, n o us ,
e re o r e s ra e

by H S itt T h i l
an s Fj ld l t
. c h t t d b y th L d
e re s a so a
“
e s aa ,
”
or e s ra e e an

g v fH
ra e o ph w f Q L
e sse , i w h ic h h
ne b pl y d t
e o u ee n ou se , as e en a e a a

Ph il h m ic car c ti Cp hg
on on e r n o en a en .
1 9 0 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

But in 1 90 7 he arranged it fOr full orchestra and it

was promptly played in L ondon by Henry J Wood .
,

in Berlin by Arthur Nikisch at a Philharmonic , ,

and in many other c ities at memoria l con c erts after

1
Grieg s death
’
.

“ ”
Ly ric S u ite In a l etter to Grieg in 1 90 3 I
.
, ,

called his attention to the fact that Anton Seidl had ,

some years previously orchestrated four of the ,

piano pieces of opus 5 4 and conducted them at

a Metropolitan Sunday concert where they were ,

much applauded Grieg was greatly interested and .

asked if I could pro c ure him an opportunity to see

Seidl s version
’
I communi cated with Mrs Seidl
. .
,

who informed me that the score was at that time

in the hands of Frau Professor Thode in Heidel
berg I wrote this to Grieg and a few weeks later
.
,

I got a l etter from him dated Christiania Feb iu , ,

'

ary 2 6 1 90 3 in which he said

, ,

Accept my best thanks for your trouble in ma k

ing me acquainted with An ton Seidl s orchestration ’
.

Frau Professor Thode has sent me the orchestral

parts of a so called Norwegian suite comprising -

four numbers I heard it played a few days ago

.

by our capital orchestra and fin d much that is

1 For an e xc ll t
e en an a ly i
s s of th i p i s e c e se e S c hje lde ru p an d Nie m an n ,
pp . 1 2 1 —1 2 2 .
 O R CHE STRAL AND CHAM BE R MU SIC 1 9 1

excellent in it Here and there my intentions have

.

not been c arried out and my question now is wi ll

, ,

the widow allow me to make the changes called for .

Without them I cannot send the pieces to Peters ,

but with them I should be glad to do so There is .

absolutely no hurry I S ha ll not get time till next

.

summer to ta k e u p this matter I hope I a m not .

making too many de mands on my health with the

result that I sha ll not be abl e to do any thing ! For
I have to c onduct c oncerts in Marc h and Apri l at
Prague Warsaw and Paris which for me is a great
, , ,

deal to undertake at once Please give my best .

greetings to Seidl s widow She will understand

’
.
,

I trust that I can esteem Seidl s work highly and

,
’

yet desire to c hange some things in a cc ordan c e

”
with my intentions .

In a subsequent letter Grieg said : Seidl s or ’

ch estration was undeniably very good from his

point of view but too heavy (dick) for my in
,

tentions The whole Wa gnerian apparatus was

.

used for my mood pictures which did not suit ,

” “
me in all cases He also wrote : AS a matter of
c ourse I shal l take the whole honorarium o ffered
—
for this and send it through y ou to Seidl s ’

widow . I regret to sa y that su c h orchestrated

piano pieces are very insu fficiently paid for in
1 92 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

Germany . But I S hall try to get as much as pos

”
Sible .

With the consent of the widow (to whom he sub

sequently sent marks ) he then proceed e d to
orchestrate these pieces in his own way and the ,

“
printed score has a note reading : This suite owes
its existence to the late Anton S eidl the Wagner ,

conductor who was the first to orchestrate th e

,

numbers 2 3 4 [ Norwegian Peasant March Noc , , ,

turne March of the D warfs] This orchestration

,
.

was however subsequently co mpletely changed and

, ,

”
made over by the composer .
1

The Ly ric S u ite comprises four pieces the plain ,

“ ”
tive idyllic Shepherd L ad the rustic and Charac
,
:

“
te ristically Norse Ganger or Peasant March ;”
,

“ ”
the dreamy Nocturne and the superbly Nor ,
.
“
w egian and Griegian March of the D warfs the
”
,

wild and fanta stic main theme of which is interrupted

by one of those tender and exquisitely modulated
melodies the secret of which Grieg almost alone
, ,

among all composers se e ms to have inherited from ,

1
I t w ou ld b e in t
xt m l y i t c tiv t h th t w
e re s ti g
n an d e re e n s ru e o ea r e o

v i t c c t G i g b tit t d th S h ph d L d f th
e rs on s a on e on er . r e su s u e e
“
e er a or e

B ll R i g i g w h ic h f m d p t it l tt t
“ ”
f S idl
’
e n n I or e ar o e s su e . n a e er o

R o tg n dtd Fb y
en , 9 3 G i g
a e l f e d t th g t
ru ar 1 0, 1 0 ,
r e a so re e rre o e re a

j y h
o f lt e c iv i gef m N w Y
on re ek w it b y hnim l f H
ro e or a ne su e se . e

p i S idl c h t ti
ra se s e xc l l t g
’
s or iigli h
e s ra d l kon as e e en
“
an z vo rz c ,
”
an oo s

f w d t h vi g t h p i c p l y d b y H l ch t ’
or ar o a n e e e a e a vo rse n s o r e s ra .
1 94 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

of rock the Byfjord and the main beyond We

, ,
.

are in the open air with a bracing breeze about us .

Amid these invigorating influences that dilate

the whole being body and sou l the meaning of the
, ,

int e rval of the ninth at once reveals itself The .

interval of the eleventh which occurs in the second

,

bar of the first subject is only a more potent in

,

te rp re ter of the same feeling S moothly the boat.

glides onward the water rushing and splashing

,

”
along its S ides Now we are in the Open sea [ so
.

“
he got out of the fjord after a wide expanse
bounded only by the horizon The remaining.

portion of the working out section pictures the -

whistling and roaring of the storm the upheaving ,

of the waves the creaking and groaning of the

,

vessel . The first movement tells us of the

action and the struggle with the elements the se eond ,

of rest and home enjoyments The Allegro qu asi .

andan tin o is an exquisite en re picture to which

g
the national colouring gives a peculiar charm It .

represents a scene full of contentedness good ,

natured humour and playfulness ; it is a harmony

,

without a false note in it With one rush the last .

movement takes us again into the midst of the

bustle of life Here are vigour and fire in abundance
.
,

but also contrasting pensive passages are not want

 O R CHE STRAL AND CHAM B E R MU SI C 1
95

ing. may b e seen in this movement glori

Grieg
”
ou sly soaring on the wings of Chords of the ninth .

The second violin sonata Nieck s does (or did )

not like so well as the first but the full blooded
,
-

Griegites like it better for the same reason that the

,

“ ”
W agn erites like Tristan and Isolde better than
“ ”
L ohengrin ; there is more of the essence of Grieg
in it The first sonata is as Schjelderu p remarks
.
, ,

the work of a youth who has seen only the sunny

side of life while the second is the gift to the world
,

of a man who has also shivered in the cold mists

of night and has l earned the meaning of grief and
,

disappointment .

“
The tragic nature of his home overwhelms the
artist For this reason the second sonata is in
.

a deeper sense much more Norwegian even than

the first ; for a Norway without tragedy is not a
complete Norway but only a part of the varied
,

impressions which this mighty dreamland gives

”
to him who can understand the language of nature .

Although betraying everywhere a complete mas

tery of the art of orthodox construction the com ,

poser allows himself a freedom of style which is

a token of his modernity and originality .

While Grieg composed a master song like I -

love thee at almost as early an age as the bio

1 96 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C
“ ”
graphic dates of S chubert s Erlking and Men ’

delssohn s overture to M idsummer Night s D ream

’ ” ’
,

his genius nevertheless matured and deepened

gradually as is strikingly shown by the third of his
,

volin sonatas , opus 4 5 dedicated to the painter ,

L e u bach a work as L awren c e Gilman remarks

, ,

“
built greatly upon great lines The mood ,

the emotion are heroic ; here are virility breadth a

, , ,

passionate urge and ardour With what an in .

tensity of grieving Grieg has Charged those wailing

Chromatic phrase s for the violin and piano in
,

imitation in the working out section of the first

,
-

movement ! and the C major passage in the last

movement with its ri c hly canorous theme for the
,

solo instrument against arching arpeggios in the

”
accompaniment is superb in breadth and power
,
.

E ven more enthusiastic than this American c ritieis

the French E rnest Closson who writes regarding
, ,

this sonata
“
It must be c lassed with the most inspired scores
ever written It is in our opinion the work of
.
, ,

Grieg which most truly deserves to be called grand .

From beginning to end it is a marvel of inspiration ,

intelligence independence The art of the people

,
.

is here on c e more largely placed under tribute [ P]

, , ,

but with harmonies of a boldness and a delicacy

1 98 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

is the splendid quartet Opus 2 7 The orthodox

,
.

conception of a quartet is that it should address

itself solely to the intellect making as little appeal
,

as possible to the senses and the feelings It is a .

foolish ideal ; but unfortunately most compositions

of this class follow it with pedantic conscientious
ness which is the reason why chamber music is
,

the least popular branch of the divine art Grieg .

,

fortunately did not aim at this kind of unpopularity ;

,

his quartet while replete with thoughts is as beauti

, ,

ful sensuously and as deeply emotional as Schu

bert s D minor quartet (with the heavenly variations
’

”
on D eath and the Maiden ) and Sm etana s touch ’

“
ing autobiographic Aus Meinem L eben It was .
’

written he informed me at a time when he sought

, ,

rest in the country after his soul had been harrowed

by heartrending experiences “
That the natii ral
.

surroun dings also pla y a rOIe in the music is self

evident he wrote While the first motive in the
,
.

quartet is borrowed from one of his own songs

(
“
The M instrel s ’
it is not true that as ,

even his Norwegian biographer erroneously sta tes ,

“
he has helped himse lf to folk tunes alles ist
-

” “
erfunden nichts benutzt
,
all is of my own
”
invention I borrowed nothing There is some
.

thing deeply patheti c in the recurrenc e in the

 O R CHESTRA L AND CHAM B ER M U SIC 1 99

quartet of more or l ess vei l ed a l lusions to the

exquisitely melodious and melancholy song just
named The opening and closing movements are
.

haunted by it in the most entrancing manner and ,

it also serves to give organic unity to this composi

tion The R oman za has a unique grace tenderness
.
, ,

me l odic and harmonic charm while the intermezzo

is enlivened by the Halling rhythm I have heard .

that R omanza at a Kneisel Quartet concert when

the players were obliged to rise three times to ac
knowledge the demonstrations of pleasure .

The antics of the academic criti c s over this quartet

are amusing Dr Han slic k whom we found enthu
. .
,

“ ” “ ”
siastic over the Peer Gynt and Holberg
suites draws the line at the dissonances in opus 2 7
,
.

“
He admits that every movement in this quartet
is full of life and go the roman za indeed written‘
,
’
, ,

in the most agreeable folk mood being so Charming -

,

”
that we even pardon its uncouth middle part ; but
“
the discords ! the c omposer betrays a truly childish
pleasure in everything that sounds ugly and when ,

he has hatched out a particularl y jui cy dissonan c e ,

”
he clings to it for dear life .
1

1 Dr . H an slick w ro t e in th e sa m v
l if g d i g the e in all h is e re ar n ose

W gn
a er di c w hic h l ik G i g d l ight m t m d
sson an e s ,
e m ic
r e
’
s, e os o e rn u s

lv
o e rs . H m t h v ll y ff d phy ic l g y Wh A t i
e se e s o a e rea su e re s a a on . en n on n

D voiak w l ivi g i N w Y k I c h pp d t t l k with him b t

as n n e or on e a en e o a a ou
2 00 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

O ther critics of the a cademic persuasion have

found Grieg s quartet sinfully unascetic and u n
’

c ham b e rm u sic like because it goes beyond the ‘

-

”
proper sphere of such music by a quasi orchestral -

richn ess of colouring here and there S chubert

‘

.
,

the greatest of the chamber music writers and -

,

D vo rak have been c ensured for the same trait ,

incredible as it may seem It is one of the funniest .

things in the history of musical criticism If it is .

considered a marvel of genius when a L iszt a ,

Rubinstein or a Paderewski overcomes the in

,

herent tonal limitations of the pianoforte and sug

gests diverse other instruments is it not also a token ,

of genius to be able to overcome the monotony of

four stringed instruments and make the hearer
wonder if a horn or oboe player is not concealed
somewhere ? Why should progress in the arf of
varied colouring be debarred from Chamber music
when it is welcomed in the orchestra ?
Among the uncompleted compositions left by

t h e fa m ou s Vi e nn e se c itic
r ,
w h en he sat d own at th e pi an o an d pl y d a e

a se r ie s of di c d s or s .
“
D o you i e l k th ese ?
”
he as kd e .
“
I thi k th y
n e

a red l ic i
e I pl d
o u s,
”
t re h b t H
ie
“
. I i e
li k l k th m e oo ,
”
e said ,
u an s c

th ght th m d d f l d b gg d m t t
ou e re a uA g d
an e e e no o u se th m e .
”
s re ar s

th qe t t G ig w
u ar e ,
ib l r e gh t t k i w f
as se n s e en ou o a e a hm u orou s V e o

H li k
an s t ic t
c
’
H w t t R o tg
s s r u res th t h f d it c y
. e ro e o n en a e ou n u n an n

th t H li k p c tic ll y p i d m f h i p i c dd i g F t
a an s c ra a ra se so e o s e e s, a n :
“
or u

t ly he th gh l y d m l i h d th t i g q t t ”
na e , orou e o s e e s r n u ar e .
2 02 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

New York for the fir st time on D ecember 1 5 1 90 8 , ,

by the Kneisel Quartet The fact that Grieg

.

never wrote unless he had something worth while

to say is illustrated once more by the allegro V ivace
and the allegro scherzando The first movement .

may be as Ro ntgen thinks more Danish then

, ,

Norwegian yet this music is as unmistakably

,

Grieg s as the fa c e on his photographs Certain

’
.

melodic intervals harmonic progressions and m odu

, ,

lation s represent the intials E G stamped on . .

,

every page of the s c ore The S cherzo is equally

individual but it has a m ore pron ounced N orwe
,

gian aspect being a merry sort of S pringdans

,
.

A few weeks later ( January 1 9 1 90 9) the Kn eisel ,

Quartet played the remaining two movements ,

which were stil l in manuscript The andante is .

mostly Grieg whereas the final allegro with the

, ,

exc eption of the themes is by Julius ROn tgen

, ,

than whom no other living composer was so well

qualified for the task of elaborating these themes .

Ro ntgen s own works include a Jotunheim suite

’
,

inspired by fjord and mountain scenery which the ,

composer once played to Bjorns on who excla i med : ,

” “
D e ar jo Norsk ! ( Why you are a Norwegian
,

Ro ntgen completed the unfinished quartet so much

in the spirit bo th individual and national of Grieg
, ,
 O R CHE STRA L AND CHAM BE R MU SI C 2 03

that had the facts not been made known few would
, ,

have guessed that these last two movements were the

product of two master minds The andante is a .

gem ; it has modulatory turns that are unmistakabl y

Griegish and a melody that haunts the memory
after a S ingle hearing The finale has a fine rhythmic .

energy Ro ntgen knew how to pair in it the wild

with the tender quite a la Grieg ,
.
1

1
m g th c p i d m c ipt l ft by G i g th w l
A on e o e an u s r d t s e r e e re as a so an an an e

f
or pi vi l i
an o, d i l c ll i C m i
o n, an dtd J
V o on e 7 8 78 o n n o r, a e u ne 1 ,
1 .

“
W h th G i g w l d h v p bl i h d th i t i f gm t i d btf l
e er r e ou a e u s e s r o ra en s ou u
:

th me ic l v l
u s f th m v m t i
a a ue o yc j tifi it b i g p i t d
e o e en n an ase us es s en r n e ,

w t D
ro e R o tgr .i D i M ik VI I 5
n en n e us , , .
 CHAPT E R XI
COMP O S I TI ONS F OR PI ANOF ORTE
HE A minor concerto for piano has per
“
haps done more even than the Peer
Gynt suites to establish the fame of its
composer As it has been referred to repeatedly
.

in the preceding pages of this book a few more ,

words must su ffice It was composed in the Danish

.

village So llero d when Grieg was twenty five years

,
-

old and is characterised by a juvenile freshness of

,

invention combined w ith mature technical skill and

a polish that few artists acquire so early in life .

Possibly S chjelderu p goes too far in declaring ihat

“
this wonderful concerto is perhaps the most per
fe c t amalgam of piano and orchestra ever achieved
”
by a tone poet : but it is certainly a model in the
-

way in which it avoids both of the common defects

of being either a symphony with pianoforte acc om
a n im n t or a show —piece for th e soloist with or
p e

c he stral accompanist . It is above all things good

, ,

music — delightful music provided it is played by

,

one who understands its deep poet ic S pirit Pianists .

2 04
2 06 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

p le stmeans a gift which as R udolf M Breit

-
,
.

haupt has remarked would be useful to man y a

,

contemporary composer Grieg knew full well that .

he had given the world an immortal work and he ,

c ontinued to improve it to the end O nly a few

'

months before his death Percy Grainger found him

rescoring it in part for the L eeds Festival the main ,

object being to add parts for a second pair of horns .

His friend Johann S elmer also refers to c hanges in

orchestration and form that Grieg introduced in
this concerto in his last years particularly in the ,

energetic folk dan c e which constitutes the last

-

movement .

“
The Ballade in G minor opus 2 4 with varia , ,

tions is by many of Grieg s admirers considered

,
’

his masterwork for piano solo In 1 90 4 he wrote .

to his L eipsic publisher that he remembered how

he had many years previously played this piece to
, ,

D r Abraham with great anxiety as he feared he

.
,

would not like it He was surprised when the

.

“
famous publisher answered : A great serious work , ,

which I S hall be glad to secure because it will still ,

”
further enhance your fame It did so in course .
,

of time although as W S B Mathews has justly

, ,
. . .

“
observed it is not a piece to be liked at first hear
,

”
ing even when played in a very masterly manner
,
.
G RI EG AND DE G R E E P, TH E B E L GI U M PI AN I S T
2 08 G RI E G AND H I S MU SI C

Gems of the first water are to be found in all of

these periods ; the later one includes such jewels
“ ”
as No 4 1 Homesickn ess 4 2 the dainty Sylp he
.
, , ,

with exquisite modulations ; 4 8 the quaintly archaic ,

“ ”
yet modern Gratitude ; 4 7 the joyous expectant , ,

“
Homeward 49 the sturdy rustic “
,
Peasant s ’

” “
S ong ; 5 3 the exuberant brilliant Wedding D ay
, ,

”
at T roldhau gen 57 the highly poetic
:

E vening
,

in the Mountains with its subtle suggestion in the

,

opening bars of rustic motives in Wagner s operas ’

“ ” “
the Shepherd s tunes in Tristan and Tann
’

hauser 5 8 the exquisitely

,
delicate and dreamy
”
At the Cradle a marvel of beauty These and
,
.

their neighbours have for the most part not yet , ,

found their way to the concert halls but their time ,

will come as they are not in any way inferior to

m
,

the earlier and more familiar numbers a ong ,

“ ”
which the best known perhaps is the Berceuse
concerning which Dr William Mason wrote .

“
drolly : Grieg s baby — ’
a robust little fellow with ,

a touch of temper and a pair of healthy lungs , ,

which he does not hesitate to use upon occasion

is evidently at home in the cottage of a peasant .

The cradle is rocked he re in a di fferent man

ner. Binary and ternary rhythms combined and ,

strong melodic and harmonic contrasts of sudd en

 C O M P O S ITI O NS F O R P IANO F O RTE 2 09

occurrence bear the impress of Grieg s person

,
’

”
ality .

AS it is not the object of this volume to comment

on the weaker products of Grieg s pen but only to ’
,

call attention to his best pieces we may proceed to

,

mention some more of these S ixty S ix lyric pieces -

to which we must in B aedeker fashion a ffix tw o

, ,

“ ” “
stars : the dainty Butterfly ; the S olitary Travel
”
ler Grieg in every bar ; the equally characteristic
, ,

— “ ”
deep felt In my Native Country ; the deservedly
“ ” “
famous and popular E rotic on ; the celestial To
the Spring ” —
with its ravishing left hand melody
,

and a superb climax ; the pensive mildly melancholy ,

“ ”
Valse Impromptu ; the superb Album leaf of
“ —
,

rare originality and as wondrous in its harmonic

,

and contrapuntal miniature work as Bach or Franz ;

the quaint and ravishingly Griegian Melodie ;
“ ”

the rustic exciting fascinatingly harmonised

,

“ “ ”
Sp ringdan s the plaintive E legie another ,

sample of the Norwegians art of making every

’

harmonic voice me lodious ; the dole ful tune of the

” “
Shepherd Boy ; the whirling boisterous Peasant
,

“
March ”
the altoge ther delightful March
of the D warfs a striking musical embodime nt of
,

“ ”
Norse folklore ; the Notturno (3 3 ) with exquisitely
dreamy harmoni e s ; and the quaintest and most
,
2 1 0 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC
“
daring of Grieg s audacities the Be ll Ringing
’
,
-
,

a most ingenious imitation on the piano of the shrill

ove rtonal dissonances of a c hurch bell This piece .

seems to have ama zed even some of the Griegites ,

“
one of whom re ma rks that the suc c ession of parallel
fifths in the piece entitled Glok k enklang is too‘ ’

much even for the fin de siecle ear of a hearer thor

”
o u ghly imbued with the spirit of modern music .

We have seen however tha t the great Wagnerian

, ,

c onductor Anton S eidl admired it so mu c h that he

made an orchestral version of it Caviare to the .

general his composition is tothe c onnoisseur one

,

of the most remarkable examples of programme

music in existence It is interesting to note that
.

”
the same Glokk enk lang opens the Peasant Dance
of opus 6 3 and o cc urs elsewhere in his works quite
, ,

frequently .

Grieg s critical sense and good taste are mani

’

fe sted in the fact that there is an almost u np rec

eden tly large proportion of high class pieces in -

the collections of his compositions The trivial .

,

the banal the commonplace are remarkably rare

,
.

“ ”
In my copy of the L yrische S tiick e there are only
half a dozen that are not marked with at least one
- -

star of excellence Each p layer will of course do , ,

“
his own starring but it is well to bear in mind
2 1 2 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

like a nocturne written by Chopin after playing

Grieg for an hour From first to last indeed the
.
, ,

Chopin influence is the strongest in Grieg : much

stronger than the S chumann influence which is ,

noticeable only in the earliest stage S ome of the .

titles suggest S chumann s method ’

“ ” “ ” “ ” “
S hepherd Boy -
Gade S ecret
, O nce upon
, ,

a but whereas S chumann found the poetic

titles for his pieces after they were written there ,

is every reason to believe that Grieg always had his

subjects in mind first ; the realism of his music
attests that .

“
Concerning the three pieces entitled In my
” “ ”
Native Country Home sickness and Home
,
-

”
ward Hermann Kretzschma r has aptly remarked
,

that whereas the first is simply an expression of

feeling in the others that longing is overpowered
,

“
by the memories of home which the composer s ’

energetic virile imagination conjures up in a thou

”
sand tones Norway indeed is the playground to
.
, ,

which Grieg ever returns Here are Hallings and .

S pring dances and Marches of D warfs and Wedding

-
,

Marches and Peasant S ongs and other superlative

, ,

specimens of Norse music all of course Grieg s , , ,

’

own inven tion This fact must be emphasised In

. .

an essay on Grieg which disfigu res an American

 C O M P OSITI O NS F O R PIANO FO RTE 2 1
3

book the preposterous statement is made that

,

between the fiftieth and the seventieth of his opus

“
numbers there is little but representation of N or
”
wegian tunes As a matter of fact 64 and 6 6 are
.
,

the only two of these opus numbers in which bor

rowed tunes are used ; the other eighteen are not
only Grieg s own but they include some of his
’
,

masterworks Because o f his ill health he wrote

.
-
,

less in the later decades of his career than in the

earli er ones ; but there was no falling off in quality
'

1
.

As previously intimated there is probably more ,

of the Norwegian national colouring in Grieg s ’

pianoforte pieces than in his other works The .

theorists have used their spectroscopes to analyse

this local colour but in doing so they have not ,

made clear what is Norway s and what is Grieg s ’ ’

.

The bold leaps in the melody the sud den changes ,

in the rhythm the commi ngling of major and minor , ,

the frequent ending on the fifth instead of the tonic ,

“ ”
the brief themes the rude rusticity of bare fifths , ,

1 Dr . Jh
o b i g k d by l d y w h t h d m d h im d fi
n son , on e n as e a a a a a e e ne

a c t i w d i hi d ic ti y i c h d c h w y p l i d I g
er a n or n s on ar n su an su a a ,
re e :
“
no

r an c m d m h ig
e, a a c
e, I f c t i c it ic w
s ee r q l ly f k
n oran e .
”
er a n r s e re e ua ran

i th i c f
n e r i th i p ic t q
o n e ss on s, d xh t iv ig c g d
e r u res u e an e au s e n oran e re ar

i g G i g
n d h i w k w ld fi ll
r e an sv l m l m t b ig th d c t
or s ou a o u e a os as as e o or s
’

d ic ti y O f th m t m i t m ic i i Am ic id t m
on a r . ne o e os e n en us an s n er a sa o e,

i th y
n e 9 8 th
ea r t G i
1 g 0 v c
,
h t t d h i m ic ! H m ight
a r e ne e r or e s ra e s us e

as w ll h v
e id th t B l i
a e sa d W g v ah t t d th ier o z an a n e r n e e r o rc es ra e e rs .
2 1 4 GRIE G AND HI S MU SI C

are c ommon to both but the striking harmonic

,

idiosyncrasies are Grieg s own The most elaborate

’
.

discussion of them is contained in a book previously

“
referred to Georg Cap ellen s D ie Freiheit Oder
,
’

”
Unfreiheit der Tone und Intervalle~ wherein ,

twenty S ix pages are devoted to an analysis of the

-

“ ”
first twenty nine of the L yrical Pieces
-
The
author contends that a really satisfactory the oreti
cal explanation of Grieg s music in accordance with
’

the methods now in vogue is unthinkable and has

not even been attempted so far as I know ,
What .

ever one may think oi Cap ellen s own system he ’

,

deserves credit for calling the attention of scholars

and students to the extraordinarily varied originality
of Grieg s harmonic progressions Yet these wonder
’
.

ful new discoveries in the realm of harmony the

“ ”
myopic critics have sneered at as mannerisms !
Mozart too was in his day accuse d of having
, ,

mannerisms ; but he retorted with imperturbable

good humour that if his compositions assumed a
“
form and manier that made them unmistakably
M ozartish it was with them presumably as with
, , ,

his nose which was of a certain S i ze and curve

,

that made it M ozartish and unlike that of other

pe ople .

“ ”
The rea l m of harmon y Grieg once wrote to ,
2 1 6 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

( 1 90 )
0 that G rieg has created the latest harmonic
atmosphere His dissonances have the advantage
.

of always being a means to an end never an end in ,

themselves He al ways uses discords for epicurean

.

flavou ring and never flings handfuls of cayenne :

pepper or pots of paint (as Ruskin would say)

“ ”

“
in the public s face The extraordinarily bold
’
.

harmonies of Grieg are as his countryman S chjel ,

deru p has remarked closely connected with his ,

nationality and have nothing in common with the

manufactured originality and search for new com
b ination s which we find in the case of so many
”
modern composers and which I may add are , , ,

usually the result of an attempt to hide the absence

of novel melody Compact of a want of melo dy .

”
and the direst discords is th e apt definition of this
“
latest phase of mus1 c gl ven by an English critiC
”
.

“ ”
To this latest S chool Grieg does not belong for ,

he is always melodious ; but in the matter of dis

cords no one has gone beyond him .
1

G i g
1 r eg At th B k id i w i d d l wl
’
s son ,
“
y e roo s e,
”
s as e r an a ess as an

th i g i D b y b t it d i
n n e c
u ss p i d w ith b ty f m l d y
,
u s sson a n e s are a re a eau o e o

o f w h ic h D b yh t th
e c t I h ll v f g t th t p t
u ss as n o e se re . s a ne er or e e ran s or

o f d l ight w h ic h v c m m w h
e I fi t pl y d th
o er athl y h e e en rs a e e u n e ar ar

m i f G i g Ei F d h f tii k ( F l F i d hip)
on es o r e
’
s
“
n re u n sc a t ss c
”
a se r en s . I t w as
l ik g l imp f th pl t T h M th S i g i l
e a se o an o er an e . e o er n s
”
s a so a g d oo

sa mpl ; b t it i l i th
e u g th i th p i p i c th
s e ss n e so n s an n e an o e es a tGig r e

e x c i d hi d i
er se t l b ld e s H w c m sson an a o n ss . e re e o e ac ross an en dl e ss

v i ty f
ar e lv d d i d
o l l ti
u n reso f th d e sc or s, u n u su a so u on s o e o mi t n an
E DV AR D G RI E G
2 1 8 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

lar tunes In other words he made his harmonies

.
,

as unconventional as the borrowed melodies writ ,

ing chords and modulations such as the peasant

originators of these melodies would have used had
they got as far as the harmonic stage of music
and had they been men of genius O nly a genius .
1

of the first rank could have written for instance , ,

the ravishingly beauti ful harmonies on page 5 of

the Norwegian Dances op 3 5 in the version for ,
.
,

pianoforte solo ; a page which alone would su ffi ce

to make its author imm ortal (I suspect that the .

melody in this cantabile also is by Grieg although ,

the germ of it may b e in op 1 7 p To get .

,
.

this piece at its best it S hould be played in the origi

nal version for four hands .

Much of the other music has been arranged for

four hands by the composer himself who has shown ,

a special gift for this which is rare even among the ,

greatest masters For two hands too Grieg has .

2
, ,

arranged many of his own works not written for

1 t ti g ppl ic ti f G i g m th d t th t
An in e res n a f th
a on o r e
’
s e o o e u n es o e

N th Am ic
or I di m y b
er f d i m f th
an n an sg f th a e ou n n so e o e son s o e

t l t d Am ic c mp
a en e H v y W th i gt
er an L mio ose r, ar e or n on oo s
.

S2
P t G ig K t l g p 4 f
ee e e rs s
’
l i t f th
r e gm ta a o , . 1 ,
or a s o e se arr an e en s,

an d d wh t i id thi p i t g d i g S c h b t G i g d th
rea a s sa on s o n re ar n u er ,
r e , an o e rs

on p 5 9 f E hm
. 2 W g w i d c h di K l v i Lit t ;
o sc ann s
’ “
e e se r u r e a e r- e ra u r
”

a g id f th p i i t whic h l c l ifi G i g p i f t p i c
u e or e an s ,
a so ass es r e
’
s an o o r e e es

acc d i g t th i d iffic lty A im il t k w p f m d b y W S B

or n o e r u . s ar as as e r or e . . .

M th w i Th M i i
a e fN v mb
s n 9 7( B t
e O l iv D it
u s c an o C ) o e er , 1 0 o s on : er son o.
 C O M P OSITI ONS FO R P IANO F O RTE 2 1 9

pianoforte and in doing so he has shown a skill

,

equalled only by L iszt E verywhere and always.

he makes the piano speak its own purest idiom ,

except when again rivalling L iszt who trans ,

ferred the sounds of gypsy instruments to the piano

forte he lets you hear seemingly the Norse fele
, , ,

langleik e or lur
,
As a German critic has remarked
.
,

“
whatever he has written for pianoforte ist handlich
und fin gerig griffig und spritzig singt und klingt
, ,
.

He is as idiomatic as Chopin .

Among the best arrangements are those of some

of his songs (four sets issued as op 4 1 and
,
.

O n e of these it is true marks a temporary aberra

, ,

“
tion of taste : the pianistic embellishment of The
”
Princess is not in harmony with the spirit of that
lovely song Such lapses occur in the works of
.

most of the great masters Beethoven included in , ,

cases where the theme of an adagio or a funeral

march is decorated with showy variations .

Grieg was harshly criticised for another o f his

arrangements : his adding of a second piano to
severa l of M o zart s pianoforte sonatas in order as
’
, ,

he said to give them a tonal e ffect appealing to

,

our modern ears O nly a pedant can object to

.

such a proceeding which helps to reawaken interest

,

in neglected works of the old masters A s Grieg .

2 2 0 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC

explains in his splendid article on Mo zart in the

Cen tu ry M agazin e of November 1 8 97 he did not , ,

change a single one of Mo zart s notes and he could ’

,

see no reason why one should raise an outcry over

his desire to attempt a modernisation as one way
‘

of showing his admiration for an old master .

Beside the sixty six L yrical Pieces for piano -

and the arrangements of original works and folk

songs there are a considerable number of separate
,

pieces and collections among them the fanciful ,

” “ ”
Humoresken op 6 ; the popular Albumbl atter ,
.
,

op . the Valses Caprices ” —

op 3 7 all of .
,

—
these being concert hall favourites O n the whole .
,

one may say of the Grieg piano pieces as of his ,

songs that the best of them

,
those constituting
the Greater Grieg — are much less known than
the others A s formerly in the case of Schu m
. ann
and Chopin and more recently in the cases ,

of Mac D owell and Paderewski the professional ,

p i an i sts have either i gnored the Grieg pieces en

tirely or played only those which give them op p or

tu nity to display their technical skill neglecting ,

1
g th f th f th
Con c Alb mb l tt
e rn in R etg c it th
ou r o ese u a e r,
”
on en es ese

w d
or f G i g W hil I w c mp i g it I dd l y h d ft m ic
s o r e : e as o os n su en ea r so u s

i th d i t c
n e d p t l y m pl y i b t w
s an e , an w d p t
re se n so e a e rs n a oa e re r o e as

m i t h fj d
e n Th t i w i w d f l h m y with m y p i c
e or . e s ra n s e re n on er u ar on e e

and i p i d it m iddl
ns cti
re s e se on .
”
2 2 2 GRIE G AND HI S MUSIC

Grieg
’
s pianoforte pieces opus 73 whi c h appeared , ,

three y ears before his death Yet among these .

seven pie c es there are s ome which exemplify Grieg s ’

genius in its ripest phase and all have melody , ,

atmosphere and quaint harmonic turns They

‘

.
,

are aptly named S timmungen

“ ”
and
“
there is a great diversity of them The first R esig .
,

”
nation is a weary languorous reverie with which
,
“
the se c ond forms a sharp c ontrast : it is a S cherzo
Impromptu a merry dance spiced with c oquettish
”
, ,

“
accents No 3 . A Nocturnal R ide is genuine
.
,

Norse musi c in Grieg s most mysterious vein

,
a ’

sort of ballad quite exc iting in what apart from

, ,

th e music it suggests to the fancy

,
O ne would .

like to know something about this Natligt R idt

the c omposer had in mind : but Grieg s programme ’

music is of the poeti c kind which merely sugge sts ,

leaving details to the imagination except when he ,

i m itates the sounds of nature and peasant life as

reflected in folk musi c No 4 Folk tone is a
-
. .
, ,

popular air gathered at Valders conceived in an ,

exquisitely tender and devotional mood one of

those pie c es by Grieg in which as a German writer ,

once said a churc h suddenly looms up in the land

,

s cape No 5
.
“
Etude is a brilliant study for
.
, ,

”
expert players ; No 6 S tudents Serenade is a ,
’
,
 C OM PO S IT I O NS FOR P IANO F O RTE 2 2
3

charmingly simple piece in the style of S chumann s ’

early p e riod when h is creative fancy was freshest

,
.

“
Perhaps the gem of this collection is No 7 The .
,

”
Mountaineer s S ong one of those d elightful com
’
,

hi mations of a quaint Norse folk tune with those -

bold yet appropriate harmonies which only Grieg

could write What ravishing clang tints are ob
.
-

tain ed by reposefully lingeringly holding the sus

, ,

taining pedal through the bars where it is spe c ially

indicated ! How exquisite the dying away of the
sounds in the last ten bars ! We are on the moun
tain top at night alone with nature in rapturous
, ,

—
silence with the stars above A two star pie c e is
.

this.

Among the posthumous works are three pieces

“ ”
for piano : D rei Kl avierstiick e which also are,

additions of lasting value to the Grieg repertory .

“ ”
The first Tempest Clouds is a dazzling virtuoso
, ,

“ ”
piece ; the second Procession of Gnomes
,
be ,

ginning with bell sounds is a Norwegian march

,

“
equal to the best in the L yrical Pieces the third ,

which has a reminiscent melody is both anim ato e ,

“ ”
feroce This too begins with those bell ringing
.
, ,

bars which recur so often in Grieg s piano pieces ’

,

and in connection with which it is interesting to

”
remember that Debussy s revolutionary
’
dis
2 2 4 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

sonances had their germ in the delight he took

as a boy in l istening to the lawless overtones of
bells .
1

b y
1
De w t q i tl y th t G i g m ic g v him th
u ss on c e ro e u a n a r e
’
s us a e
“
e

c h m i g d bi
ar n ti f t i g p i k b b t ff d w ith
an z a rre se n sa on o ea n a n on on s u e

w h ic h i p h p t q it f li h c ll i g him
”
sn ow , s H
er li k a s no u e so oo s as an s c
’
s a n
“
M d l
a h w d pi
en e sso l ki ; f G i g xc pt i h i l i t
n se e u n a se a s n
”
or r e ,
e e n s e ar es

p i d h l itt l i c mm w ith M d l h wh w l d h v bh d
er o ,
as e n o on en e sso n, o ou a e a o rre

h im b c f hi b l d
e au se d l wl o di c s N t M d l
o anh a e ss ss on an e s . o en e sso n,

b t Ch pi
u Sc h m o Wgn, d Li t w
u G i g
ann , id l da n e r, an sz ,
e re r e
’
s o s an

e x mpl a a rs.
2 2 6 GRIE G AND HI S MU SI C

R iemann s Musikgeschichte I have not read

’
It .

cannot possibly be true that I am praised in it ! It

reminds me of old man Hauptmann in Leipzig
who many many years ago on hearing the
, , ,

Meistersinge r Vorspiel exclaimed at one place :

,

S top ! that must be w rong for it sounds cor

‘
,

In the same letter he says : I thank you for the

expression of sympathy with my art which you con
tinu e to manifest Your letters a ffect me so agree
.

ably because every line breathes genuine de e p ,

comprehension This sympathy he seldom got

from the critics most of whom had fallen into the
,

lazy habit whenever they heard one of his pieces

, ,

of parroting a few foolish remarks about Norwe “

” “
g1 an 1 dl om s miniature art
,
3, ( t
lack of logical
,

development and letting it go at that Very few

,
.

took the trouble to acquaint themselves with those

of his works which were not habitually played or
sung in public AS late as 1 90 3 when Arthur
.
,

“
Nikisch conducted the first Peer Gynt suite
at a Philharmonic concert in Berlin by way of
commemorating the composer s S ixtieth birthday ’
,

L eopold S chm idt wrote in the Tageblatf: “

Grieg is
to us the typical representative of the Northern ‘ ’

element in musi c as su c h he has c reated a s c hool

 GR I E G S
’
RANK AS A CO M P O S E R 2 2 7

but only a few of his works are rea l ly well k nown

”
here .

A nother German journalist wrote after Grieg s ,

’

death in the Munich Allgem eine Zeiti mg: Ge r

,

many loved him yet criticised him very severely .

The vicious criticisms were always in his mind ,

and when I called on him a few hours before his,

concert began he had many bitter things to say

,

about German critics He also intimated that it

.

was be cause of them that he avoided Germany for

so many years when he was on his concert tours .

In other words many thousan ds of Germans had

,

these critics to thank for losing the opportuni ty

to hear one of the greatest composers of the nine
te en th century interpre ting his unique works as he

alone could interpret them And why were these .

critics so censorious ? What were their griev

an c e s ?

They were four in number ; first that there was ,

“ ”
a lack of logical development in his composi
tions ; second that he could not write operas ora
, ,

torios and symphonies ; third that there was too

, ,

much of the Norwegian idiom inhis music ; and

”

fourth that he was too popular to be really great

,
.

The third of these censures was disposed of on

—
pages 1 2 5 1 3 4 where I showed that what was
,
2 2 8 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C
“
mistaken for idiom was really Grieg s personality ’

and his unique melodic and harmonic originality .

But how about his other allege d shortcomings ?

“ ”
Is there really a lack of logical d evelopment in
his compositions ? Fuller Maitland editor of the ,

new edition of Grove s D ictionary of Music and ’

“
Musicians says that Gri eg while setting h is
”
, ,

themes in such juxtaposition with each other as to

bring out their beauties to the fullest extent has ,

not scrupled to modify the rules of form as it suit e d

him be st to do That he chooses but rarely to
.

develop his ideas according to a logical plan is ,

due to a personal preference not to any want of skill ,

in the art o f development for this quality is clearly ,

to be seen in the prelude and other movements of

’
his suite Aus Holbe rg s
,
‘

Here we have a staunch champion of Brahms

admitting that Grieg had plenty of skill in the
art of development a fact which any one can
-

verify by an unbiased analysis of his sonatas and

his concerto W h at is misleading in Mr Mait
. .

land s statements is the assertion that Grieg chose

’

“
but seldom to develop his ideas according to a
logical plan I have tried hard to find a lack of
.

“ ”
logic in his pieces both long and short and have
, ,

failed utte rly He always allows his musical ideas

.
2 3 0 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

fin d that the first part contains beside the principal ,

subject five or six one may say independent groups

, , , ,

every one of which is distinguished by a phrase or

motive of its own That certainly does look dark , ,

for Grieg ; and what is worse the same multiplicity

, ,

of themes characterises other works of his in sonata

form It is absolutely inexcusable What would
. .

you say if it had been customary for novelists a ,

century ago never to have more than two persons

,

in a c hapter and a modern iconoclast came along

,

and put in five or six ? Would not such a writer

be abhorred by all decent people ?
S eriously speaking is not thi s fertility in themes
,

an advantage since it diminishes the danger of

,

what S chumann called spoiling good ideas by

too much thematic elaboration ? That Frederick
Nieck s should have made the above objections
'

( many years ago it is true ) is the

,
more surprising
since he himself admits on another page that a work
“ ”
may be beautiful and truly artistic without being
written in what he is pleased to call a strictly logi
” “ ”
cal style E ven in the larger forms
. he adds , ,

“
a looser —what we may call a novelistic treat
ment has its raison d etre ’
.

Now here was a truly luminous in fact an epoch

, ,

makin g thou ght in musical aesthetics w hi c h it is a ,

 GR I E G S RANK AS A C O M PO SER
’
2 3 1

great pity M r Nieck s did not develop for his own .

,

benefit and that of his acade m ic colleagues .

In music as in other arts variety of form is as

, ,

desirable as variety of content and mood and the ,

composer who provides it should be praised not ,

censured In his book on R ichard S trauss E rnest

.
,

Newman has some amusingly caustic remarks on

the harm that has been done to many composers
by the slavish adhe rence to the so called classical -

“
forms When one sees how many c apable and
.

promising musicians have been stunted in their

growth by this system of Chinese compression one ,

wishes that somebody would write an exhaustive

book on S onata Form Its Cause and Cure and
‘
, ,
’

present a copy to every student who is in danger

”
of catching the disease .
1

It is usually the worshippers of Brahms who are

“ ”
fond of contrasting their idol s perfection of form ’

with Grieg s alleged S hortcomings But is Brahms

’
.

flawless ? To ci te E rnest Newman again : “

Any
Cl c L c i hi S t y f M ic l F m ( pp
1 ”
ar e n e u as, n s or o us a or .

16 2 ly G i g F m jan a t f vi l i d p i
z es h wi g
r e
’
s a o r son a a or o n an an o , s o n

h w h d vi t d f m th l p c t ic d dd i g I t i j t b y c h “
o e e a e ro e u su a ra e , an a n : s us su

t ch f g i
ou thi th t th g t c mp
es o e n u s as bl t p d c s a e re a o o se rs a re a e o ro u e

su c h w d b tif l ff c t i th ld f m G i g p v d th t th
ne an e au u e e s n e o or s . r e ro e a e

t f m i t ch
son a a or ld b tt l th t it w
s no i c p bl f h ld i g
su an o o e a as n a a e o o n
”
h is new w in e .

“
m id Ed w d
Fo r ,
”
sa ar M ac Dowell ,
“
h ld b
s ou e no th i g m
n ore th an a

y
s n on ym f c h c
o o e ren e .
”
2 3 2 GRI E G AND HI S MUS I C

one who looks at Brahms s symphoni e s for example

’
, ,

with eyes unclouded by tradition can se e that his

form is often far from flawless He is less a master
.

’
of form than form is master of him He is like a
‘
.

man in wh om e tiqu e tte predominates over mann ers ;

‘

his symphonies behave as they have be e n told ,

rather than as they fe el With Beethoven the

.

form seems the inevitable outcome of the idea as ,

all first rate vitalized form should be ; with Brahms

-
,

the id eas are plainly manufactured to fit the form .

The supposed necessity for pacifying this traditional

monster I S Vi sible on page after page It cramps .

Brahms in the making of his themes which often ,

S how the most evident signs of being selected mainly

because they were easily

While Grieg was a great admirer of B rahms ,

nothing could have ever persuaded him to follO w

such a method He was a master of form but not

.
,

a formalist .

The notion that Grieg cannot be placed in the

first rank of composers because he wrote no sym
phonies and operas next claims our attention
,
.

L iszt remarks in his book on Ch Op in ( 1 8 5 2 ) that

it has become customary in our days to regard
as great compose rs only those who have written
—
at least half a dozen operas as many oratorios and
-
, ,
2 34 GRI E G AND HI S M US I C

composers S vendsen is the one who most thoroughl y

mastered the larger forms Next to him in im
.
1 e

”
portance is undoubtedly Grieg .

This Jumboism was the bane of Grieg s life ; he ’

could hardly ta ke up a newspaper without being

informed in it that he was not one of the great
masters because he had never written any great
works greatness being confounde d with bigness
in the most childish manner And this brings us .

to the core of the question The composing of an .

ope ra or a symphony is of course a respectable

, ,

achievement but is it that which more than any ,

thing else entitles a man to rank as a great genius ?

,

If so than L achn er O nslow Pl e yel M acfarren

, , , , ,

D itters D orn and a hundred other composers like

, ,

them must be placed in the first rank for in the

, ,
°
matter of structure and duration their operas or
symphonies complied with all the demands of
“ ”
logical form But their works are now forgotten
.

—why ?

L et us put the matter in another way Why is .

it that of M o zart s pianoforte sonatas so few have

’

survived ? Why are about a hundred of S chubert s ’

songs so much more esteemed than the other four

hundred and sixty seven ? Why are the odd num
-

H w t tw
1
y m ph i
e ro e w hic h
o s b d y v pl y !
on es no o e er a s
 GR I E G S
’
RANK AS A CO M P O S E R 2 35

— ’
bers of Beethoven s mature symphonies the third ,
fifth seventh nin th rated so much higher than —
, ,

the fourth sixth eighth ?, ,

Because M o zart s sonatas while formally beyond

’
,

reproach are for the most part deficient in inter

,

esting ideas (he kept his best ideas for his operas ,

—
which therefore and not because of their form
,

have survived ) Because the four hundre d and

.

sixty seven Schubert songs while equal in form to

-
,

the other hundred lack the ideas whic h have made

,

those imm ortal Because the odd Beethoven sym

.

phonies have greater ideas and more of them than , ,

the even ones ; formally there is no di fference all , ,

being masterpieces from that point of view And .

to return to the preceding paragraph L achner and ,

the others referred to are now forgotten because

their mastery of form their S kill in constructing ,

long operas and symphonies could not make them ,

immortal I deas alon e can do that; those they

.

lacked .

Genius c reates talent constructs wrote S chu

, ,

mann thus indicating the superiority of the faculty

,

of originating musical idea s to that of manipula

ting them S chumann himself began as B u low
.
,

remark ed as a man of genius and ended as a

, ,

man of talent In the matter of construction his

.
,
2 3 6 GRI E G AND HI S MUS I C

later works are superior to his earlier on e s but ,

th ey lack th e id e as which alone ensure survi val .

There is no escaping from the lesson of these

historic facts ; they show that the professional critics ,

in estimating the rank of a composer usually attach ,

altoge ther too much importance to questions of

form and duration If it were rea lly tru e that .
,

“
as W H Hadow says regarding ChOp in in stru c
. .
,

”
ture he is a child playing with a few simpl e typ e s
, ,

that does not prevent him from being th e great e st

as well as the most popular of all writers for the
pianoforte the creator who in the words of ,

“
Saint S aén s
-
revolutionized the divin e art and
,

”
paved th e way for all modern music O f every .

hu ndred cultivat e d music love rs in a conc e rt hall -

,

ninety five have no more interest in the anatomy of

-

music (form ) than they have in botany when att end

ing a flower S how To them music is primarily an
.
,

art (a matter of ideas beauty and emotion ) not a , , ,

science Now Grieg s strength as Professor N ieck s

.
’
,

“
has remarked lies in the fre shness and novelty
.

of his ideas That is what makes him a genius a ,

musica l creator F orm can b e tau ght an d learn ed;

.

the creating o f f resh an d n ovel ideas can n ot; it is a

gif t from heaven; it is that w hich distingu ishes

en iu s f rom talen t
g .
2 3 8 GRI E G AND HI S MUS I C

demorali zes the mind as well as the body I a m .

not even fit at present for orchestrating Where .

the oboes should be I put the flutes and where the ,

”
violins should sing out I write a trumpet solo !
At the same time the bent of his mind was natu
,

rally toward th e shorter forms This is indicated .

by the fact that his opus 4 5 for piano and violin , ,

was the last work he wrote in sonata form For .

pianoforte alone he composed only one cyclic com

position Herein he followed the romantic spirit of
.

the time which demanded shorter more con een

, ,

trated pieces E ven the conservative Brahms wrote

.

pianoforte sonatas only in the earliest stage of his

career (op 1 2 thereafter he composed ballads
.
, , ,

rhapsodies fantasias intermezzi and other short

, , ,

pieces .

Among the minor professionals and among the

critics there are still some who are capable of ex
“
claiming : Yes that humming bird is very beauti
,
-

ful but of course it cannot be ranked as high as an

,

”
ostrich D on t you see how small it is ?
.
’
However ,

the number is growing of those who to c hange

the figure — do not fancy a painted house to be a
greater work of art than a Japanese vase S imply
“ ”
because it is bigger and more universal For my .

part I am glad that Grieg put most of his ideas

,
 GRI E G S
’
RANK AS A C O M P OS E R 2 39

into short forms These gave him al l the scope he

.

needed O n this point S chjelderu p has well said :

.

“
It is simply incredible what an abundance of
,

entrancing moods are to be found embodied for ,

example in the L yric Pie c es for piano within

, ,

simple short re c urring forms O n l y a genius can

,
.

attain such great varietv with su c h simple means .

Many of our famous M odernen might do well to

‘ ’

attempt a similar task instead Of try ing in mile

,

long symphonies to con c eal their lac k of c reative

power under a garb of dazzling sounds They .

would then perhaps be less inclined to use the

’
expressions miniature art or drawing room
‘ ‘ ’

music when Grieg is under consideration .

It is generally admitted that the two greatest

faults of present day composers are poverty of
-

invention and the use of monster orchestras to

depict even the most commonplace things such as ,

a day in the domestic life of a composer At the .

same time the call is becoming more urgent every

year for a new composer who will take us back to
the golden age when the land was flowing with the
milk and honey of melody and when orchestral ,

colouring was a means to an end and not an end in

itself But why a new man ? If musicians will
.

take in hand the Greater Grieg they wil l fin d in ,

2 4 0 GRI E G AND HI S M US I C

him a Messiah able to lead modern music back to

melody and beauty without sacrificing — and that
is the ma rvel of it ! those modern dissonances
which have become dear to us .

The fourth reason why Grieg was so often b e

littled by the professionals his popularity with
the masses was so keenly dealt with in the L on
don Tru th s account of his last orchestral concert
’

in that city ( May 1 90 6) that I cannot refrain from

,

quoting it : The si ze of the audience was a sight

to see and the warmth of the reception accorded
,

to the hero of the occasion left no room for doubt

as to the continued popularity of his music From .

this latter point of view the case of Grieg is indee d

rather curious It is at least an arguable proposition
.

that his reputation with the quidnuncs would rest

'

much higher if his music w e re less generally liked .

A striking feature of Grieg s music is however

’
, ,

despite its originality and even audacity its uni ,

for mly pleasing quality Although it is so individ

.

ual there is nothing in it which the humblest music

lover cannot understand and enjoy and this from
, ,

the standpoint of a certain t ype of critics consti ,

tu tes a serious defect .

“
If Grieg had been artful enough to mingle dul
ness and obsc urity discreetly with his more engaging
2 4 2 GRI E G AND HI S M US I C

ments not necessarily of schoolgirls but of the

, ,

public at large how much more they m ight acc om

,

p lish Instead they

. aim too often at a profundity , ,

which is beyond them and in the result achieve ,

only dulness D epth is doubtless a desirable quality

.
,

but in music at all events it is not invariably at

, ,

tain ed by boring This at all events is not Grieg s ’

.
, ,

way Not that any one would dream of accusing

.

this most refined and fastidious of masters of play

ing to the gallery or of deviating by a hair s breadth
,
’

from the pursuit of his own ideals But he has had .

the courage to be absolutely sin c ere to express

his own individuality in his own way and in the ,

result has written music whi c h appeals to one and

all What comes from the heart it has been truly
.
,

said goes to the heart and so it has been in Grieg s

, ,
’

case There i s a tender haunting beauty an

.
, ,

exquisite fragrance and charm about the best of

”
his work which are not to be expressed in words
,
.

Writing of the last concert Grieg gave in Berlin ,

“
L eopold S ch midt said : Mingled with the applause
there were warmer tones speaking of d e ep love and ,

”
veneration It is because the Great Public thus
.

not only admires him but loves him that Grieg will
live Vox popu li vox D ei On this point read
.
,
.

what Mendelssohn once wrote to Jenny L ind from

 GR I E G S
’
RANK AS A C OM PO S ER 2 43

L eipsi c That which is called the Public is ex

ac tly the same here as elsewhere and everywhere ;

the S imple Public assembled together for one in

‘
,
’

stant so fluctuating so full of curiosity so devoid

, , ,

of taste so dependent upon the judgment of the

,

musician —
the so called connoisseur But against .

this we must set the Great Public assembling to ,

gether year after year wiser and more just than ,

connoisseur and musician and judging so truly ! ,

”
and f eeling so delicately .

Complaints are rife in Germany in France in , ,

E ngland in America that concerts do not pay

, , .

Why do they not pay ? Is it not largely because

the players and the singers o ffer the Great Public
what it does not want neglecting what it wants for
, ,

“ ”
fear of its be ing too popular ? When Nikisch
played the Peer Gyn t suite at a Philharmonic con
cert in Berlin one of the critics patted this wonder
,

ful music on the back and added superciliously that

“ ”
it was already played at beer and garden concerts .

He might have added that the most popular of all

“
music at beer and garden c on c erts is Wagner s ’
.

’
But the proper place for Wagner s music is in the
opera house and for Grieg s at high class concerts
,
’
- °

there alone can its exquisite beauty and refinement

’
be adequately revealed Nikisch s audience re .
2 44 G RI E G AND HI S M US I C

demanded one of the Grieg pieces and Hanslick ,

thus summed up the impression made by his music

“
at a Philharmonic concert in Vienna : The audience
had bestowed such lavish applause on Grieg that I
”
feared for the fate of the following number
~
Wein .

“
gartner put the Four Norwegians Dances on a
Berlin programme which included Beethoven s ’

E roica symphony If conductors did this sort

.

of thing more frequently some of them would not ,

have to pass the hat around so often among the

millionaires .

O f all the foolish things said about the idio

syn c ra sie s of Grie g s music the foolishest is the
’
,

assertion that one soon tires of them Pe rhaps some .

persons do ; the musical Public the fin al arbiter , ,

doe s not I am happy to say that I am part and

.

parcel of the public O ne of the reasons why I

.

place Grieg in the front rank of composers is that

whenever I return to his music it delights me afresh
with its personal note No one who has not been
.
,

like myself a professional critic for nearly thirty

,

years obliged during six months a year to listen to

,

operas and concerts from two to six and even eight

hours a day can imagine how tired one gets how
, ,

’
one s favourite delicacies are likely to pall on the
appetite As a matter of c ourse I seldom add to
.
,
 CHAPT E R XIII
VOCAL COMP OS I TI ONS

H EN Hans von Bulow called Grieg the

“ ”
Chopin of the North he doubtless ,

had in mind the great refinement of style ,

the abhorrence of the commonplace the rare melo ,

dic harmonic and rhythmic originality and the

, , ,

exotic nationalism which these two masters have

’

in common Chopin no doubt excels Grieg in

.
, ,

some points ; in others Grieg excels Chopin notably ,

in his rare faculty for orchestral colouring and in ,

his gift to the world of one hundred and forty S ix -

songs which only two or three masters have equall ed .

Chopin s seventeen songs deserve much more atten

’

tion than they have S O far received ; but they are a

mere episode in his career whereas Grieg has in
,

his L ied e r given us his very life blood Much as I .

admire his instrumental works it is in his lyric ,

songs that I consider him most frequently at his

very be st If I devote less S pace to them than to
.

his instrumental works it is because they S hare the

characteristics of his other compositions which ,

2 46
 V O CAL CO M P O SITI ONS 2 47

have been sufficiently dwelt on in the pre c eding

pages wherefore little remains but the agreeable
,

task of calling attention to the best by a ffi xing our

stars and double stars of comm endation ! l

Before taking the songs in hand a few longer ,

scores for singers call for notice .

“ ”
At the Cloister Gate S hortly after returning .

from R ome where L iszt had don e so much to en

‘

courage him Grieg composed a work which he ,

“
called At the Cloister Gate and dedicated to ,

that far sighted master It ap p eared ~in print as

-
.

opus 2 0 and is a setting of a scene from Bj o rnson s

,
’

“ ”
Arn ljot Gelline for soprano and alto solo female , ,

chorus and orchestra The text is a dialogue

,
.

between a nun and a girl who knocks for admission ‘

at the gate of a convent late at night The girl .

relates that she is from the Far North ; she had a

lover but he slew her own father ; she fled and in
, ,

passing the Cl oister she heard women s voices sing ’

” “
ing the Hallelujah Methought they sang of .

peace ; it soothed my soul Unlock unlock I love .

, ,

”
him wretched I must love him till I die
,
T hen ,
.

1
On c m e ore I b eg th e re a d
m mb th t th bj c t f thi
er to re e er a e O e o s

vl m i
o u e s no t t c mm
o t
o ll f G i g
en h t pi c
on a d og b t r e
’
s s or e es an so n s, u

t d w ll
o e on l y th b t f th m d d m i i y w k f th
on e es o e I
an o ss o n ar or or e se .

a m gl d I a a m t l ik th
no f m y c ll g
e ose owh pp tl y fi d o ea u es o a a re n n so

m ch m
u o re pl i gl t i g v
e asu re n bl mi h
oa n l im gi y th
o er e s e s, re a or a n ar , an

i
n ca l li g n a tt ti t hidd t
en on o f g ien reasu re s o en u s .
2 4s GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

the celestial choir of nuns is heard inviting her to

come in from grief and sin to God .

An admirable su bject for musical treatment ,

which inspired Grieg to one of his best works In .

all musical literature there are few things so sweetly

pathetic so like a maiden in distress as the main
, ,

theme of this composition which is first sounded ,

“
when to the question Who s knocking so late at ,
’

” “
the Cloister door ? she answers Homeless maiden ,

”
from far away And this theme with other sadly .
,

beautiful material is elaborated in a score which ,

is a masterly amalgam of all the arts of the musi

c ian
l
.

1
Ye t bl h f th p f i i w it i g thi I v h d
an d I us or e ro ess on n r n s ne er a

an o pp t ity f h i g th i i p i d w k w ith c h t
or u n o I M y
ea r n s ns re or or e s ra . n a ,

19 8 I w0 ,
g l d t cc pt i vit ti f m M i A G J dg
as a o a e an n a on ro ss nn a . u e,

th v y c p bl d i c t
e er f th G l
a C l b f t h W d l igh H igh S h l
a e re or o e ee u o e a e
g oo

i N w Y k t
n e tt d p f m c f i by h c h i f v
or ,
o a en a er or an e o t er o r o o er a

h d d g i l T h y t d i t th p i it f h m ic w ith d l ight
un re r s . e e n e re n o e s r o t e us e

f l u l It w
z ea . t t t h thi m ic g by th l v l y
as a ra re rea o ea r s u s su n e se o e

y th f l v ic w ith th m i g d w t il l th m O h
ou u o e s, th i g
e o rn n e s on e . ne ears n o n

so s p t thi g im t d by c h c t gi
on an e o u s, n o th i m f m n an a e su on a ou s en u s as ,
ro

h p id i g
t e a i c c t h ll d p h
s n e rs d th i
n ou r p i on er a s an o e ra o u se s, an s ex er

c h w d m c h m i g vi t f h f t
en e s o e f h igh c h l m ic
e ar I n s as o t e u u re o s oo us .

w th ill d by G i g w k th gh l y p i w
as r e r ed Wh t’
s or ,
ou on a an o as u se . a

m t it b i it ic h c h t l g b i c l d i g th g
us e n s r d h p or d es r a ar ,
n u n e or an an ar u se

at th d c l th l c i g c h
e en to f th ! I
o ou r ly w d e so a n o ru s o e nu ns c an o n on e r,

an d wi h I h d b s b m d c d l t w h p f i l m ic i
a ee n o rn so e e a es a e r, en ro e ss o n a us an s

w ill h v d i c v a e d G i g d f g tt m t f th ph m l id l
s o e re r e an or o en os o e e e e ra o s

of d y w ith th i p p
ou r a l c c ph i th i w
,
m ic l
e r u r ose ess a o on e s, e r ar on us a

b ty d th i f tic ff t t c c l th i l c k f w m l dy i
eau , an e r r an e or s o o n ea e r a o ne e o n

h di m d by m
t e n t ch t a d b y th c h ic
e f ti l
on s e r o r es ras, an e o e o se n sa on a
“
p g mm ro ra es .
2 5 0 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

of those works that involuntarily recall the sp i ri t of

”
the heroic popular ballads The E nglish title .

give n to this work at L eipsic is R ecognition of

L and ( Peters edition ) .

Albu m jor M ale Choir When once the Greater

’

Grieg is discovered by professional and amateur

musicians much attention will be paid to his Album
,

“
for Male Choir and the two numbers from Sigurd
J orsalfar ( op 2 2
) for solo.male chorus and or , ,

c h e stra The Album contains twelve part songs

.

based on Norwegian folk melodies They are u n -

.

accompanied and their intervals and harmonies

,

make some of them di ffi cult to sing which is one ,

reason why they are seldom heard ; but they would

amply repay all the work bestowed upon them .

Most of them are written for baritone or tenor solo ,

with choir ac c ompaniment and the e ffect is often ,

as entrancing as it is novel S ome of these pieces .

are h u morous others elegiac or sentimental The

,
.

humorous ones are not so di fficult and these may ,

be specially commended to College Glee Clubs ,

which would fi nd in them a great fund of m irth ,

bo th in the verses and the music Among the fun .

“
niest are the Nursery S ongs : Boom boom boom , , ,

” “
boom Pussy bangs on the big drum ; The Biggest
,

” “ ” “ ” “
Fool ,
After Dark Young E dmund
,
Hall ,
 V O C AL C O M O SITI O NS P 2 5 1

” “
ing (No Good for Nothing
. There Goes ,

”
Bob .
1

The Greater Grieg is exemplified admirably in

his opus 3 2 a baritone solo (with string orchestra
,

“
and two horns ) named in the Peters edition D er , ,

”
E insam e but called by Grieg himself
“ ” “
D er B ergentriichte ( Astray on the M ountain
The singer relates how he lost his way in
the woods was be guiled by elfin maids dan c ed with
, ,

the fairest of them yet alone of all living beings

, ,

in forest and stream he c ould not experience the ,

“
joys of love And the refrain is : E lfin ma ids b e
.

”
guiled my way never more shall I reach home
,
.

A romanti c subject somewhat similar to S chuma nn s

,
’

“ ”
L oreley in the Woods but
with a bleak no rthern tinge Niemann sees in .

this song a mood picture representing the Norwe

-

gian people sighing in the wintry fjords and moun

tain valleys for the light and warmth of the summer
sun Grieg wrote it in winter among the moun
.
,

tains of the S o rfjord in his best creative period , ,

and it echoes personal experiences The reader .

ma y remember the passage in one of his letters

printed in the Introduction in which he expresses his ,

1
th
All e se c an b e h ad for a t ifl i th P t
r e n e e e rs e d ition . In t ti g
e r es n

c mm t
o e n s on th m m
e ay b e fou n d i S hj ld p
n c e e ru and Nie m ann ’
s L ife of

G i g pp
re , . 1 —
54 1 56 .
2 5 2 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

surprise that I had made no mention (in the proof

sheets of the first edition of this book) of this song ,

which he wrote contains drops of my heart s

,
’

blood It was indeed an unpardonable (though

.

accidental ) Oversight ; for in this song Grieg s genius ’

is at a white heat of inspiration R ead it over .

once and it will haunt you forever It haun t ed

,
.
,

in particular E dward M ac Dow ell whose works

, ,

repeatedly S how traces of its influence .

“
Olaf Trygvason When Bj o rnson heard his
”
.

At the Cloister Gate with Grieg s music he was ’

be side himself with ecstasy and promptly ex ,

pressed a strong desire to write an opera libretto

for him He started in 1 8 73 and soon had ready
.

“
the first act of a work entitled O laf T rygvason ,

w hich was at once set to music Then h e switched .

off to a modern comedy After he had fin ished

.

that he invited Grieg to make a trip with him to

,

Italy there to compl e te the opera But Grieg was

,
.

in no mood for this An estrangement came b e .

tween the two men — headstrong both — and it

was not till 1 8 92 that they met again as fri ends at ,

a performance in Christiania O f the choruses of

their operatic fragment Grieg now was ready to .

continue the work but Bj o rnson had lost the con

,

n ec tin thread and thus the composition remained

g ,
2 54 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

the gods and imprecations on the enemy varied by ,

a weird dance in which the women are swung over

the temple fires In the music whic h Grieg wrote
.

for these wild scenes there is less than his usual

spontaneity of invention but there is much interest,

ing eviden c e of a genuine gift for operatic composi

tion E ven as played on the pianoforte it impresses
.
,

one with its strong dramatic touches ; and the or

ch e stra must emphasise these greatl y The intro .

duction for instance to cite Schjelderu p is in its

, , ,

simplicity full of S pirit The threatening bass the

.
,

horns persisting on the same tone the dark rolling

, ,

of the kettledrums and the tremolo of the strings

, ,

give us a good pi c ture of the wild gloom of heathen

dom ” .

In the address which he delivered on the o c casion

of Grieg s S ixtieth birthday Bj o rnson intiniated
’
,

that only one more step was needed for Norway to

reach the greatest of the musical forms the opera .

It was partly his fault that that step was not taken .

Grieg had long been desirous of writing a grand

Ope ra but he could find no suitable libretto
,
That .

he might if favoured with a good one have written

,

“ ” “ ”
one as popular as Carmen or Faust is indi
ca te d by the extraordinary favour which his semi
”
operatic Peer Gynt musi c c ontinues to enjoy ,
 V O CAL CO M P O SITI ONS 2 55

as well as by the dramati c intensity of some of his

songs and fragments of his choral and stage works .

Ibsen once spoke to Grieg of an opera libretto

“ ”
called O laf Liliek rands which he had partly ,

written : It was originally intended for another

musi c ian but I would sooner give it to you than to
,

’
any one else In a year s time it shall b e finished
.

”
and pla c ed at your disposal But Grieg never .

re c eived it How c ould he write an opera if the

.
1

poets thus l eft him in the lurch ? To be sure his ,

life long invalidism made it practically impossible

-

for him as before intimated to undertake and carry

, ,

out so arduous a task as an operatic score To .

c ite his own comment made in a private communi ,

“
cation to the author : L eider hat meine Gesund
heit grOssere Arbeiten wonach i c h mi c h gesehnt ,

”
habe u a glich gemacht
,
.

The music which Grieg wrote for the first a c t

of O laf Trygvason is strongly influen c ed by the ’

early Wagner Operas Closson chara c terises it as .

“
c ontinuellement farouche sombre m eme dans , ,

”
les explosions de joie e t de triomphe But Wagner .

M y y
1
anlt th cc i
ears f G i g il v
a er, w dd i g h
on e o as on o r e
’
s s er e n ,
e

c iv d vi it f m I b w h
re e e a s th c mp ro w t t D Ab h m
se n o , as e o o se r ro e o r . ra a ,
“
w v y g t mk
as er p t xt f m m l y A N C m
ea er o a e an o era- e or e, n a e ,
‘
o rse a

p iga bj c t wh ic h h h
n,
’
a su d f p l y d w hic h c t i l y i
e e as u se or a a ,
an er a n s

exc l l t l y it d f m ic l tti g W I l y w l l ! B t v in
e en su e or a us a se n . e re on e u e en

th t h y xc l im F h v ‘ ’
a I c ase c an e ar ou e a : or ea en s
2 5 6 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

had so habituated modern audiences to sombre

m oods that t hi s in itself would not have been an
impediment to success Philip Hale was impressed .

“ ”
by the wild unearthly quality of the music and
, ,

by its element of ancient mystery whi c h recalled ,

to him the lines of Walt W hitman

I see the bu rial caim s o f v
S cand ina ian warriors;
I see t h m i d h igh w it h t
e ra se by th m g f tl s on es, e ar e o res ess oceans,

th t t h d d m p i it w h t h y w i d f t h i q i t
’
a e ea en s s r s, en e e ar e o e r u e

g v m igh t i p t h gh th m d
ra e s, r se u d g th rou e ou n s an az e on e

t i g b ill w d b f h d by t m im m it y l ib ty
oss n o s, an e re res e s or s, en s ,
er ,

acti on .
”

At the Cincinnati May Festival 1 90 8 Mr Van , ,

.

der S tu cken closed the series of c oncerts with

O laf Trygvason which was given with an ,

e ffect that was colossal and that brought the fes

”
tival to a tremendous climax as one of the c ritics ,

remarked .

O n O ctober 8 of the same year this operatic

fragment had its first scenic production at the ,

“
National Theatre in Christiania It made a .

”
powerful impression wrote the correspondent of ,
“
the F rankfu rter Zeitu ng The opera plays in the .

time of O laf Trygvason when Christianity was ,

’

first brought to heathen Norway It brings in its .

first scenes (which alone have been worked out ) a

war spirited immolation to the gods The message
-
.
2 5 8 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

was one of the greatest if not the greatest of all

harm on ists .
l

At one time Grieg planned an orat orio to be ,

entitled “
Peace The t ext was by Bj ornson ;
.

but the c omposer never wrote more than one num

”
ber Jeg E lsk e t (I loved Him) which appeared
, ,

as one of the posthumous songs that will be referred

to presently In a letter to the poet Benzon Grieg
.

explained that he lost his interest in this work b e

cause Bj o rnson wished to have his text printed
before the musi c was completed In this letter .

“
Grieg wrote : I am such a sensitive plant that the
fragrance vanished for that reason though he had ,

”
written the poem at my request .

S ongs His lovely and too little known songs

.

are unique in their delicate voicing of the tenderest ,

most elusive personal feeling as well as in their ,

consummate finesse of workmanship writes one ,

of the least sy mpatheti c c ritics of Grieg These .

songs says the same writer (Daniel Gregory

,

“
Mason ) are often as spontaneous as S chubert s ’
,

as impassioned as S chumann s and as finished in ’

,

art as R obe rt Franz s And the y are admirabl y ’

.

”
adapted to the voice .

G i g i t ti g m k th ld C th lic d m d i
1
S ee r e
’
s n e re s n re ar s on e se o a o an e a

v l m l di
a d th d i
e o c h e add ed t th m i
e s an e l tt t sson an e s o e , n a e er o

R on tg d t d
en a e Au gu s t 1
5, 1 906 .
 V O CAL C O M P OSITI ONS 2 59

Here indeed we are on ground where a di fferen c e

, ,

of opinion is simply incon c eivable among those

who really kn ow these L ieder which surprisingly,

few do With a few exceptions the professional

.
,

S ingers have heretofore neglected them partly ,

because of an exaggerated fear of their unusual

melodic intervals which a few days of study would
,

e nable them to master When after regaling m y

.
,

self with Grieg s songs I attend some of the public

’
,

recitals and note the commonplace programmes in

vogue I feel like one who sees people walking in a
,

brook bed gathering pebbles blind to the diamonds

-
,

and rubies they might pick up in their pla c e .

As the four numbers of Opus I are least in merit

among Grieg s pianoforte pieces so his Opus 2
’
, ,

containing four S ongs for Alto is the least interest

,

ing of his groups of L ieder Yet Prof Hugo R ie

. .

”
mann in his History of Music since Beethoven
,
“
,

“
declares t hat some of Grieg s first works ’

—
the songs opus 2 ) speak a mighty tone language
”
which suggests S chubert in his greatest moments .

This is altogether too high praise I myself believe .

that Grieg in some of his songs equals S chubert

at his be st ; indeed I think he should and will be
,

ranked ultimately as se c ond to Schube rt only ; but

it is in his later works that he rises to such heights ,
2 60 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

not in t he earliest ones in which he was still a little ,

afraid to rely on his own wings Grieg has written .

songs as superior to those of opus 2 as Wagner s ’

“ ”
“
Tristan is superior to his R ienzi
”
.
1

The numbe r of Grieg s Lieder published during ’

his lifetime is one hundred and thirty five and to —

,

these must be added eleven printed after his death .

About one half of the total number are master -

songs O f what other song writer can as much

.
—

be said ? And while there are more of the m aster

songs in the early and middle pe riods than in the
last two decades there are nevertheless a number ,

of songs in this last period which show that his

genius kept its edge to the end .
2

Ri m
1
c itic i m w d t i d t p vid m i g ill t ti
’
e ann s r s as es ne o ro e an a us n u s ra on

o f th t p ti g p p ity m g m ic l c itic w hic h cc t

a arro n ro en s a on u s a r s a ou n s

f th
or t bb viv l f m y f l i h ti
e s u o rn g di g G i g
su r a o so an oo s no on s re ar n r e .

I th S c
n d i vi
e anmb f D i M ik R M B ith pt m k
na an n u er o
“
e us
”
. . re au re ar s

th t N c h i p i d Zug di S c h b t k il tl i h h O h t m
a
“
o n o . 2 s n e e u er
’
s ns e r sc c s e

S h fl
c ah k mm en na( I ep th otill t it th t p
en .
” “
n o us 2 e re are s ra s a a

p c h S c h b t high t c tiv m m t ) A d ft G i g
roa u er
’
s es re a e o en s
”
n a er r e
’
s

d th D H m
ea r Ghm
. w t i
er th F kf t
ann Z it g e r an n ro e n e ra n u r er e u n :

D d enn m H ch t h att b f i k O
a ss e r z u d fii l gt i
o s en
‘

e e ru e n se n nn en , a r e e n es

i t W k di Li d p di S c h b t B t g m h
se n er e rs e n er e, e e er 0 . 2 ,
e an u er
’
s e s es e a n en,

vo llgii lt iges Zeu

’

th t h m ight h v b
gn iss f th g
ab t t .
”
( Fo r a e a e e en o n e o e re a e s

i b l t l y p v d by
s a so u f hi
e l i t w k th
ro e g p w hic h on e o s e ar es or s, e son s, o us 2

su gg t S c h b t t hi b t ) E vid t l y
es u er f th w it
a gv s es . en n on e o e se r e rs a e

h im lf th t bl ( d p l
se e ) f l k i g v th l t
rou e d anp k easu re o oo n o er e a e r an u ns ea

a bl y g t g fGig
rea e r son s o r e .

Th 2
d m y il y vi c him l f th t thi i by l ki g
e rea er a e as c on n e se a s s so oo n

o v th Fifty G i g S g p b l i h d by th O l iv D it C ( B
er e
“
r e on s
”
u s e e er son o . os

t ) I th i c ll c t i I i c l d d w h t
on . n s m d t m th b t fift y f
o e on n u e a se e e o e e es o

hi g ; d th t my c h ic w l d h v m t with h i pp v l i
s son s an a o e ou a e e s a ro a s
2 62 GRIE G AND HI S MU SIC

who reads and runs) the composer emphasises the

”
fa c t that the words At L ast thou Sange st must
be sung sem pre if if possible even with a crescendo
, ,

and by no means diminu endo and piano There .

is a superb climax in these two bars when the swan , ,

“
silent all its life sings at last
,
The Minstrel s
.
’

”
S ong embodies the favourite Norse legend of the
river sprite tea c hing the magi c love c ompelling art -

of song in return for the singer s salvation Grieg s

’
.
’

“ ”
music starts with a tune in the t rue L egendenton ,

“
and develops into a miniature music drama A .

”
L ovely Evening in Summer twas presents a bright
’

contrast to that minstrel lover (who loses his b e

loved as wel l as his soul ) ; its fifteen bars are a vial
c ontaining some of that concentrated quintessence
of melody and love of home for the distillation of
,

which Grieg has the best recipe And w hat sliall .

“ ”
I say of the First Primrose ? S ongs of flowers
and love and spring there are innumerable b u t ,

none more fresh more spontaneous dewy fra

, , ,

grant heartfelt than this Why it is so seldom

, ,
.

sung in public passes comprehension It seems .

destined to be c ome the most popular of Grieg s ’

songs .

Album I V is a treasure whi c h every singer should

.

possess It c ontains a do zen songs all but two

.
,
 V O CAL P
C O M O SITI ONS

or three of which deserve the double star of highest -

praise Surely that man hath no music in his soul

.

w h o can familiarise himself with these twelve songs

without wanting to hasten to the nearest music

’
seller s to buy everything for the voice Grieg ever
wrote The last of the do zen
.
“
My Goal con
”
, ,

tains a slight suggestion of S c hubert s E rlking

“ ” ’
.

In the rest it would be diffi cult to find a bar that is

not unadulterated Grieg — a new wonderland for

those who have never opened these inspired pages .

Concerning the poems in this collection Grieg gave ,

“
me this information in 1 890 : In the Album vol I V . .

we breathe the air of my native country In these .

songs which di ff er from all the preceding ones I

, ,

struck a tone of Norwegian Volksthu m lichheit which

was new at the time I was all aflam e with enthu
.

siasm when I be came acquainted in the spring of ,

1 8 80 with the poems of Vinje which embody a deep

, ,

philosophy of life and in course of eight to ten days

,

I composed not only the songs contained in the

fourth volume but others by the same poet which
,

are not yet in print A O Vinje was a peasant

. . .

by birth He attempted with his prose w orks to

.

enlighten the Norwegian people ; and these writings ,

together with his poems gave him a great national

,

”
importan c e .
2 64 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

These twelve songs represent the high water -

mark of Grieg s genius Their emotional range is

’
.

“
wide Two of them A Fair Vision and The
.
”
,
“

” “
First Thing are love songs ; a third ,
The Old ,

Mother a Charmingly melodious musical ap otheo

”
,

”
sis of filial a ff ection Faith is a solemn religious
.

c h Oral A contagious patriotic feeling p redom i

.

“ ” “
nates in The Berry My Goal and O n the
”
, ,

”
Way Home the last of which is of indescribable
,

beauty especially in its fin al four bars in which

, ,

the composer ove rw helmed by the memories of his

,

youth indulges in a fervent and glorious outburst

,

of feeling for which few parallels exist in the whole

range of music In most of these songs there is a
.

touch of me lancholy which is greatly emphasised ,

“
in the remaining ones reaching a climax in False ,

Friendship which is a counterpart to S chube

”
,
rt s ’

”
D oppelganger with the weirdest of harmonies
,

— a song in w hich heartrending agony is mi

rac u lou sl coupl ed with simplicity of structure

y .

“
The R iversid e is one of the best songs to study
”

the quaint melodic intervals and harmonies which

constitute the physiognomy of Grieg and which ,

familiarity makes more and more fascinating .

“ ” ”
S pringtide and The Wounded Heart are the
two gems which the composer has given an or
2 66 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC

Of the six numbers in op 4 8 four are de c orated with .

“
double stars : NOS 1 2 3 6 I m Kahne
”
one of
.
, , ,
.
,

L illi L e hm ann s favourites is included in op 60

’
.
,
.

It is followed by one of the weirdest of Grieg s ’

songs A Bird cried o er the L onely Sea con

“
,
’
,

cerning which the c omposer informs me that the

introductory bars embody a melodic rhythmic motive -

which he heard from a gull in the S ognefjord .

Another of L illi L ehmann s concert numbers is the ’

“
Zick eltan z ( Kid D an c e ) of op 6 7 The gem -
. .

of this late collection however is No 2 The , ,

. .

”
Mountain Maid which surely must appeal to ,

every musi c lover amate u r or professional -

It is
,
.
’

“
a two star song so is the dirge At Mother s Grave
-
,
”
,
’
,

in op 6 9 with thrilling heart rending harmonies

.
, ,
-
,

I 1
8 98 G i gn 1 t hi f i d O c M y p f h t f hi w
r e se n s r en , s ar e e r, roo -
s ee s o s ne

son g (p s t b o p b l i h d d th titl f T h M t i
. so on o e u s e un er e e o
“
e ou n a n

M id c c
a i g w h ic h h g v th i i t
,
”
o n e rn n ti g i f m t i Ki d l y e a e s n e re s n n or a on :
“
n

i f m X [ th E g l i h t
n or l t ] th t th bj c t c c
e n s p t
ran s a o r a e su e on e rn s a e asan

g i l d th t th ig i l th f p t
r ,
an a e or ti l f lkl ty l
na e re o re re se n s a n a on a or o o re s e .

W h t pity th t y c n t d i th ig i l G b g l v l y p
a a a ou an o re a n e or na ar or
’
s o e as

t l H gt
o ra ,
f m w h ic h th
‘
u p m h v b t k ! It i
e ssa,
’
ro e se oe s a e een a en s a .

m t pi c
as e r f ll f impl ic it y
e e, d d pthu d i d c ib b l y b
o s tif l i an e ,
an n es r a e au u n

c l T h t th
o ou r . g ( p 6 7) a t i ll y d iff t f m y f
e se so n s o us are e ssen a e re n ro an o

my f m or c t c p y fi p c pti f c h thi g T
e r one s ann o es a e ou r ne er e on o su n s .
”
o

R o tg h w t g d i g H gt t ly i pi d b k “ “
n en e It i
ro e re ar n u essa s a ru ns re oo

i w h ic h th m ic i
n l l y l d y c mp d All y h v t d i
e u s s rea a re a o o se . ou a e o o s

t o w ri dw t
S hj lde p t ( p
it 6 6 ) th t th
o g w
n .
”
c e e ru n o es . a e se son s e re

w itt
r h tl y ft
en v y cc f l m ic f tiv l t B g wh ic h
s or a er a er su e ss u us es a a e r en

m d G i g t y y g t cit hi w w d
a e r e
“
Hi j y h d
en ears ou n er,
”
o e s o n or s .
“
s o a

a tim l t i g ff c t h i c tiv p w
s u a n C t i lye f hi
e on s re a e o e rs .
”
er a n n on e o s

song i m p bl y ig i l th T h M t i M id
s s ore su er or na an
“
e ou n a n a .
”
 F ACS I M I LE OF
’
G RI E G S S ONG “
A S WAN ”

B y perm ission f the pu blishers

o , C F P eters, L eipzig
. . .
 V O CAL C O M P OSITI ONS 2 67

which clamour for orchestration ; and another is

“ ”
O Beware in Op 70 with the most fascinatingly
.
,

quaint melody and sombre harmonies The eighteen .

songs included in op 6 7 6 9 and 70 are twentieth

.
, ,

century compositions by a man born in 1 84 3 ; yet

they have all the freshness and spontaneity of
youth.

Until within a few weeks of his death Grieg s ,

’

mental powers were keen and he was always full

,

”
of his work and his plans for the future as his ,

Australian friend Percy Grainger wrote He

, ,
.

wanted to make further studies of folk music with -

,

the aid of a phonograph and he had a number of

,

unfinished songs and other pieces which he hoped

to complete O n July 1 9 1 90 7 he wrote from
.
, ,

T roldhau gen to his Copenhagen publisher Wilhelm ,

Hanse n
To day is a day of prayer and suppli cation Tell
-
.

Proken Jakobsen of the Hote l Bristol or ask S ,

to tell her that among the things kept for us in the

,

loft which S was so kind as to pack and send

to Bergen there were on arrival several things
, , ,

missing : ( 1 ) A large geographical work on Fin

land ; ( 2 ) the collected songs of your correspondent ,

in two handsomely bound volumes ; and the worst

of it is that in these books there had been placed
2 68 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

several manuscript songs which I can no longer

remember by heart ; probably several other things
are missing which so far have escaped our notice
,
.

All the other things may go, if I can only get the

son gs b ack . N ever again will I leave anything in

a hotel except under lock and key
,
I have a .

presentiment that all inquiry will be in vain but ,

I think it is my duty to do everything possible

for the sake of the M S S ”
.

The words I have ita licized S how that Grieg had

these manuscripts much at heart and that the sup
posed loss of them was a great S hock ; and well it
“ ”
might be for two of them
,
I L oved Him and
“
The Hunter are among his best compositions .

O f the other nine printed in the Peters edition the

“ ” “ ”
best are The Fair Haired Maiden and Sighs ,

with quaint harmonic progressions and a me lody

as simple as a folk song The earliest of these eleven
-
.

songs is dated 1 86 5 ; the latest 1 90 5 — this being

“ ”
The Hunter which is of peculiar interest The .

text is German and there is a faint suggestion of

Jensen ; in its harmonies however it is a Grieg of
, ,

the ripest period a song that thrills its interpreters

,

and that will be found e ffective in the concert hall .

“
M ore beautiful still is I L oved Him a plaintive
”
,

song in minor mode which haunts the memory after

2 72 GRI EG AND HI S MU SI C

On the Journey Home disappointment more

”
bitterly than in the false Friendship ? Where
will you find a song conjuring up memories of the
“
past and scenes of the present like From Mon te
”
Pincio ? Where will you find a deeper note of
“ ”
grief than in the Cradlesong in which the father
sings a dirge over the mother who has died in giving
“ ”
life to her boy ? or in At a Young Woman s Bier ? ’

“ ”
or in At M other s Grave written only a few
’
,

years before Grieg s own death ? I once wrote to

’

him suggesting that he should make an orchestral

funeral march of this heartrending dirge but tore ,

up the letter for fear that at his age an d with his

,

very poor health he might see something ominous

,

in such a suggestion .
 CHAPT E R XI V
GRI E G S ARTI S TI C CRE E D
’
PATRI OTI S M AND
R E LI GI ON
DVARD GR I E G
made his life l ike his ,

music melodious and beautiful He was

, .

modest and sin c ere enthusiastically devoted ,

to his art an ideal patriot and husband a friend to

, ,

young musicians an ardent admirer of the old

,

masters of all nationalities a missionary for al l ,

that is true and good in art Unlike some other .

composers of the first rank he had a warm sym ,

pathy for his younger contemporaries notably ,

S inding L a n ge Miiller and Sj ogren

— To Sinding s ’
.
, ,

“
songs he attached much importance He has been .

” “
ac c used he wrote to me of being too Wagnerian
, , ,

but that in my opinion is a shallow judgment

, ,
.

In his songs in particular he is all S inding E spe

, ,
.

c ially inspired are his settings of Drachm ann s ’

poems L a nge M iiller and SjOgren are also ex

.
-

trem ely poetic and refined song writers the first -

,

named suggesting his Danish origin while the other

is more cosmopolitan .
2 7
2 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

On various occasions Grieg helped composers

and artists to success in Christiania or Copenhagen
by sending to the local newspapers an appreciative
notice before their appearance NO less cordial .

was an articl e he wrote for the M u sikbladet of

Copenhagen of May 1 4 1 8 8 5 about the eminent
, ,

D anish composer J P E Hartmann in which he

. . .
,

plainly intimates that that Nestor of S candinavian

composers was the first to claim the new land on
which others including himself subsequently settled
, ,

and tille d the soil Grieg s words are as follows :

.
’

What Northern artist who has the real app re

c iation of the spirit of the North does not remember

—
to day what he owes to Hartmann ? The best ,

deepest th oughts which a whole p osterity of more

or less noteworthy minds have lived on he was the
first to express L e t us to day remember that -

the rich formal unfolding of Danish art through

his successors would never have occurred had he
not been . We must take special notice of
his melodramatic treatment of Ohlen schlager s ’
'

Gu ldhorn en e because here he sounds for the first

‘ ’

time the Norse tone which for him and his suc
ce ssors in D enmark has be c ome such a rich gold

”
mine .

Grieg s ability to thoroughly appreciate music

’
2 74 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

A hero at home he was for a l ong time underrated

,

elsewhere At the L eipsi c Conservatory in the

.
,

fifties and S ixties a mention of Verdi s music met

,
’

with nothing but a c o ntemptuous shrug of the

”
shoulders or the s mile of superiority Gradually
.

the national element in his art was more fully

appreciated and Verdi himself grew bigger Con .

“ ”
cerning his masterwork A ida Grieg exclaims :
, ,

“
What a marvellous development ! What sig
n ifican t years in Verdi s inner life does it not b e
’

token ! If any one should ask me what school this

work belongs to I could not answer him It stands
,
.

upon the shoulders of the art of all time The newer .

masters of both France and Germany gave him

impulses but nothing more ;
,
is a master
piece in which his own originality is combined with
a wide and sym p athethic view of what is best fn
musical contemporaneity Verdi the Italian and
Verdi the E uropean hold out a hand to one another ;
the language he here speaks is the language of the
world and we need not go to the country of the
,

composer to understand it For this reason Ai da

.
‘ ’

was a success all along the line His melodies .

,

his harmonies his treatment of orchestra and

,

choruses each and all claim the same ad miration

,

and one thing more : the E gyp tian local c olour .

 GRI E G S ’
ARTI STI C CR E E D 2 75

T hi s is not the outcome of a refined technique but ,

is ac hi eved in great measure by the power his im ag

ination had of transporting itself to the place where
the scene of his work is laid As one example .

among many I will merel y mention the night scene

,

on the Nile at the beginning of the third act in

, ,

which the fl ageolet tones of the Violoncellos and

double basses the pizzicato of the Violas and the
-
, ,

combined tremolo and arpeggios of the violins

accompany an extremely strange flUte melody .

You are carried away to the solitude of an African

night hear the mysterious and indeterminate
sounds peculiar to it Imagination and technique
.

in conjunction have succeeded in producing an

e ffect which is entran c ing from its marvellous ful
”
ness of character .

Grieg also admired the astounding capa c ity for

”
still further development the depth the versatility
, ,

“ ”
which the agein g master displayed in his O tello
“
Among the many remarkable things in the
instrumentation of this opera is the use made ,

amo ng other things of the entire c ollective orches

,

tral apparatus for the production of a pianissimo ,

and a fear inspiring pianissimo it is This e ffect is

- .
,

I think new at any rate I do not remember to

, ,

have met with it in the works of any other master .

2
76 G RI E G AND H I S MU SIC

It would seem as if and O tello vied

with e ach other for the first place in Verdi s pro ’

duction I mention ed the E gyptian colour in

.

I used at one time often to go to the R oyal Theatr e

in Copenhagen where O tello was admirably ren ,
’

dered and where the orchestra was conducted by

Johan S v endsen and enjoyed the glorious work to ,

the utmost When however the first notes of

.
, ,

the overture to the last act were playe d I always ,

became aware of a pair of questioning musician s ’

eyes from the orchestra or the surrounding audience

, ,

fixed upon me O n mentio ning the matter and .

asking if any explanation could be given of it I was ,

told that it was thought that Verdi showed here an

intimate acquaintance with the newer Norwegian
music How far this is true I cannot tell but that
.
, .

Verdi did know the Norwegian folk songs I am -

prepared after this overture to say was a certainty

, ,
.

It is a bit of touching m elancholy music in which , ,

the master in an admirable mann er l e ts the wood

, ,

wind instrum ents depict D esdemona s presenti ’

”
ments of death .
1

1
T hfi t b f th l t t w it J kim R i h d h w
e se rs a rs o e as ac ,
r es oa e n ar , S o
“
un

m i t k b l t c f N w gi —
s a a e th f G i gi i fl c
ra e s o or e an o r, ra e r, o r e an n u en e .

F or al th gh G i g m d t l y m i th t h p c l i t i m y b
ou r e o es su r se s a t e e u ar s ra n a e

d uet oV d i k w l dg f m N w g i m ic th th h is
er
’
s no e e o so e
‘
or e an
’
u s o er an

th t G i g c l i t m y m i d bv i l y p t ”
ow n, e ru e r e o ou r s, o n ,
o ou s r e se n .
2 7s GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

With equal acumen he sets forth the greatness of

S chumann s art and then proceeds to defend him
’
,

against the atta cks of the B ayreu ther B latter

which though S i gned by Joseph R ubinstein were
, , ,

he was convince d inspired and more than inspired , , ,

by Wagner himself S ome of the charges made .

in this article were that Schumann s symphonic ’

“ ”
works are only orchestrated piano music a -

“ ”
succession of shoemaker s patches ’
.
1

1
p i i th t W g w th l th f th t t ic l w
As th e o n on a a ne r as e re a au or o a ar e as

w id l y p v l
e t t th tim I w t t A t S idl ki g w h t h b
re a en a e e, ro e o n on e as n a e e

li e ved t b th t th Ho pli d
e e ru . e re e

If W g t c id d it b th hi d ig ity t
“
h d a ner a no w th on s e re e nea s n o an s er e

d i g ti g c ti
s u s n i i ti m d t th t t im h w l d
ac u sa on s or ns n u a on s a e a a e e ou

hv da e I h pp d t b t B y th i W g
on e so . a h h tly
en e o e a a re u ,
n a ner s
’
o u se , s or

b f J ph R b i t i
e o re ose t ic l pp d i th B y th Blatt
u ns e n s
’
ar e a e a re n e a r eu er er .

I rem mb m y cc i w h W g p k i m t dm i i g
e er an o a s on s en a n er s o e n a os a r n

m f Sc h m
an n e r o M f d y v u f hi p G vv
ann s
’ ‘
an re ,
’
na e en o s o e ra
‘
e no e a
’

h p c d M f d th i p i t i f lly c t iv mi d
‘ ’
e ron ou n e a n re e ns ra on o a rea re a e n ,

a dd i g h w v th t i th c
n , o e f M d l
e r, h M id mm
a , as n e ase o en e sso n s
’ ‘
su er

Night D m M ic it w
’
s re a t q ll d b y hi l t w k I t i
us ,
’
as no e u a e s a er or s . s

w ll k
e w th t i th i
no p i i h did t t d l
n a n O th th s o n on e no s an a on e . n e o er

h d it i lf vid t th t W g th
an , s se -e g t ic h w h t gth
en a a n e r, e en e r e e ro o s re n

ene d hi m c l m id th t l h ythm f B th v
s u s es a y mph i e s ee r s o ee o en s
’
s on e s,

c l d t ymp thi w ith th d m y c h c t f S c h m

ou no s a ze ym e rea ara er o u ann s s
’

ph i on e s L tm dd th t v y ft
. W g did t th tic l
e e a a er O en a ner no se e e ar es

a cc pt d b y th d it H
e e W l g e e f th B y or, th B lott an s vo n o zo en, or e a r eu er er

u n t il ft th i pp a c i p i t I th c
er e r a f th S c h m
earan e n r n . n e a se o e u an n

ar tic l t th i iti t iv did t c m f m h im t ll Th p i i t

e, o o, e n a e no o e ro a a . e an s ,

J ph R bi t i (
o se l t i f th t w g t R b i t i ) w h w
u ns e n n o re a on o e o rea u n s e ns , o as

p i g h i t d i t B y th cc i l l y c ght p c t i xp
u rsu n s s u es a a re u ,
o as o n a au u er a n e re s

i
s o n s u sed by W g i c v ti ; th xp i w h ic h h w a ne r n on e rsa on ese e ress o n s, e as

u na bl t d ig t h w k d p i t
e o es d ig t d tic l w hic h W g
,
e or e u n o an u n es e ar e, a ner

su b q tl y f d q ll y i d ig tibl w h h g t ight f it Bi
se u en ou n e u a n es e en e o s o . s

m arck c xc l im d Th G m f
on e e a xc pt G d W
e ,
‘
e er an e a rs n o one e e o .
’
as
 GRI E G S ’
ARTI STI C CR EED 2 79

In the course of his remarks on Schumann Grieg

“
pays his compliments to that army of inflated arro
gance which wrongfully have adopt ed the title of
‘ ’
Wagnerians and expressly discrim i
“
nating however bet ween the true and genuine ad
, ,

m irers of these two mighty masters and the howling

horde which calls itself Naturally this ,

brought down on the bold Norwegian s head the ’

howls of the horde referred to Indeed one of the .

,

main reasons why German critics laboured so indus

triou sly to belittle Grieg was because the impression

prevailed that he refused to pay tribute to Wagner .

“ ”
In the M o zart article there is an echo of this
disturbance but most of it is devoted to a loving
,

analysis of the great German s genius which every ’

,

admirer of Grieg should read Mo zart too like .

, ,

“
S chumann was not esteemed at his true valu e
,

”
while he lived and in his case too e fforts at, , ,

belittlement have been made in our day Grieg .

“
con fe sses that he himself loved Mo zart then for ,

a time lost him but found him again nevermore to

, ,

”
lose him .

An editorial note that was prefixed to the article

n ot W gn
a er a m an w h
h l lif x mp l ifi d th i t th ? If h h d
o se w o e e e e e s ru e a

t t i d pi i
e n er a ne o S ch m ch
n on s o n xp d i th t t ic lu ann su as a re e re sse n a ar e,

h c t i ly w
e er a n l d h v xp d th m v hi w
ou a e m d t
e re sse e o er s o n na e an no

h v t k f g b h i d th b c k f d y p ptic m ici ”
a e a e n re u e e n e a o a s e us an .
2 80 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

on M o zart included the statement that in artistic

convictions and principles and most powerfully in ,

patriotic instinct Grieg has necessarily found him

,

”
self opposed to the Wagnerian propaganda This .

gave Grieg a welcome opportunity to explain his

real attitude which he did in a letter to the New
,

“
York Tim es in which he said : My artistic con
,

vic tion s and principles are not in any way opposed ‘

to the Wagnerian propaganda I have pointed out .

’

the mistaken tactics of the Wagnerians with regard

to Schumann and Mozart but I myself make p rOpa ,

ganda for Wagner wherever I can without being ,

an adherent of the so called Wagnerism I am in -

.
,

fact no believer in any kind of isms

,
I am neither ‘
.

more nor less than an admirer of Wagner — so

ardent an admirer indeed that there can sca rcely , ,

”
b e a greater When he first had an Opportunity
.

“ ”
in his youth to hear Tannh auser he attended ,

fourteen performances in succession While there .

are no echoes of Wagner s ideas in his music he ’

,

frankly admitted in a private letter that in the songs

of his second period and still more in those of the ,

third he endeavoured to learn from Wagner how

,

to perfect his declam ation .

l

1 R efe re n c e w as md
a e in C h pta er VI to th e fa c t th t G i g
a r e w as on e

of the p ilg im
r s to B ay reu th in 1 8 76 . H e w ro t e a se rie s o f a r tic l es on
2 82 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

and several other E nglish musicians was referred

to in the first chapter Never was a man s ability .
’

to enjoy what is good in the music of all countries

less hampered than in his case For the works of .

the Russian Tchaikovsky and the B ohe mian D voiak

he felt an admiration which they reci procated ;
when D vo rak died Grieg sent a beautiful letter of
,

condolence to the stricken family To the Ameri .

can M acDow ell and his wife he wrote letters of

sympathetic appreciation His feeling towards .

Paderewski and hi s art is expressed in an extract

from a letter to the author of this volume (see the
facsi mile) written shortly after the railway collision
which c ame near ending the Polish pianist com -

“
poser s career ; in E nglish : What has happened to
’

Paderewski ? The papers say he is paralysed I S .

it true ? I am heartily sorry that he is ill I feel .

so much sympathy for his art But — virtuosity .

”
revenges itself ! 1

O f the masters of the past Paderew ski s country

’
,

man Chopin probably had Grieg s warmest love

, ,
’

throughout his life It began in childhood and .

,

in his Conservatory days in particular he was , ,

“
profoundly impressed by the intense minor mood
1 H e did n ot k
n ow th t P d
a a e re w sk i s c on
’
d it i on w a s d u e to t h e rai lw y
a

ac c i end t ref e rre dt o .

F ACS I M I LE OF A NO TE AB O UT PAD E RE W S KI
2 84 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC

in folk music to the end He was much impressed

-
.

by Percy Grainger s phonographic records of such

’

music and regretted that no one had done a similar

work for Norway O n August 1 1 1 90 7 he wrote
.
, ,

to Grainger (this was one of his last letters)

“
D E AR P E RCY GRAI NGE R ,

T h ank s for y ou r p ost c ard ! B u t ab ove all e l se th ank s for

-

the d ay s you g ave u s ! I h ad wante d so m u c h to get to k n ow

ou m ore n e arl y b ot h as an artist an d as a m an as I h ad th e
y , ,

fee lin g t h at we w ou l d u n d erstan d e ac h oth er And so it .

tu rne d ou t You h ave b ecom e a d ear y ou n g frien d to m e

.
,

w ho h as m ad e m ore ric h for m e the evenin g of m y l ife I h av e .

al w ay s fou n d t h at t h ey are m ist ak en w h o w ou l d divid e th e

artist from t he m an ; O n th e con trary t he two are in disso l u b l y ,

w e dd ed on e to th e oth er I n the m an c an b e fou n d th e p arall e l s

.

of all t he artist s tr aits

’
.
( Y e s,
even the m ost m inu te .
) E ven
you r bb orn u nnec essary fifth s ( l ) I c ou l d recogniz e
stu
‘ ’

ag ain in m y d e ar P ercy Grain g er ! Not th at I c h erish th e

l east d ou b t th at t h ey will sou n d w e ll in y ou r c h oral tre at en t
m .

“
I h ave ag ain im m erse d m y self in y ou r fo l k song setting s -

an d I see m ore an d m ore c l ear l y how g enial t h ey are

’
In
‘
.

t h em y ou h ave th rown a c l ear ligh t u p on h ow th e E ng l ish

folk song (to m y m in d so different t o the S cotc h an d I rish )
-

is worth y of th e p rivil eg e of b eing l ifted u p into the nive au ‘ ’

of Art ; t h ere b y to create an in d ep en d en t E ng l ish Mu sic T he .

fo l k song s will d ou b t l ess b e ab l e to form the b asis for a n ation al

-

sty l e as t h ey h ave d on e in ot h er l an d s t h ose of th e g re at est

, ,

m u sic al cu l tu r e n ot e x c ep te d I am im p re sse d b y th e e arn est

.

n ess and e n ergy with w h ic h th e E n glish F olk song S ociety

‘ ’
-

c arries ou t it s o bj ec t M ay it ever enj oy fresh in crease of

.

stren gt h an d e n th u siasm t o p u rsu e its g o al ! An d m ay you ,

in th e midst of all you r oth er ric h ac tivities (th e m ost im p ortant

 GR I E G S ’
ARTI STI C CR E E D 2 85

for you you r art) b e ab l e to afford tim e and streng th for

and

l u sion of you r p erson ality in the endeavou r !

the inc
“
And h erewith a h e arty gr eeting al so to y ou r Moth er , .

W it
r e soon !
Y ou r d evoted ,

ED VARD GRI E G .

Folk musi c symbolized life to Grieg

-
How .

”
strange is life he wrote to Ro ntgen ; like the
,

folk tunes of which one knows not whether they

-

”
are conceived in major or in minor .

O ne of the best of his obiter dicta Occurs in his

essay on M ozart where he refers to Fétis as a
,
“

typical critic who lies down like a wet dog on just

”
the best places .

Another from his long letter to me of S eptember !

,

“
2 4
,
1 90 0 may be cited :,
Tempo should be in the
blood If it is not you may be sure that the other U
.
,

intentions of the composer also will be bungled .

To the details already given concerning Grieg s ’

love of his c ountry a few may be added here He .

“ ’
was hugely proud and happy over Norway s
“
newly got flag writes Percy Grainger ,
He was .

always keen to see it flying from the Troldhau gen

flagsta ff and one day when for some reason it
, ,

was down he was quite depressed not to see it as

,

”
usual .

In the letters to his Swiss friend printed in D ie

2 86 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

Mu sik Grieg comments on his countrymen There

, .

was a time he ad mits when he too did not app re

, , , ,

ciate the great contrast between Bj o rnson s and ’

Ibsen s conception of the Norwegian national charac

’

ter Yet I sh ould like to exclaim with Holberg

.

Gentlemen you are both right !

‘
In other words
,
’
,

Bj o rnson and Ibsen complement each other in

their Views The Norwegian people especially the
.
,

peasantry has sharply contrasting qualities and it

, ,

is obvious that Bj o rnson the opti mist glorifie s the , ,

people whereas Ibsen the pessimist scourges it

, , ,
.

The composer may fitly unite within himself these

”
opposite views without seeming untrue In an .

other letter he says :

“
M any Norwegians formerly believed as I m y ,

self did that Peer Gynt represents o nl y an exqep

,

tional type Unhappily it has been shown in the

.

last years how shockingly true to life the poet

sketched that national character Ibsen exposed .

a dangerous side of our whole people mercilessly

For that reason it is that he stands in such bad odour
”
in our country politically .

To the same friend he wrote under date of O c tober

1
5 ,
1
9 5
0 :
“
I am as you are a R epubli can and have always
, , ,

been At the present moment however to pro

.
, ,
2 88 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

it is a political masterpiece Very good But it is . .

before all else an ethical work The fundamental .

conceptions of honour and patriotism hitherto pre

vailing will from now on have a transformation
from which better men must emerge ! Is it Utopia ?
Yet I believe in it most surely That my Father .

land is summoned to take the lead in this fills me

”
with pride and thanksgiving .

D uring a visit Grieg made to E ngland in 1 888

he was impressed by the religious teaching of Uni
'

tarianism and during the remai ning nineteen years

,

of hi s life he remained in that belief R egarding .

c hurch and state he wrote July 3 1 90 6 , ,

“
I am become a bad letter writer Formerly .

letter writing like composing went quickly and

, ,

easily I moved like a fish in the water Bo dily

. .

su ffering and the weight of years have changed all

that The blood flows heavily and slowly and the
.

mind unfortunately moves in the same tempo

, ,
.

E xcuse me for this please ! My interest in the great

,

questions of life happily is as lively as it was in my

, ,

youth I am entirely of the opinion that the

.

church must be separated from the state and that ,

with us such a separation will be accomplished in

the not distant future Fortunately I believe that
.

I can predict that the separation will not be violent ,

 GR I E G S
’
ARTI STI C CR E E D 2 89

as in France but will come about of itself without

, ,

any lasting opposition The great event happened

.

with us last year like something natural as a matter

,

of course ; and the dissolution of church from state

will happen in the same way .
 CHAPT E R XV
GR I E G AN D HI S FRI E ND B EYER
HIL E this volume was be ing printed I
wrote to Mrs Grieg for some details
.

regarding Grieg s last days and the re

’

moval of the ashes to the grotto She referred me.

to his intimate friend Frants Beyer whose name

, ,

occurs repeatedly in the foregoing pages I wrote .

to him and found him not only willing but eager to

help me make my book a satisfactory re cord of
Grieg s career To him I owe the following touch
’
.

ing narrative
The summer of 1 90 7 Grieg as usual spent at
Troldh au gen In the last days of July he enjoyed
.

the great pleasure of having as his guests his old

friend Julius Rontgen and his young friend Percy
Grainger He greatly appreciated the excellent
.

playing of both these sympathetic pianists and com

posers and we all spent many happy hours together .

Grieg was much refreshed by this company of good

friends and everything looked bright A few days
,
.

after the guests had left there was a reaction Grieg ,

2 92 GRI E G AND H I S MU SIC

Troldhau gen , to get the steamer on Tuesday the ,

third to L ordal thence to drive to Christiania

, , ,

on the way to L ondon I took a cabin for him .

aboard the ship M onday afternoon I rowed to

.

Troldhau gen and found Grieg very very ill SO ,

.

the carriage was ordered and Grieg M rs Grieg , ,

.

—
his sister sister in law and I drove to the hotel
-
,

Norge in Bergen where he intended to stay till the

,

time for his depar ture Next morning (Tuesday)

.

I went to see him there He was still very ill but.

,

did not give up his plan of leaving

'
When I called .

at the hotel again later in the day he was not there ,

any more having been brought to the hospital by

,

order of the doctor the departure being prohibited

,
.

“
In the hospital I found him in bed He looked .

worse than ever and I felt very anxious As he

,
.

needed quiet I soon left at about seven o clock in

, ,
’

the evening He w as then very feeble as I held his

.
,

hand and scarcely able to ask me to remember him

,

to my wife Though I felt anxious I did not think

.
,

that death was approaching No I supposed his .

,

collapse was a result of his sleeplessness and hoped ,

to find him better the next morning .

“
L ater in the evening he gradually grew worse .

H e got some medicine and tried to sleep but failed ,

.

‘
This night will be bad like the last one he said, ,
’
.
 GRI E G AN D HI S F RI END B EY ER 2 93

Feeling weaker he quietly said : So this is to be

,
‘

’
my death At about eleven he felt e asier raised
.

his head smiled happily laid his che e k on the

, ,

pillow and got the much longed for sleep A few -

.

hours l ater at four o clock on the morning of the

,
’

fourth of S eptember he quietly expired without ,

”
having awake ned .

Concerning the depositing of the ashes in the

grotto M r B eyer writes
,
.

“
O n Troldhau gen is a mountain wall facing west
wards toward the fjord Its summit is crowned .

with small birches and spruces At the bottom the .

rocks are covered with a dense growth of ferns ,

bird cherries mountain ash and birches enwre ath

-
, ,

ing the place Grieg had repeatedly spoken to me

.

of this spot as his resting place the last time only

a few weeks before his death Here it is he said .
,
’

as we slowly walked past Mrs Grieg fulfill ed his . .

desire and after the plan of his cousin the archit ect
, ,

S chak Bull had a grotto made simple like Grieg

, ,

himself .

“
In ac c ordance with the wishes of Mrs Grieg .
,

who was at that time visiting friends in D enmark ,

one evening in April 1 90 8 while the setting sun

, ,

sent its rays into the grotto and a blackbird sobbed

its soft tunes in the spruces above I in presence of , ,
2 94 GRI E G AND HI S MU SI C

my wife and Mr Bull put the urn c ontaining.

,

Grieg s ashes into the cave and a stone was placed

’
,

in front .

‘
S o he did retu rn to the bosom of his m oth er .

Frants Beyer was born in B ergen like Grieg , .

He first met the great composer at Christiania ,

where he took some piano lessons of him They .

had in common not only a devotion to music but ,

a love of nature and of Norway and these feelings ,

created a sympathy which ripened into lifelong

friendship The photograph herewith reproduced
.

“
is taken writes Mr B eyer at the shore of my
,
.
,

little property N aesset situated quite near to T rold

,

haugen from which it is separated only by a little

,

bay 3 00 to 4 00 yards broad so that Grieg and I

, ,

could call to each other when we wanted to take our

rowing or walking trips I built my house in 1 8 84 .
,

Grieg his in 1 8 8 5 and we have had happy times

, .

”
We generally Visited each other by boat .

M r B eyer s chief treasure is a collection of about

.
’

two hundred letters written to him by his great

friend It has been m y intention he writes
'

, ,
.

“
later on to publish some of th em with connecting
text and co mments b y myself and in this manner to
'

”
He kindly allows
'

try to give a picture of Grieg .

 GRI E G AND HI S FRI END BEY ER 2 95

me to print a few of these letters in advance of pub

l ication They cover the years 1 8 71 to 1 90 7
.
.

In one of the earliest dated Christiania April 1 8

, , ,

1 8 2
7 he, writes that he is finding out more and more
“
that M iss S mith is a nice lovely girl ”
This M iss
, .

S mith subsequentl y be c ame Mrs Beyer In the . .

same letter Grieg suggests an excursion to the

mountains where they could hear the Hardanger
“ ” “
fiddle and the national harp the langeleik ,
The .

”
national songs are just published he says and tells , ,

how after some explanatory remarks he played his

, ,

wedding march to a society of graduates ; and will

”
you believe me I had tears in my eyes
,
.

In O ctober 1 883 Grieg spent a few happy days

, ,

in Weimar with L iszt and the many other eminent

,

musi c ians assembled there O n returning to L eip

.

“
sic he wrote to M r Beyer to tell him how much
.

”
one may learn in a few da y s and how art improves ,

“
us. I was so thankful and as happy as a child
, ,

and embraced mentall y what is most dear to me ,

and then first of all you dear Frants John sent

,
.

me a few days ago a very nice postal c ard and I ,

shall write to him to day and tell him about Weimar ;

-

from him you will learn the details about those two
days so rich in memories I never felt more vividly
.

than y esterday that you c annot part the man from

2 96 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C

the artist ; if the latter is su c cessful it arouses the best

there is in the man the desire for what is great and
,

true ; this is always the case with each individual

who strives honestly but there are moments when
,

you solem nly p rom ise yourself to fight for your high
‘

ideals and renounce egoism I am sure you know .

such moments ; the resolution is sincere and true

because it is voluntary and not forced on you as in
church ; in such moments you are hardly aware of
the body but simply hover blissfully in space You .

should have heard the Heart Wounds and The ‘

-
’ ‘

L ast S pring last night ; they played the c rescendos

’

and pianissimos with a wondrous art such as one

hardly dreams about and their forte was like a
,

whole world of sound and how the Germans did

enjoy it ! Besides the applause of the audience I
'

heard bravos from the orchestra at the best p laC es ,

and from the box at my left (I was c onducting on

th e stage ) the grunting of L iszt that well known -

sound which you hear onl y when there is something

”
he likes .

In February 1 884 after his string quartet had

, ,

been remarkably well played in R ome and received

with gr e at e nthusi asm he wrote to his friend
,

“
It is incomprehensible how a man s inm ost ’

thoughts expressed in the Hardanger musical lan

2 9s GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

yesterd ay s ovations
’
. I s it n ot —
p ecu l iar in a str an eg
c ou ntry ?
“
Veril y art is a ridd l e
, .
‘
I ll y g
d eserved
rea ot m ore th an I ,
’

th at is certain .You m ay th in k th at it is not lik e m e to spe ak

so m u c h ab ou t th ese e x t ern al m atters in ste ad of t ak in g h o l d

of th e e sse ntial t h in g th e p e rform an c e

,
B u t th e im p ression .

of the re c e p tion of th e m u sic w as too overw h e l m in g b ec au se ,

it w as so u n e x p ec ted I on l y wish you cou l d h ave h e ard

.

T he L ast S p rin g ! I th ou gh t so m u ch of you ! T h ere w ere

‘ ’

p assages in it th at sou nde d so l ovel y th ey wou l d h ave m ade

ou w e e p I h ad give n direc tion s as to all d et ail s an d all th e
y .

p l ayers did th eir very b est so th at the effect was overwh e l m ing
, .

T h ere w ere crescen d os an d dim inu en d os ac cen ts and fligh ts , ,

it w as a son g wit h h arm onies in e th ereal h eigh ts w h ic h as y ou ,

k now we m u sician s so often asp ire to b u t so se l d om reac h

,
”
.

An amusing but to Grieg annoying incident

in a Paris concert hall is related in a letter dated
D ecember 1 4 1 8 89 It would perhaps not have
,
.

occurred could Grieg have foreseen that it is

possible to conduct an orchestra perfectly w ell
without a baton as Wassily S afonoff has shown
,
.

“
The e ffect of the concert was peculiar and grand
” “
in every way he wrot e to B eyer
,
I was kindly .

received but when the time came for conducting the

,

orchestra no baton was to be found servants are

idiots everywhere ; so after waiting a moment I left ,

the conductor s platform Finally the brute

’
.

brought a stick about as long as myself but for ,

tu nately as thin as a reed I did what you too .

 G RI E G AND H I S FRI END BE Y ER 2 99

—
would have done with a furious mien and in ,

corner and then returned to the platform and

,

‘
rapped attention for the Autumn overture This ’

episode y ou will not fin d mentioned in any cri ticism ,

so you can have it as a piece of private informa

”
tion.

Grieg appears to have never been entirely happy

except when at home O f his devotion to his home
.

and to his friend the following dated Copenhagen , ,

S eptember 9 1 8 91 gives eloquent evidence :

, ,

You console me in my mournful state of mind

as you alone can do it and thus you increase my
,

longing for home These winter months in foreign

.

countries have made me feel that I am not young

an y more I need the home to create in and when
.
,

I now leave it it must either be to conduct music

,

or to get a change of air or gather impressions .

You spea k of next winter so invitingly well we ,

will talk about that matter O ne thing is certain : .

I feel the need of being with you more and more

when I am travelling May there be many happy
.

months in store for us with Nature In that life .

,

in that association lies all that music part of which

, ,

is on pa per but not the best and l argest part I am

,
,
3 00 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

sorry to sa y ; but that part which is inspired by this

wonderfu l mixture of friendship and nature usually
is good It 1 8 different here in this strange country ;
.

the tones I find good one day I tear out of my heart

the next be c ause they are not genuine ; my thoughts

are bloodless like my self and I lose faith in myself .

With these facts in V iew it helps little that Dr .

Abraham writes that my music say the Peer ,

‘

Gynt suite has been performed in E urope A sia

’
, , ,

Africa America and Australia Therefore into the

, ,
.

mountains into the mountains the only place of

, ,

”
healing is among them .

E ven amid the s c eni c marve l s of Southern Fran c e ,

in the R iviera he cannot forget his Norwegian ,

mountains Fro m Mentone he writes on the second

.
,

of April 1 893 : ,

D E AR FRANTS ,
“
I see t h at Marie and I c annot h elp fol
Nina is writin g to

lowing su it W e h ave h ad a fin e trip to the m ou n tains th is

.

aftern oon I c an te l l y ou
,
I say trip to the m ou n tains even
.

if Nin a w as dr esse d in b l u e sil k and I c am e b ack with m y

S h oes polish e d as if I h ad b een w alk in g on th e fl oor
,
Bu t .

th en every th in g is dr y h ere and t h ere are p ath s and roads

,

everyw h ere w h ic h you c annot p ossib l y get ou t of with ou t

,

falling into a p rivate viney ar d or over a p recipice I n t h is .

way the oth er day w e re ac h e d a h eigh t of 2 000 feet w h ere

, , ,

t h ere is a grou p of m ou n t ain h u ts w h ic h t h ey c all a vill age

S t Agnese ; it was erected in the Mid dl e Ag es as a p rotec tion
.
3 0 2 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC
am on h er th ings the first P eer Gyn t su ite I had a seat
g ot
‘ ’
.

in a b ox an d re c eived ovation s b oth from the orc h estra and

,

th e au dien c e so I h ad to rise and how m y th ank s b u t God

, ,

h el p m e it cou l d not p l ease m e as it was rath er too m u c h to

, ,

stan d h earing A ase s D eat h p l ay e d as a two ste p an d Anitra s

’ ’
-

D ance as a qu ick waltz T he m ost rem ark ab l e t h ing ab ou t

.

it is h owever t h at p eople can listen to th is and dig est it

”
, , .

Copenhagen , M arch 2 3 ,
1 9 7,
0 is the date of the
following letter
“
D E AR FRANTS ,
“
I j u st b eg an a l etter to J u liu s [ R on tg en] in t h is way : I f ‘

I h ad a son , he h ld
s ou be n am e d Frants J u l
iu s o r
Ju liu s
Fran ts B ec au se you ar e b ot h writin g m e su c h d ear
. l etters

t h at I am b ecom in g qu ite ten d er Y es, so it is I t is great

’
. .

to h ave frien ds wh en one is y ou ng b u t ind eed it is still m ore ,

so w h en y ou are g ettin g old Wh en w e are you ng friends are

.
, ,

lik e every th in g else a m atter of c ou rse ,

I n th e ol d d ay s we .

knew w h at it m eans to h ave th em H ere it is b righ ter .

,

ligh ter m ore live l y ; I fee l som eth in g is t h awin g in m e

, An d .

p eop l e are tou ch ing l y kin d to u s And how th ey h ave k ept .

u s in m em ory as artists ! Y es you c annot im ag ine in h ow ,

m any different w ay s th is is S h owing itself T h at ou r room s .

are fi l l ed wit h fl owers every day is on l y one of t h em

”
.

If Grieg su ffered much in the last years of his

life from bodily tortures and the heartless carpings
of c ritics he was made happy on the other hand
, , ,

b y the love of the people The last letter to be .

quoted here gives a touching example of this It .

was written at Berlin on April 1 9 1 90 7 less than , , ,

five month sbefore his death .

 G RI E G AND HI S FRI END BEY ER
3 0
3

D E AR FRANTS ,
“
Believe m e I h ave b een wishing you were with m e p ar ,

ticu l arly h ere in Berl in wh ere it was b est

, The Ph il h ar m onic
.

orc h estra p l ay ed e x cee din g l y we ll ; it is so th orou gh l y train ed

th at wh en an ord er w as given it c ou l d not b e sh aken Af ter .

the con c e rt M r Wein g ar tner en tere d and I was g l ad to m ee t

.
,

him . T h en t h ere c am e w h ol e families a m oth er with two

,

son s w ho wit h te ars in th eir ey es tol d m e abou t the h app i

, , ,

n ess m y m u sic h ad b rou gh t into th eir h om e and t h at I cou l d

h ave no idea wh at I had d one for th em throu gh m any years .

Wh at was I to say ? Tears were com ing in m y eyes too , .

We ll th at is the way To day c am e a p ostal card from Con

,
.
-

stantinop le wit h t h ank s for the string qu artet wh ic h has b een ,

p l ayed e xceeding l y wel l by a Boh em ian Q u artet ; an d th en a

great nu m ber of letters m any of wh ic h are very tou ch ing I t
, .

is rem ark ab l e th at I sh ou l d liv e to see all th is I fee l warm l y

.

t h ankfu l an d e xp erien c e a d esire to b eco m e a b etter p erson ;

,

I su pp ose it is b e cau se I am six ty fou r y ears old ; had I b een

-

y ou n ger it wou l d h ard l y h ave had th at effect Bu t now on .

,

t h is oc c asion I fee l h app y over m y six ty fou r y ears al th ou gh

,
-
,

it is h ard to th ink t h at all t h ese fine fee l ings th at are now pou r
ing in on m e mu st p ass awa y so soon .
”
 B IB L I O GR APHY
OR several decades before Grieg s death the ’

number of his admirers was legion yet before ,

the appearance of the first edition of the pres

ent work in 1 90 6 there was no book in E nglish (or
, ,

even in German) to which they c ould go for informa

,

tion regarding hi s life his personality and his music

, ,
.

The French w ere somewhat more fortun ate for in 1 892 ,

“
Closson published his excellent brochure E dvard ,

Grieg et la M usique S candinave ( Paris : L ibrairie

Fischb ach er) ; even this h ow ever h as only forty pages
, ,

about Grieg In 1 90 3 th ere app eared in Norwegian

.
,

only S chjelderu p s E dvard Grieg og hans Vaerk er

,
’

( y
G l den dal sk e B ogh an del s F orl ag C openhagen ) , .

The substance of this with much new material

, ,

was issued at L eipsic by C F Peters in a . .

“ ”
2 0 1 page
-
volume entitled E dvard Grieg by
Gerhard S chjelderu p and Walter N iem ann S ee .

“ ”
also Niemann s D ie Musik S kandinaviens (L eip
’

sic : Breitkopf 81 H artel In Norwegian

,

there are besides S chjelderu p s first volume two

,
’
,

books with accurate articles one by Almar Gro n ,

wold the other S alm on sen s E ncyclop aedia (article

,
’

3 04
3 06 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC

in R us sian b y H W oroschiloff ,
. in D utch ,

by P A W e strhene
. . in Bohemian by Jos ,
.

B Foerster
.

O f articles in maga zines and musical periodicals

“ ”
the following m ay be mentioned : Temple Bar
‘

“
( A E .Keeton .
) 1 8 9 8 ; Illustrated ,
L ondon News ,

“ ”
1 8 98 ; Monthly Musical R ecord ( 1 8 79 1 888 , ,

F Nieck s)
.
“
L eisure Hour
°

1 889 ( M B Foster) ; ,
. .

“
S pectator 1 888 2 3 5 ; S aturday R eview (J F
, ,
. .

“ ” “
Run ciman) 1 897; M usi c (Chicago) vol 1 3 ; The
, ,
.

” “
Musician (Philadelphia) 1 90 2 ; North American ,

” “ ”
R eview ( A M W ergeland) 1 90 2 ; M usical Times
. .
,

“
( L ondon ) 1 8 88 1 8 4 ;
,9 The Nationalism
,
of G rieg
( H E . Krehbiel .
) a condensed reprint
,
from New
“ ” “ ”
York Tribune ; Woman at Home (W A Gray) . .

“
1 904 ; D ie M usik ( B erlin) S kandinavisches H ft
”
e , ,

1 90 4 ; Neue Zeitschrift fiir M usik 1 897 Nos 2 6 ”

, ,
.

3 0 a
, series of articles by O tto S c h m id based on ,

“
information received from Grieg himself Allge .

“
meine M usik Zeitung ( B erlin) June 1 90 3 Cen , ,
.

”
tury ( D r William M ason
.

) 1 894 ; M usical ,

” “ ”
Courier (New York) vol 4 6 ; M asters in Music ,
.

( Boston ) G rieg , Number 1

9 3
0 There is also
, a .

“
pamphlet Til E dvard Grieg s 60 Aars Foedel sdag ’
.

”
Fest Brochure B ergen : John Grieg In the
. .

months following Grieg s death there appear ed a ’

 BIBL I O GRA PHY 3 0
7

number of magazine articles The Musician .

( Boston : O liver D itson C o ) and “

The E tude .

( Philadelphia : Theodore Presser) had Gri eg num

bers in November 1 90 7 ,
.

Grieg himself supplied material for a sketch of his

“
career which appear ed in the Neue Zeitschrift fiir
”
Musi k 1 897 (Nos 2 6
, S ee also hi s sketch :
.

“ ” “
My First S uccess in the Neue Musik Zeitung
,
”

( S tuttgart Jahrgang,
E nglish version in the
“
Contemporary R eview The Neue Mu
“

”
sik z eitu ng also has articles by S chjelderu p and
Arthur L aser in Jahrg 2 8 No 4 Die Musik
‘

. . .
,

Berlin : S chuster 8 L oeffl er) contains several im

( 1

portant articles : an obituary by S chjelderu p in

Jahr V II No 1 ; a number of letters to a Swiss
.
,
.

friend in V II 2 ; (English version in The New

, ,

”
Music R eview New York ,
an article on his ,

unpublished M anuscripts by J Rontgen in VII 5 .

, ,
.

”
S ee also Bibliotheque Universelle (L ausanne ,

S eptember 1 8 97 (an article by Monastier) ; Ber

“
liner Tageblatt 1 90 7 No 1 78 ; Berliner L okal
, ,
.

”
Anzeiger ( April 4 L eipziger Zeitung
,

“ ”
S D ie Hilfe ( Berlin : 1 90 7 No
( ept 5
.
, ,
.

Comments on Grieg s opus 2 3 to Opus 3 8 by

’

“
Kretzschm ar may be found in the Musikal isches
Wo c henbl att (L eipsic : 1 884 Nos 4 2
”
,
.
 CATAL O GUE O F GRI E G S CO MP O S ITI O NS ’

I . P I ANOFO RTE P I E CE S
( ) a F or Two H ands

Op . 1 . Fou r P ieces for P iano .

3 . S ix P o e tic T on e —
P ictu res .

6 . T h ree H u m oresqu es .

7 . S onata in E m in or .

1 2 . Lyric P ieces B ook I , .

1 7 . T wen ty five Nort h ern

- D ances and Fe lk -Tu nes .

1 9 . S k e tc h es of Norw egian L ife .

N
2 4 . Ba ll d
a e in G Min or .

2 8 . Fou r A l bu m - Le aves .

2 9 . I m p rovisations on T wo Norwegian Folk -Tu nes .

3 8 . L yric P iec es B ook I I , .

4 0 . H ol b erg S u ite ( O rigin al ) .

S ix S ong s T ranscrib ed for P iano .

L yric P iec es B ook I I I ,

.

N
IV '

S ix S on gs T ran scrib e d for P iano .

L yric P ieces ,
B ook V .

l ‘ ( C
VI
VI I .

VI I I .

Nin eteen Norw eg ian Folk -Tu nes .

L yric P ieces , B ook I X .

X
(6 ( f
.

Norwegian P easant D ances .

73 Moods .

W ithou t Opu s N u m ber:

Fu neral Marc h (for Nordraak ) .

3 08
3 1 0 GRI E G AND H I S MU SI C
b
( ) S tring O rchestra

Op 34 . . T wo E l gi
Me l od ies after Norwegian Poe ms b y
e ac

A O Vinj e . . .

( 1
“
H. e a rt W ou n d s
” -
2
“
T h e L a st S p rin g . . .

H ol b erg S u ite .

( 1 P re
. l u d e 2 S a rab an d e .
3 G a v otte
.
4 Air . . . . .

5 R i g.au d on ) F ro m the orig in al for p ian o for

.

t wo h an ds .

T wo O rig in a l S on gs O rc h estrated , .

( 1 N. o rw e g ia n
”
T h e F irst M ee tin .g 2 .
“
.

Two Norw eg ian Me l od ies .

( 1 I n .t h e P o p u l ar S ty l e 2 Co w K ee p er s T u ne ) . .
-
’
.

MU S I C
I II . CHAMB E R

F irst S onata for Vio l in an d P ian o in F Maj or , .

S ec on d S on ata for V iol in an d P ian o in G Maj or , .

S trin g Q u arte t in G Minor , .

T h ird S on ata for V iol in and P ian o in A Min or .

S onata for Viol on ce ll o an d P iano in A Minor .

IV . D E CLAMATI O N W I TH O R CH E S TRA
B ergliot
”
(M e l od ram a p o em b y ,
B j orn son) .

V VO CAL. WO K S R

( )
a F or Ch oru s with Orchestra
“
B efore the C oister G ate , l ”
for S o l o Voices and

W o m an s
’
Ch oru s .

T wo S ong s from
“
S igu rd J orsalfar,
”
for S o l o Voice
and Men s Ch oru s ’
.

(
“
T he Norse P e op l e “
K ing s S on g
’
1 . . 2 . .

“
L andsigh ting, ”
for B ariton e So l o an d Men s ’

Ch oru s ( t
w i h O rg an ad l ib itu m ) .

“
O l af T rygvason , ”
for t h ree S o l o Voic es an d Mixed
Ch oru s .
CATA L O G U E O F GR I E G S CO M P OSITI O NS ’

3 1 1

(b ) Choru ses withou t Accompaniment

Op 30
. . A l bu m for Mal e Voices .

74 . F ou r P sa l m s for Mixe d Ch oru s .

( )
c S ol o Voice with O rchestra
“
A l one ( ” “
D er E insam e , ”
or
“
D er Bergen tru ck te ”)
for B ariton e S o l o, S trin g O rc h estra, and two
H orn s .

S ix S ong s for Conc ert P erform anc e , w it h O rc h es

l
tra Ac c o m p anim ent .

( I
.
“
S ol vejg s S ong s
’
. 2 . S olvejg s
’
Crad l e

S on g ”
.
3 F r o m . M on te Pin c io .
”
4 .
“
A
S wan 5. S p rin g . . 6 .
“
H enrik W ergeland .

(d ) S ongs with Piano Accom pan iment

Fou r S ong s for A l to .

S ix S on g s (in P eters Al bu m s I I and , .

F ou r S ongs (in P e ters Al b u m s I I and .

F ou r S ongs and B all ad s (in P e ters Al b u m s ,

I . and

F ou r S on gs .

F ou r S on gs P eters Al b u m s I I I and
( in , .
, .
,

E igh t S ongs ( in P eters Al b u m s I I I and , .

, .
,

F ou r S ongs (in P e ters Al b u m s I and , .

,

T h ree S on gs from P eer Gynt

“
.

ng rad l e
” “
olvejg s C
“ ’
( 1 S ol ve jg s S o 2
’
S . .

S on g P ren ad e P
” ”
“
G S ) ( I ’
.
3 e e r yn t
. s e n e te rs

Al bu m s I I I and V e xcep t the Serenade w h ic h

, . .
, ,

is p u b l ish ed b y Hansen in Cop enh agen ) .

F ive S ongs (in P e ters Al b u m ,

F ou r S ongs ( in P e ters A l b u m ,

T w e l v e S ongs ( in P e ters A l b u m ,

Fiv e S ongs ( in Pe ters Al b u m ,

F ou r S ongs From Fj e l d an d F j ord

“
.
,
3 1 2 GRI E G AND HI S MU SIC
S ix Songs (to Germ an W ds) or .

S ix S ongs .

Five S ongs .

S ix S on gs .

Five S on gs .

S even Ch i d ren l ’
s S ongs .

T he Mou ntain Maid ( Cyc l e of S ongs) .

Five S ongs .

F ive S ongs .

W ithou t O pu s N u mber
T he O d a isqu e l .

Th e P rinc ess .
”

Ave Maria S te ll a (Hansen

”
. Cop enh ag en) .
1

1
g i g l i t f G i g w k w m d by A th L
The fore o n s o r e
’
s or s as a e r u r ase r

f
or th G m v i f th fi t d it i f th i bi g ph y I i
e er an e rs o n o e rs e on o s o ra . t s

m o rec mp l t th th t i t h G i g C t l g f P t w hic h d
o e e an a n e r e a a o u e o e e rs, oe s

no t c v o th erw k th t pp d ft 8 98 F l i t f th
e or s a a e are a er 1 . or s s o e

nu m ero u s g m t f h i w k p tl y by h im l f p tl y by
arran e en s o s or s, ar se , ar

o th th
e rs, d m t b f d t th t l g
e re a er u s f P t e re e r re o e c a a o u es o e e rs,

H Ri t
an se n , Bi d m e e r- d O tt F b g
e er ann , an o or e r .
3 1 4 IND EX
F ran ce, Grie g in ,
1 03 —1 08 . wants no li t s eners, 6 9; fon d
F ran z , R .
,
x ii . of fis in h g , 7 ;
0 his “
t u ne

F u nera l M arch ( Nordraak ) ,

hou se ,
hom e in 7 ; 1 at

4 0, 1 61 ,
1 64 . T roldhau gen 73 — 80 ; pe sonal ,
r

appearan ce 75 ; a t ta ch ed to ,

Gade , 8 , 3 6, 3 9 2 . hom e 76 ; at tabl e 79; on

, ,

Germ an , G rie in, y g 1 52 . Bay e u t h 79; fon d of good

r ,

l
G i m an , L .
,
ea t in g 8 2 ; a R ep u b l ican 8 4 ;
, ,

Goep p , Ph .
,
1 31 . l iked by oyalty 84 ; fond of r ,

Gra in ge r, Pe rcy ,
1 5 7, 2 06 , 2 6 7, c h il d ren 8 7; as a p ian ist 88
, , ,

1 00 , 1 02 ,
1 0 9- 1 1 1 ; as a c on

Grie g , E dvard l ett ,

ers to the d t u c o r, 8 9, 98—1 0 9; ne r ou s at v
au th or, xxxi; t bi ix— au o o con ce r t s, 8 9, 90 ; a ea ran ce , pp
ph i k t h x iii—xv i xx 90 ; Tc haik ov sky on
g ra c s e c
; , , , 91 ,
1 1 1 ;
ill h lt h ea ii i xxx 6 ,
x ,
xx , ,
2 ,
an ec dot e 92 ; in differen ce to ,

4 8 9; w it g d G m badges 92 ; prou d of academ ic

1
— r es oo er an , ,

xv ; l y lty t p bl i h
o a i ; o u s e rs, x x honou rs 92 ; g t s E ngl ish de ,
e

m d ty o es i xxv ii xxx i;
,
xx , ,
grees 93 ; popu l ar in E ng
,

p l it i
o xxx ; h i h lthy
cs, s ea l and 93 1 0 2 9 2 97;
, ,
2 ,
1 ,

m i xxx iv ; f it h i f t
u s c, a n u u re , j o k e s a b o u t L e g io n o f H o n ou r ,

xxv i; t y d h il dh d
an ces r an c oo , 93 ; l ist e n s t o fo l k m u sic 94 ; -
,

1
— 8
;1 h i m 3; l v s f na e, o e o t u n es fresh from the cow
“ ”
,

h m y 8 ; di l ik p ti
ar on ,
s es rac s 95 ; i n t h e m ou n ta in w il de r

ing, 9; o pu s 1 ,
1 0 ; at L ei p sic n ess, l k f dip l m tié
95 ; ac o o a

Con ser v t y a or ,
1 —
9 31 ; l ose s t t 95 ; i t t
ac , h t l ns ru c s o rc e s ra

u se of on e l g un ,
2 6; firs t p l y 98 ; fi v i it t E g
a ers, ve s s o n

pe rform an ce of his m u sic, l d 98 ; p p l i F

an ,
o u ar n ran ce ,

2 7; in t e rcou rse wi th Ga de ,
1 03 ; D y f i id t 3 re us nc en ,
1 0

2 8 ; infl u en ce d by O le B u ll ,
1 08 ; a Pa is prog am m e 1 0 7; r r ,

33 ; by Nordraak 3 6 ; fou nds ,

popu l ar in Sweden 1 1 ; song ,
1

E u t erpe S ocie t y 3 8 ; act iv ity recita l s w it h his w ife

‘

,
1 1 2 ,

in Ch ist ian ia 4 2 ; m arriage

r , ,
1 1 4 ; T ch aik ov sky m ov ed to

4 3 ; w o k s con d u ct ed by 4 4 ;
r , t ea rs, l ti t N 1 1 4; re a on o or

m ee t s L isz t , 4 7; a id from w gi e ti l m i
an 5; na ona u s c, 1 2

Go ve rnm en t
, 4 8; frien dsh ip l g d th w l d l g g
e n ar e e or -
an u a e

wi th Sv d en sen , 5 7; ge t s a of m i 7; h i
u s c, igi l ity 1 2 s or na ,

s t ip en d, 5 9; w ri e s t “
P ee r xxx i 8
, 3
—33 ;1 2 ,
1 1 1 ,
2 1 2

G y t n , 5 9; l iv es a t L o ft h u s ; hi im it t
s 3 ; h w a ors, 1 2 o re
 INDEX 3 5 1

garded b y p ofession l sr a ,
1 34 patriotism 2 85 ; Norwegian ,

1 4 3; his aris o cra t ti c fo lk pol it ics and cha racteristics

86 —
,

m u sic , 39; 1 his popu lar ity ,

2 2 87 .

1 4 1 ; Norwe ian g sap , 1 4 2 ; Grieg, J o n,h 33 .

—
last yea s 5 9; S ixt i th r , 1 44 1 e Grieg, Nina: 4 1 ) 74 : 96 :
bi t hd y 4 4 ; and th K ise
r a 1 —1 1
, e a r, 1 1 1 5 .

1 44 ,
1 4 8, 1 6 4 ; w hy contin u ed Gro v e, Sir Geor ge , 98 .

to gi e con cer s, v t 1 4 9; good

h u m ou r at acciden t ,
1 5 1 ; pop u Hadow, W H , 1 2 9, . . 2 36 .

larity in Be r in , l 1 52 ; kd as e l
Ha e, P , 2 5 6, 3 05. .

to w rite corona ti on m arch ,

ll
Ha in g dance, 1 1 8 .

1 53; l v o e of beau t if l w u om en, Ha lv orsen , J .

,
65 , 1 61 ,
1 92 ,
2 5 6 .

“
1 53; m anne rism and p e r Ham m e rik , A , . 2 69 .

sonality , 1 54 ; pop u larit y in Hansen , W .

,
2 67 .

L on don 5 4 ; his ea rn in gs,

,
1 Hanslick , E .
,
1 1 0, 1 70, 1 8 7, 1 99 .

1 55 , 1 5 6 ; ho rror o f sea sick Harm ony, 8, 2 1 5 ( see D isso

ness, 1 5 6 ; lik es o s e rs, 1 5 6 ; yt nan ces ) .

row in l ki g
g and wa n ,
1 5 7; Haydn and fo lk m - u sic, 1 2 9 .

dea t h 5 9; b l v d
,
1 e o e ,
1 5 9; Hartm ann , J P E , 2 72 . . . .

fu nera l 6 —64 ; t m b ,
1 0 1 o ,
1 65 ; Hin rich se n , 1 4 4 , 1 4 7 .

as orc hest rator 1 66 ; and ,

“
l
Ho be rg S u i e, 1 6 7, 1 86 , t 2 2 8 .

Se id l ,
1 90 ; hea lthy m ind ,
H u m orou s part son s, 2 g 50 .

2 1 1 ; Norwegian ism , 2 1 2 ; Hu ne ke r,
J .
,
xxx iv .

“ ”
m anne rism s, 2 1 4; on har
m on y ,
2 1 4 ; his “
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posth u m ou s songs 2 68 ; vari ,

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e ty of m oods, 2 69 ; artis ic t
creed, 2 71 ; h is v t ir u es, 2 71 ; Lan dsightin g, 2 49 .

pl easu re of crea ing, t 2 83 ; Lane, J ,

xx xxv ii ,
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Norwe gian gen iu ses 60 ; charac ,

R Ontgen , J u li u s, xxxv , ,
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terist ics, 2 86 ; pol it ics ,

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2 00 ,

Norw egian m u sic, se e Fo lk 2 01 ,

2 02 ,
2 03 , 2 1 4 ,
2 2 0, 2 3 7,
m u sic . 2 4 0, 2 5 8, 2 81 ,
2 85 .