Brief biography of Edward Grieg. Edward Grieg. at perfect heights What instrument did Grieg play?

Grieg was a brilliant composer national type. He did not so much use folklore as he tried to capture in his work the atmosphere of Norway and its landscapes. He developed specific melodic and harmonic techniques, which, perhaps, he sometimes abused.

Grieg, Edvard Hagerup (1843–1907), major Norwegian composer. Born June 15, 1843 in Bergen. His father, a merchant and British consul in Bergen, came from the Scottish family Greig. At the age of six, Edward began studying music with his mother. On the advice of the famous Norwegian violinist W. Bull, fifteen-year-old Grieg was sent to study at the Leipzig Conservatory. Conservatory studies did not have a decisive impact on the artistic individuality of the musician; Of much greater importance was Grieg’s acquaintance with the young Norwegian composer, author of the national anthem R. Nurdrock (1842–1866), which took place in 1863, after returning from Germany. “The veils fell from my eyes,” Grieg later said, “and only thanks to Nordrok I became acquainted with Norwegian folk melodies and realized myself.” Having united, the young musicians began a campaign against the “sluggish” Scandinavian music of N. Gade, who was influenced by F. Mendelssohn, and set as their goal the creation of a stronger and more original “Northern style”. In 1865, Grieg fell ill with tuberculosis and was forced to leave for Italy. There he regained his strength, but throughout his subsequent life he was not in good health. In Rome, Grieg became friends with the then middle-aged F. Liszt, who expressed complete delight at the magnificent piano concerto in A minor (1868) composed by the Norwegian. Upon returning home, Grieg conducted for some time symphony concerts in Christiania (now Oslo), founded the Norwegian Academy of Music there (1867). Since 1873, he gained financial independence thanks to a state scholarship and fees for essays and was able to devote himself entirely to creativity. In 1885 he settled in Trollhaugen, a beautiful country villa near Bergen, which he left only during concert trips. Grieg performed in France, England, Germany, Poland and Hungary and was highly respected both abroad and in home country. Cambridge and Oxford universities awarded him an honorary doctorate of music; he was elected a member of the Institute of France and the Berlin Academy. In 1898, Grieg organized the first Norwegian music festival in Bergen, which had big success. Grieg's death on September 4, 1907 was mourned by all of Norway. His remains were buried in a rock not far from the composer’s beloved home.

Grieg was a composer of a clearly national type. He did not so much use folklore as he tried to capture in his work the atmosphere of Norway and its landscapes. He developed specific melodic and harmonic techniques, which, perhaps, he sometimes abused. Therefore, Grieg was especially successful in small, predominantly lyrical instrumental forms, in which most of his piano and orchestral pieces were written, as well as the song genre. Ten notebooks of Lyric pieces for piano (Lyriske Stykker, 1867–1901) are the pinnacle of the composer’s work. Grieg's songs, numbering 240, were written mainly for the composer's wife Nina Hagerup, an excellent singer who sometimes performed with her husband in concerts. They are distinguished by their depth of expressiveness and subtle rendering of the poetic text. Although Grieg is most convincing in miniature, he also showed his talent in chamber instrumental cycles and created three violin sonatas (Op. 8, F major, 1865; Op. 13, G minor, 1867; Op. 45, C minor, 1886– 1887), Cello Sonata in A minor (Op. 36, 1882) and String Quartet in G minor (Op. 27, 1877–1878).

Among Grieg's most famous works are the above-mentioned piano concerto and the music for Ibsen's drama Peer Gynt (1876). It was originally intended for a piano duet, but was later orchestrated and collected into two suites consisting of small character pieces (op. 46 and 55). Parts such as the Death of Uzzah, Anitra's Dance, In the Cave of the Mountain King, the Arabian Dance and Solveig's Song are distinguished by exceptional beauty and perfection of artistic form. Among the works, which, like the music to Peer Gynt, exist in two versions - piano (four hands) and colorful orchestral, one can name the concert overture in Autumn (I Hst, op. 11, 1865; new orchestration - 1887), three orchestral pieces from the music to the tragedy of B. Bjornson Sigurd the Crusader (Sigurd Jorsalfar, op. 22, 1879; op. 56, 1872, second edition - 1892), Norwegian dances (op. 35, 1881) and Symphonic dances (op. 64, 1898) . Arrangements of Grieg's most famous melodies were used in the popular operetta Song of Norway, which appeared in the 1940s, based on the composer's life story.

Date of birth: June 15, 1843
Place of birth: Bergen
Country: Norway
Date of death: September 4, 1907

Edvard Hagerup Grieg (June 15, 1843 – September 4, 1907) was a Norwegian composer, pianist, conductor and musical figure of the Romantic period. The most famous Norwegian composer, his work was formed under the influence of national Norwegian culture. The most famous compositions of Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor op. 16, music for the play "Peer Gynt" (including the compositions "In the Cave of the Mountain King" and "Morning Mood"), piano miniatures "Lyrical Pieces" and Norwegian songs.

Edvard Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway on June 15, 1843. His ancestors were from Scotland who settled in Norway in the 1770s. Edward's father was a merchant and American diplomat in Bergen, his mother Gesina Hagerup was a good pianist who graduated from the Leipzig Conservatory, and their family had five children. Mother taught music to Edvard Grieg and his brothers and sisters from the very beginning. early age. Grieg studied at a comprehensive school, already at school he began to compose his compositions and showed them to the teacher, the latter did not pay attention to it.

The first and most important musician who became interested in Edward's work was a family friend, the famous Norwegian violin player Ole Bull. In the summer of 1858, Bull visited the Griegs and Edward played several of his works. Bull convinced his parents to send the boy to Leipzig, Germany, to study music. So, at the age of 15, Edvard Grieg entered the Leipzig Conservatory, founded by Felix Mendelssohn.

His first teacher at the conservatory was Louis Plaidy, who gravitated toward early classicism and was completely at odds with Grieg’s aspirations; he asked to be transferred to another teacher. Grieg did not like the conservatory course of study, but in general the professors noted his talent and he had excellent grades in most subjects, with the exception of organ, which is compulsory for piano students. Edvard Grieg gave his first solo concert in Karlshamn, Sweden, in 1861. After graduating from the conservatory, in 1862, he returned to his hometown of Bergen and held another recital.

However, for creative improvement, Grieg needed a more musically developed city than Bergen, and in 1863 he went to Copenhagen - the center musical life Scandinavia. The three years spent in Copenhagen were filled with many events important for Grieg's creative life. Firstly, here he met many leading Scandinavian representatives of literature and music. He communicated with the writer Hans Christian Andersen and the Norwegian poet Andreas Munch, Grieg wrote songs based on their texts, and with the Danish composers Johann Hartmann and Niels Gade. Niels Gade supported the young composer and ordered a symphony from Grieg. Grieg began creating this work several times, but it was completed much later. In Copenhagen, Grieg met and became friends with the Norwegian composer Rikard Nurdrok, the author of the official anthem of Norway, who was the same age as Grieg. Their musical discussions led to Grieg abandoning the creative direction of German romanticism and turning to Norwegian folk traditions. During his life in Copenhagen, Grieg created many works - a sonata for piano and violin, "Poetic Pictures", "Humoresques" and others, which clearly demonstrate his movement towards Norwegian motifs. Grieg and Noordrok were together the founders of the musical society of Norwegian musicians "Euterpe" and when Noordrok died in 1866 at the age of 23, Grieg dedicated a funeral work to him.

The second important event in Grieg's Copenhagen life was the meeting with his future wife Nina Hagerup. Nina was Grieg's cousin and during her childhood their family lived in Bergen, but now she has grown up to become a beautiful woman and a singer with a beautiful voice. Grieg fell in love with her and, despite the protests of all relatives, they got married in 1967. In 1968, their only daughter was born, who died a year later from meningitis. This was a heavy blow for the family, but they continued to live, work and perform together throughout their lives, although sometimes there were disagreements and they lived separately several times. Edward considered her best performer their songs.

At the end of 1966, Edvard Grieg organized a concert in the capital of Norway, Christiania (Oslo). Norwegian composers, this allowed him to next year, after the wedding, move to Oslo and become conductor of the Christian Philharmonic Society. This is where the first one began creative stage in the composer's life, which lasted until 1874 and brought him many musical and composer victories. Grieg increasingly immersed himself in Norwegian heritage and folklore, resulting in the cycle “Norwegian Folk Songs and Dances for Piano” (1869), during the same period he created his famous Piano Concerto in A minor op. 16 (1868), the second sonata for piano and violin (1867), the first notebook of "Lyric Pieces", many songs and more. As the orchestra's conductor, he significantly expanded the ensemble's repertoire, performing both works by leading world composers and Scandinavian ones. Trying to increase musical activity in the city, Grieg, together with Johan Svensen, organized a society of performing musicians, designed to identify and support creative possibilities Norwegian musicians. He maintained contact with other European composers, so in 1969-1970 Grieg went on tour to Italy, where he first met Franz Liszt, the idol of his youth, and subsequently Grieg gave Liszt some of his works for evaluation and performance.

In the early 1870s, Grieg turned to opera, however, his plans did not come true, mainly due to the lack of traditions of opera culture and strong librettists in Norway. He wrote musical fragments for several operas, but did not complete them entirely.

In 1874, Grieg received an offer from the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen to write music for a production of the drama Peer Gynt. Grieg was an admirer of this writer’s talent and had long strived to create a major musical and dramatic work; he set to work with enthusiasm.

The premiere of "Peer Gynt" took place on February 14, 1876 in Christiania and was a great success; Grieg's music became famous in Europe. The composer leaves the post of conductor in Christiania, moves to a secluded area among the nature of Norway and begins concert activity - the second creative stage in his life opens. Grieg changed several places and stopped in the mountains, not far from his hometown of Bergen, he called his estate Trollhaugen (“troll hill”) and fell in love with it very much. The mountains and fjords of Norway gave Grieg new ideas and strength to create new masterpieces; in his words, they gave “healing and new vital energy,” and he went on tour “as a new and better person.”

Since 1878, Grieg has lived as a free artist and systematically toured various European countries with his works. He performs as a pianist, conductor, and accompanies his wife Nina Hagerup, who performs his songs. Initially, for his many short piano pieces, he was given the nickname "Northern Chopin", until his name stood on a par with the great composers of the time. Numerous trips led to the establishment of connections with many musicians from other countries. In 1888 in Leipzig he met P.I. Tchaikovsky, who highly appreciated the beauty, originality and warmth of Grieg's music.

In the early 1880s, Grieg experienced a creative midlife crisis, no compositions were composed, family life fell apart, he and his wife, gradually moving away from each other, separated completely for several months in 1883, until friends persuaded them to unite, as a sign of trying on Edvard Grieg and Nina Hagerup went on tour to Rome.

In the 1890s, Edvard Grieg continued to tour actively, as much as his health allowed; while still at the conservatory, he suffered from pleurisy and lung problems worsened during this period. In his composing work, Grieg paid attention to piano music and songs. From 1891 to 1901, Grieg wrote six notebooks of Lyric Pieces. Several vocal cycles by Grieg date back to the same years, which he considered his best works, the cycle folk music"Norwegian Folk Melodies" and the Last Major orchestral work Grieg "Symphonic Dances" (1898).

Grieg's merits were recognized all over the world, he became an honorary doctor of the Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and was awarded by many state awards. Edvard Grieg died on September 4, 1907, at the age of 64 after a long illness. About 40,000 people came out to the composer's funeral on the streets of Bremen to see him off on his last journey; in accordance with his last wish, the funeral march he wrote for Rikard Noordrok was performed.

Selected works of Edvard Grieg:

Piano Sonata in E minor, Op.7 (1865)
Sonata No. 1 in F major, op.8 (1865)
Concert overture "In Autumn", op.11 (1865)
Sonata No. 2 in G major, Op.13 (1871)
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16
Musical accompaniment to Henrik Ibsen's play "Peer Gynt", op.23 (1874-1875)
Ballad in the form of variations on Norwegian folk songs in G minor, op.24
String Quartet in G minor, Op.27 (1878)
Album for male singing (12 choirs), op.30
Two Elegiac Melodies for Strings, Op.34
Norwegian dances for piano four hands, op.35
Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36
Suite "From the Times of Holberg", op.40
Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45 (1886)
Suite "Peer Gynt" No. 1, op.46
Lyric Suite for Orchestra, Op.54 (orchestration of four Lyric Pieces)
Suite "Peer Gynt" No. 1, op.55
Suite "Sigurd Yrsalfar", op.56
Symphonic Dances for piano (later arranged for orchestra), op.64
"Girl from the Mountains", song cycle with lyrics by Arne Garborg, Op. 67 (1896-1898)
Slatter of the Peasants (dances) for piano, Op. 72
Sixty-six Lyric pieces for piano in ten books, op.12, 38, 43, 47, 54, 57, 62, 65, 68 and 71.

The famous Norwegian composer Edvard Hagerup Grieg, born on June 15, 1843 in Bergen (Norway), was in love with music since childhood. Born into a merchant family, he was not devoid of musical talent. His mother, Gesina Hagerup, was a pianist and taught Edward to play the piano from the age of 4.

Edvard Grieg

In his memoirs, Grieg describes his feelings from the first touch of the piano as a mysterious and inexplicable joy that gripped him. According to him, he found in music not a melody, but the very harmony of life. He felt jubilant and delighted. He said that no subsequent successes brought him such intoxication.

Grieg's first composition was variations on German melodies. A decisive role in Grieg’s musical life was played by Ole Bull, the “Norwegian Paganini,” on whose advice the family agreed to allow the young composer to enter the Leipzig Conservatory.

Although Grieg graduated from the conservatory with excellent marks, his health was undermined by a cold that turned into pleurisy. Even after careful treatment, he lived his life with tuberculosis.

Grieg married his cousin, Nina Hagerup, with whom he fell in love at a meeting after many years of separation, seeing all the beauty of love in the young girl. They had a daughter, but soon she left this world, leaving her parents in inconsolable grief. Grieg gave all his love for his daughter to local children, walking with them in the forests of Trollhaugen, telling them fairy tales and legends. Edward wrote the music for the drama “Peer Gynt” alone, embodying in it all the experiences from the death of his daughter.

Edvard Grieg's music is full of romanticism and love, and in some works the spirit of Norway is felt. Many of his works have become beloved throughout the world. To this day, his music can be heard in favorite cartoons and musical performances. Grieg's popular works were:

• “In the Cave of the Mountain King” - composition for Henrik Ibsen’s play “Peer Gynt” (1876);
• “Morning” – written for the first suite “Peer Gynt”;
• "Anitra's Dance" and "Solveig's Song" from the same play;
• “The Heart of a Poet” or “Melodies of the Heart” written to the poems of H. H. Andersen (1864) and many others.

Grieg often made concert trips to France, Germany, Sweden, England and Holland, performing as a conductor and pianist, accompanying his wife.

Edvard Grieg

But his health was deteriorating and during one of his concert trips he became worse. Died great composer September 4, 1907. His ashes were buried in a rock near a villa in Trollhaugen. Later a house museum was founded there. The composer's death was celebrated in Norway with national mourning.

Edvard Grieg's music captivates with its beauty, amazing variations and sensuality, becoming for many of his admirers the embodiment of love in music.

Edvard Grieg brief information.

Author's program by Artem Vargaftik. In Copenhagen, a lot of important and a lot of bitter things happened in the life of Edvard Grieg. He not only worked there, played, learned to perform as a conductor and gained performing experience, but also sought strength to survive the loss of his only child. In addition, the sources to which the composer’s music constantly refers are easiest to find in Denmark, and not in his homeland in Norway.

Note: of course, the quality of the video leaves much to be desired, but in the absence of a better one, I’m posting this version. In my opinion, even this quality of the video will not prevent you from enjoying A. Vargaftik’s story, stunning in form and content, about the outstanding Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.

Format: wmv
Size: 110 Mb
Duration: 25 min

Biography of Grieg

Grieg, Edvard (1843-1907), Norway

Edvard Hagerup Grieg (Norwegian Edvard Hagerup Grieg; June 15, 1843 - September 4, 1907) was a Norwegian composer of the Romantic period, musical figure, pianist, and conductor. Grieg's work was formed under the influence of Norwegian folk culture.

Edvard Grieg was born and spent his youth in Bergen. The city was famous for its national creative traditions, especially in the field of theater: Henrik Ibsen and Björnstjerne Björnson began their activities here. Ole Bull was born and lived in Bergen for a long time, who was the first to notice Edward’s musical gift (who had been composing music since he was 12 years old) and advised his parents to enroll him in the Leipzig Conservatory, which happened in the summer of 1858.

One of Grieg’s most famous works is considered to be the second suite - “Peer Gynt”, which included the plays: “Ingrid’s Complaint”, “Arabian Dance”, “Peer Gynt’s Return to His Homeland”, “Solveig’s Song”, “Anitra’s Dance”, " ""In the Cave of the Mountain King," ""Morning""

The dramatic piece is “Ingrid’s Complaint,” one of the dance tunes that was played at the wedding of Edvard Grieg and Nina Hagerup, who was the composer’s cousin. The marriage of Nina Hagerup and Edvard Grieg gave the spouses a daughter, Alexandra, who died of meningitis after one year of life, which caused the cooling of relations between the spouses.

Grieg published 637 songs and romances. About twenty more of Grieg's plays were published posthumously. In his lyrics, he turned almost exclusively to the poets of Denmark and Norway, and occasionally to German poetry (G. Heine, A. Chamisso, L. Uland). The composer showed interest in Scandinavian literature, and in particular in the literature of his native language.

Grieg died in hometown- Bergen - September 4, 1907 in Norway. The composer is buried in the same grave with his wife Nina Hagerup.

Childhood

Gesina Hagerup - mother of Edvard Grieg

Alexander Grieg - father of Edvard Grieg

Edvard Grieg was born on June 15, 1843 in Bergen. On the paternal side, the family descended from the Scottish merchant Alexander Grieg, who moved to Bergen around 1770 and for some time served as British vice-consul in that city. The post of British representative in Bergen was inherited first by the grandfather and then by the composer’s father, also Alexander Grieg. Edward's grandfather John Grieg played in the Bergen orchestra and married the daughter of its chief conductor, Nils Haslund. The composer's mother, Gesina Hagerup, was a pianist who graduated from the Hamburg Conservatory, which usually accepted only men. Edward, his brother and three sisters were taught music from childhood, as was customary in wealthy families. The future composer first sat down at the piano at the age of four. At the age of ten, Grieg was sent to secondary school. However, his interests lay in a completely different area, in addition, the boy’s independent character often pushed him to deceive his teachers. As the composer's biographers say, in elementary school, Edward, having learned that students who got wet in the frequent rains in his homeland were sent home to change into dry clothes, Edward began to deliberately wet their clothes on the way to school. Since he lived far from school, classes were just ending when he returned.

early years

Ole Bull - the man who determined Grieg's fate

The first musician to whom Grieg played a couple of his own compositions on the piano was Ole Bull. Listening to the music, the usually smiling Ole suddenly became serious and quietly said something to Alexander and Gesina. Then he approached the boy and announced: “You are going to Leipzig to become a composer!” The years spent in Copenhagen were marked by many events important for Grieg's creative life. First of all, Grieg is in close contact with Scandinavian literature and art. He meets its prominent representatives, for example, the famous Danish poet and storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. This draws the composer into the mainstream of the national culture close to him. Grieg writes songs based on texts by Andersen and the Norwegian romantic poet Andreas Munch.

Thus, fifteen-year-old Edvard Grieg ended up at the Leipzig Conservatory. In the new educational institution, founded by Felix Mendelssohn, Grieg was far from happy with everything: for example, his first piano teacher, Louis Plaidy, with his inclination towards the music of the early classical period, turned out to be so dissonant with Grieg that he turned to the administration of the conservatory with a request for a transfer (to Grieg later studied with Ernst Ferdinand Wenzel, Moritz Hauptmann, Ignaz Moscheles). Afterwards, the gifted student went to the Gewandhaus concert hall, where he listened to the music of Schumann, Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner. “I was able to listen to a lot of good music in Leipzig, especially chamber and orchestral music“,” Grieg later recalled. Edvard Grieg graduated from the Conservatory in 1862 with excellent grades, acquired knowledge, mild pleurisy and a purpose in life. According to the professors, during his years of study he showed himself to be “an extremely significant musical talent,” especially in the field of composition, and also as an outstanding “pianist with his characteristic thoughtful and expressive manner of performance.” Music became his destiny from now on and forever. That same year, in the Swedish city of Karlshamn, he gave his first concert.

Life in Copenhagen

After graduating from the conservatory, the educated musician Edvard Grieg returned to Bergen with a burning desire to work in his homeland. However, Grieg's stay in his hometown this time was short-lived. The talent of the young musician could not be improved in the conditions of the poorly developed musical culture of Bergen. In 1863, Grieg traveled to Copenhagen, the center of musical life in what was then Scandinavia.

In Copenhagen, Grieg found an interpreter of his works, singer Nina Hagerup, who soon became his wife. The creative collaboration of Edward and Nina Grieg continued throughout their entire life together. The subtlety and artistry with which the singer performed Grieg's songs and romances were the high criterion for their artistic embodiment, which the composer always had in mind when creating his vocal miniatures.

The desire of young composers to develop national music was expressed not only in their creativity, in the connection of their music with folk music, but also in the promotion of Norwegian music. In 1864, in collaboration with Danish musicians, Grieg and Rikard Noordrok organized the musical society "Euterpe", which was supposed to introduce the public to the works of Scandinavian composers. This was the beginning of great musical, social and educational activities. During his years in Copenhagen (1863-1866), Grieg wrote many musical works: “Poetic Pictures” and “Humoresques”, a piano sonata and the first violin sonata. With each new work, Grieg's image as a Norwegian composer emerges more clearly.

In the lyrical work “Poetic Pictures” (1863) they very timidly make their way national traits. The rhythmic figure underlying the third piece is often found in Norwegian folk music; it became characteristic of many of Grieg's melodies. The graceful and simple outlines of the melody in the fifth “picture” are reminiscent of some of the folk songs. In the lush genre sketches of “Humoresques” (1865), the sharp rhythms of folk dances and harsh harmonic combinations sound much more boldly; Lydian fret coloring, characteristic of folk music, is found. However, in “Humoresques” one can still feel the influence of Chopin (his mazurkas), a composer whom Grieg, by his own admission, “adored.” At the same time as the Humoresques, the piano and first violin sonatas appeared. The drama and impetuosity characteristic of the piano sonata seem to be a somewhat external reflection of Schumann's romance. But the bright lyricism, anthemic nature, and bright colors of the violin sonata reveal the figurative structure typical of Grieg.

Personal life

Nina Hagerup and Edvard Grieg during their engagement

Edvard Grieg and Nina Hagerup grew up together in Bergen, but as an eight-year-old girl, Nina moved to Copenhagen with her parents. When Edward saw her again, she was already a grown girl. A childhood friend turned into a beautiful woman, a singer with a beautiful voice, as if created for performing Grieg’s plays. Previously in love only with Norway and music, Edward felt that he was losing his mind with passion. At Christmas 1864, in a salon where young musicians and composers gathered, Grieg presented Nina with a collection of sonnets about love, called “Melodies of the Heart,” and then knelt down and offered to become his wife. She extended her hand to him and agreed.

However, Nina Hagerup was Edward's cousin. His relatives turned their backs on him, his parents cursed him. Against all odds, they married in July 1867 and, unable to endure pressure from their relatives, moved to Oslo.

The first year of marriage was typical for a young family - happy, but difficult materially. Grieg composed, Nina performed his works. Edward had to get a job as a conductor and teach piano in order to save the family's financial situation. In 1868, they had a daughter, who was named Alexandra. A year later, the girl will get meningitis and die. What happened put an end to the future happy life families. After the death of her daughter, Nina withdrew into herself. However, the couple continued their joint concert activities and went on tour together to Italy. One of those who heard his works in Italy was the famous composer Franz Liszt, whom Grieg admired in his youth. Liszt appreciated the talent of the twenty-seven-year-old composer and invited him to a private meeting. After listening to the piano concert, the sixty-year-old composer approached Edward, squeezed his hand and said: “Keep up the good work, you have all the data for this. Don’t let yourself be intimidated!” “It was something like a blessing,” Grieg later wrote.

In 1872, Grieg wrote Sigurd the Crusader, his first significant play, after which the Swedish Academy of Arts recognized his merits, and the Norwegian authorities awarded him a lifelong scholarship. But world fame tired the composer and the confused and tired Grieg left for his native Bergen, away from the hubbub of the capital.

Alone, Grieg wrote his main work - the music for Henrik Ibsen's drama Peer Gynt. It embodied his experiences of that time. The melody “In the Cave of the Mountain King” (1) reflected the frantic spirit of Norway, which the composer loved to show in his works. In “The Arabian Dance” one recognized the world of hypocritical European cities, full of intrigue, gossip and betrayal. The final episode - "Solveig's Song", a piercing and moving melody - spoke of what was lost and forgotten and not forgiven.

Death

Unable to get rid of heartache, Grieg went into creativity. Due to the dampness in his native Bergen, pleurisy worsened, and there was a fear that it could develop into tuberculosis. Nina Hagerup moved further and further away. The slow agony lasted eight years: in 1883 she left Edward. Edward lived alone for three long months. But old friend Franz Beyer convinced the composer to meet his wife again. “There are so few truly close people in the world,” he told his lost friend.

Edvard Grieg and Nina Hagerup reunited and, as a sign of reconciliation, went on tour to Rome, and upon their return they sold their house in Bergen, buying a wonderful estate in the suburbs, which Grieg called “Trollhaugen” - “Troll Hill”. This was the first house that Grieg really loved.

Over the years, Grieg became more and more withdrawn. He had little interest in life - he left his home only for the sake of the tour. Edward and Nina visited Paris, Vienna, London, Prague, and Warsaw. During each performance, Grieg kept a clay frog in his jacket pocket. Before the start of each concert, he always took her out and stroked her back. The talisman worked: every time the concerts were an unimaginable success.

In 1887, Edward and Nina Hagerup were again in Leipzig. They were invited to celebrate the New Year by the outstanding Russian violinist Adolf Brodsky (later the first performer of Grieg's Third Violin Sonata). In addition to Grieg, two more eminent guests were present - Johann Brahms and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The latter became a close friend of the couple, and a lively correspondence began between the composers. Later, in 1905, Edward wanted to come to Russia, but chaos prevented this Russo-Japanese War and the composer's ill health. In 1889, in protest against the Dreyfus affair, Grieg canceled a performance in Paris.

More and more often, Grieg had problems with his lungs, and it became more difficult to go on tour. Despite this, Grieg continued to create and strive for new goals. In 1907, the composer was planning to go to a music festival in England. He and Nina stayed in a small hotel in their hometown of Bergen to wait for the ship to London. There Edward became worse and had to go to hospital. Edvard Grieg died in his hometown on September 4, 1907.

Musical and creative activities

The first period of creativity. 1866—1874

From 1866 to 1874 this intense period of musical performing and composing work continued. Closer to the autumn of 1866, in the capital of Norway, Christiania, Edvard Grieg organized a concert that sounded like a report on the achievements of Norwegian composers. Then the piano and violin sonatas of Grieg, songs of Nurdrok and Hjerulf (to texts by Bjornson and others) were performed. This concert allowed Grieg to become the conductor of the Christian Philharmonic Society. Grieg devoted eight years of his life in Christiania to hard work, which brought him many creative victories. Grieg's conducting activities were in the nature of musical enlightenment. The concerts featured symphonies by Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann, works by Schubert, oratorios by Mendelssohn and Schumann, and excerpts from Wagner's operas. Grieg paid great attention to the performance of works by Scandinavian composers.

In 1871, together with Johan Svensen, Grieg organized a society of performing musicians, designed to increase the activity of the city's concert life and to reveal the creative potential of Norwegian musicians. Significant for Grieg was his rapprochement with the leading representatives of Norwegian poetry, literary prose. It included the composer in the general movement for national culture. Grieg's creativity in these years reached full maturity. He wrote a piano concerto (1868) and a second sonata for violin and piano (1867), the first notebook of “Lyric Pieces,” which became his favorite type of piano music. Many songs were written by Grieg in those years, among them wonderful songs based on texts by Andersen, Bjornson, and Ibsen.

While in Norway, Grieg came into contact with the world of folk art, which became the source of his own creativity. In 1869, the composer first became acquainted with the classic collection of Norwegian musical folklore, compiled by the famous composer and folklorist L. M. Lindeman (1812-1887). The immediate result of this was Grieg's cycle of Norwegian Folk Songs and Dances for Piano. The images presented here: favorite folk dances - halling and springdance, a variety of comic and lyrical, labor and peasant songs. Academician B.V. Asafiev aptly called these arrangements “sketches of songs.” This cycle was a kind of creative laboratory for Grieg: coming into contact with folk songs, the composer found those methods of musical writing that were rooted in folk art itself. Only two years separate the second violin sonata from the first. Nevertheless, the Second Sonata “is distinguished by the richness and variety of themes and the freedom of their development,” music critics say.

The second sonata and piano concerto were highly praised by Liszt, who became one of the first promoters of the concert. In a letter to Grieg, Liszt wrote about the Second Sonata: “It testifies to a strong, deep, inventive, excellent compositional talent, which can only follow its own, natural path in order to achieve high perfection.” For a composer who was making his way in the musical arts, representing Norway's music on the European stage for the first time, Liszt's support was always a strong support.

In the early 70s, Grieg was busy thinking about opera. Musical dramas and theater became a great inspiration for him. Grieg's plans were not realized mainly because there were no traditions of operatic culture in Norway. In addition, the librettos promised to Grieg were not written. All that remained from the attempt to create an opera was the music for individual scenes of Bjornson’s unfinished libretto “Olav Trygvason” (1873), based on the legend of King Olav, who spread Christianity among the inhabitants of Norway in the 10th century. Grieg writes music for Björnson's dramatic monologue "Bergliot" (1871), which tells about the heroine of a folk saga, as well as music for the drama "Sigurd Yrsalfar" (the plot of an Old Icelandic saga) by the same author.

In 1874, Grieg received a letter from Ibsen with a proposal to write music for a production of the drama Peer Gynt. Collaboration with Norway's most talented writer was of great interest to the composer. By his own admission, Grieg was “a fanatical admirer of many of his poetic works, especially Peer Gynt.” Grieg’s ardent passion for Ibsen’s work coincided with his desire to create a major musical and theatrical work. During 1874, Grieg wrote music for Ibsen’s drama.

Second period. Concert activities. Europe. 1876—1888

The performance of Peer Gynt in Christiania on February 24, 1876 was a great success. Grieg's music began to become popular in Europe. A new creative period begins in the composer’s life. Grieg stops working as a conductor in Christiania. Grieg moves to a secluded area among the beautiful nature of Norway: first it is Lofthus, on the shore of one of the fiords, and then the famous Trollhaugen (“troll hill”, the name given to the place by Grieg himself), in the mountains, not far from his native Bergen. From 1885 until Grieg's death, Trollhaugen was the composer's main residence. In the mountains “healing and new vital energy” come, in the mountains “new ideas grow”, from the mountains Grieg returns “as a new and better person.” Grieg's letters often contained similar descriptions of the mountains and nature of Norway. This is what Grieg writes in 1897: “I saw such beauties of nature that I had no idea about... A huge chain of snow-capped mountains with fantastic shapes rose straight out of the sea, while the dawn was in the mountains, it was four o’clock in the morning, a bright summer night and the whole landscape It looked like it was stained with blood. It was unique!”

Songs written under the inspiration of Norwegian nature - “In the Forest”, “Hut”, “Spring”, “The Sea Shines in Bright Rays”, “Good Morning”.

Since 1878, Grieg has performed not only in Norway, but also in various European countries as a performer of his own works. Grieg's European fame is growing. Concert trips take on a systematic nature; they bring great pleasure to the composer. Grieg gives concerts in cities of Germany, France, England, Holland, and Sweden. He performs as a conductor and pianist, as an ensemble player, accompanying Nina Hagerup. A very modest person, Grieg in his letters notes “giant applause and countless challenges”, “colossal furor”, “giant success”. Grieg did not give up concert activity until the end of his days; in 1907 (the year of his death) he wrote: “Invitations to conduct are pouring in from all over the world!”

Grieg's numerous trips led to the establishment of connections with musicians from other countries. In 1888, a meeting between Grieg and P.I. Tchaikovsky took place in Leipzig. Having received an invitation in a year when Russia was at war with Japan, Grieg did not consider it possible for himself to accept it: “It is mysterious to me how you can invite a foreign artist to a country where almost every family mourns those who died in the war.” “It’s a shame that this had to happen. First of all, you need to be human. All true art grows only from man.” All of Grieg's activities in Norway are an example of pure and selfless service to his people.

The last period of musical creativity. 1890—1903

In the 1890s, Grieg's attention was most occupied with piano music and songs. From 1891 to 1901, Grieg wrote six notebooks of Lyric Pieces. Several of Grieg's vocal cycles date back to the same years. In 1894, he wrote in one of his letters: “I... think they are the best I have ever created.” The author of numerous adaptations of folk songs, a composer who has always been so closely associated with folk music, in 1896 the cycle “Norwegian Folk Melodies” is nineteen subtle genre sketches, poetic pictures of nature and lyrical statements. Grieg's last major orchestral work, Symphonic Dances (1898), was written on folk themes.

In 1903, a new cycle of arrangements of folk dances for piano appeared. IN last years life Grieg published a witty and lyrical autobiographical story“My first success” and a program article “Mozart and his significance for modern times.” They clearly expressed the composer's creative credo: the desire for originality, for defining his own style, his place in music. Despite his serious illness, Grieg continued creative activity until the end of life. In April 1907, the composer made a large concert tour of the cities of Norway, Denmark, and Germany.

Characteristics of the works

Lyrical plays

"Lyric Pieces" make up the majority of Grieg's piano work. Grieg's "Lyric Pieces" continues the type of chamber piano music represented by Schubert's "Musical Moments" and "Impromptu" and Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words". Spontaneity of expression, lyricism, expression of predominantly one mood in a piece, a penchant for small scales, simplicity and accessibility of artistic design and technical means are features of the romantic piano miniature, which are also characteristic of Grieg’s Lyric Pieces.

The lyrical pieces fully reflect the theme of the composer’s homeland, which he loved and revered so much. The theme of the Motherland is heard in the solemn “Native Song”, in the calm and majestic play “At the Motherland”, in the genre-lyrical sketch “To the Motherland”, in numerous folk dance plays conceived as genre and everyday sketches. The theme of the Motherland continues in Grieg’s magnificent “musical landscapes”, in the original motifs of folk fantasy plays (“Procession of the Dwarves”, “Kobold”).

Echoes of the composer's impressions are shown in works with lively titles. Such as “Bird”, “Butterfly”, “The Watchman’s Song”, written under the influence of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”), the composer’s musical porter - “Gade”, pages of lyrical statements “Arietta”, “Waltz-impromptu”, “Memoirs”) - this is the circle of images from the cycle of the composer’s homeland. Life impressions, covered with lyricism, the living feeling of the author, are the meaning of the composer’s lyrical works.

The features of the style of “lyric plays” are as varied as their content. Very many plays are characterized by extreme laconicism, meager and precise touches of miniature; but in some plays a desire for picturesqueness, a broad, contrasting composition is revealed (“Procession of the Dwarves”, “Gangar”, “Nocturne”). In some plays you can hear the subtlety of the chamber style (“Dance of the Elves”), others sparkle with bright colors and impress with the virtuoso brilliance of concert performance (“Wedding Day in Trollhaugen”).

“Lyrical plays” are distinguished by great genre diversity. Here we find elegy and nocturne, lullaby and waltz, song and arietta. Very often Grieg turns to the genres of Norwegian folk music (springdance, halling, gangar).

The principle of programmaticity gives artistic integrity to the cycle of “Lyric Pieces”. Each piece opens with a title that defines its poetic image, and in each piece one is struck by the simplicity and subtlety with which the “poetic task” is embodied in music. Already in the first notebook of “Lyric Pieces,” the artistic principles of the cycle were defined: the variety of content and lyrical tone of the music, attention to the themes of the Motherland and the connection of music with folk origins, laconicism and simplicity, clarity and grace of musical and poetic images.

The cycle opens with the light lyrical “Arietta”. An extremely simple, childishly pure and naive melody, only slightly “excited” by sensitive romance intonations, creates an image of youthful spontaneity and peace of mind. The expressive “ellipsis” at the end of the play (the song breaks off, “freezes” at the initial intonation, it seems that the thought has been carried away to other spheres), as a vivid psychological detail, creates a living sensation, a vision of the image. The melodic intonations and texture of “Arietta” reproduce the character of the vocal piece.

“Waltz” is distinguished by its striking originality. Against the background of a typically waltz accompaniment figure, an elegant and fragile melody with sharp rhythmic outlines appears. “Capricious” alternating accents, triplets on the downbeat of the bar, reproducing the rhythmic figure of spring dance, introduce a unique flavor of Norwegian music into the waltz. It is enhanced by the modal coloring (melodic minor) characteristic of Norwegian folk music.

“A Leaf from an Album” combines the spontaneity of lyrical feeling with the grace and “gallantry” of an album poem. In the artless melody of this piece one can hear the intonations of a folk song. But light, airy ornamentation imparts sophistication to this simple melody. Subsequent cycles of “Lyric Pieces” introduce new images and new artistic means. “Lullaby” from the second notebook of “Lyric Pieces” sounds like a dramatic scene. A smooth, calm melody consists of variants of a simple chant, as if growing out of a measured movement, swaying. With each new use of it, the feeling of peace and light intensifies.

“Gangar” is based on the development and variant repetitions of one theme. It is all the more interesting to note the figurative versatility of this play. The continuous, unhurried development of the melody corresponds to the character of the majestic smooth dance. The intonations of the pipes, woven into the melody, the long sustained bass (a detail of the folk instrumental style), the rigid harmonies (a chain of large seventh chords), sometimes sounding rough, “awkward” (as if a discordant ensemble of village musicians) - this gives the play a pastoral, rural flavor. But now new images appear: short powerful signals and response phrases of a lyrical nature. It is interesting that when the theme is figuratively changed, its metro-rhythmic structure remains unchanged. With a new version of the melody, new figurative facets appear in the reprise. Light sounding in a high register and clear tonicity give the theme a calm, contemplative, solemn character. Smoothly and gradually, singing each sound of the key, maintaining “purity” to major, the melody descends. The thickening of the register color and the intensification of the sound lead the light, transparent theme to a harsh, gloomy sound. It seems that there will be no end to this procession of melody. But with a sharp tonal shift (C-dur-As-dur) a new version is introduced: the theme sounds majestic, solemn, and precise.

“Procession of the Dwarves” is one of Grieg’s magnificent examples of musical fantasy. In the contrasting composition of the play, the whimsicality of the fairy-tale world is contrasted with each other, underground kingdom trolls and the enchanting beauty and clarity of nature. The play is written in three-part form. The outer parts are distinguished by their vivid dynamism: the fantastic outlines of a “procession” flash in the rapid movement. The musical means are extremely sparing: motor rhythm and against its background a whimsical and sharp pattern of metrical accents, syncopation; chromaticisms compressed in tonic harmony and scattered, harsh-sounding large seventh chords; “knocking” melody and sharp “whistling” melodic figures; dynamic contrasts (pp-ff) between two sentences of the period and wide leagues of rise and fall of sonority. The image of the middle part is revealed to the listener only after the fantastic visions have disappeared (a long A, from which a new melody seems to be pouring out). The light sound of the theme, simple in structure, is associated with the sound of a folk melody. Its clean, clear structure is reflected in simplicity and severity harmonic structure(alternating major tonic and its parallel).

“Wedding Day in Trollhaugen” is one of Grieg’s most joyful, jubilant works. In terms of brightness, “catchy” musical images, scale and virtuoso brilliance, it approaches the type of concert piece. Its character is most determined by the genre prototype: the movement of a march, a solemn procession lies at the heart of the play. How confidently and proudly the inviting ups and the chiseled rhythmic endings of melodic images sound. But the melody of the march is accompanied by a characteristic fifth bass, which adds simplicity and charm of rural flavor to its solemnity: the piece is full of energy, movement, bright dynamics - from muted tones, the spare transparent texture of the beginning to the sonorous ff, bravura passages, and a wide range of sound. The play is written in a complex three-part form. The solemn festive images of the extreme parts are contrasted with the gentle lyrics of the middle. Its melody, as if sung by a duet (the melody is imitated in an octave), is based on sensitive romance intonations. There are also contrasts in the extreme sections of the form, which are also tripartite. The middle evokes a dance scene with a contrast between energetic, courageous movement and light, graceful steps. A huge increase in the power of sound and movement activity leads to a bright, ringing reprise, to a culminating theme, as if lifted by the strong, powerful chords that preceded it.

The contrasting theme of the middle part, tense, dynamic, combining active, energetic intonations with elements of recitation, introduces notes of drama. After it, in a reprise, the main theme sounds like alarming cries. Its structure has been preserved, but it has taken on the character of a living statement; the tension of human speech can be heard in it. The gentle, lulling intonations at the top of this monologue turned into mournful, pathetic exclamations. In “Lullaby” Grieg managed to convey a whole range of feelings through the development of an extremely simple, laconic melody.

Romances and songs

Romances and songs are one of the main genres of Grieg’s work. Romances and songs were mostly written by the composer in his Trollhaugen Estate (Troll Hill). Grieg created romances and songs throughout his creative life. The first cycle of romances appeared in the year of graduation from the conservatory, and the last one very shortly before the composer’s creative career ended.

The passion for vocal lyricism and its wonderful flowering in Grieg’s work were largely associated with the flowering of Scandinavian poetry, which awakened the composer’s imagination. Poems by Norwegian and Danish poets form the basis of the vast majority of Grieg's romances and songs. Among poetic texts Grieg's songs - poems by Ibsen, Bjornson, Andersen.

In Grieg's songs he gets up Big world poetic images, impressions and feelings of a person. Pictures of nature, painted brightly and picturesquely, are present in the vast majority of songs, most often as the background of a lyrical image (“In the forest”, “Hut”, “The sea shines in bright rays”). The theme of the Motherland sounds in sublime lyrical hymns (“To Norway”), in the images of its people and nature (the song cycle “From the Rocks and Fiords”). A person’s life appears diverse in Grieg’s songs: with the purity of youth (“Margarita”), the joy of love (“I Love You”), the beauty of work (“Ingeborg”), with the suffering that comes along a person’s path (“Lullaby”, “Grief” mother"), with his thought of death ("The Last Spring"). But no matter what Grieg’s songs “sing” about, they always carry a feeling of the fullness and beauty of life. In Grieg's songwriting, various traditions of chamber music continue to live. vocal genre. Grieg has many songs based on a solid, broad melody that conveys the general character, general mood poetic text (“Good morning”, “Izbushka”). Along with such songs, there are also romances in which subtle musical declamation notes the nuances of feelings (“Swan”, “In Separation”). Grieg's ability to combine these two principles is peculiar. Without violating the integrity of the melody and generality artistic image Grieg, with the expressiveness of individual intonations, successfully found strokes of the instrumental part, and the subtlety of harmonic and modal coloring, is able to concretize and make tangible the details of the poetic image.

In the early period of his work, Grieg often turned to the poetry of the great Danish poet and storyteller Andersen. In his poems, the composer found poetic images consonant with his own system of feelings: the happiness of love, which reveals to man the endless beauty of the surrounding world and nature. In the songs based on Andersen's texts, Grieg's characteristic type of vocal miniature was determined; song melody, verse form, generalized transmission of poetic images. All this allows us to classify such works as “In the Forest” and “The Hut” as a song genre (but not a romance). With a few bright and precise musical touches, Grieg introduces living, “visible” details of the image. The national character of the melody and harmonic colors gives a special charm to Grieg's songs.

“In the Forest” is a kind of nocturne, a song about love, about the magical beauty of night nature. The speed of movement, lightness and transparency of sound determine the poetic appearance of the song. The melody, broad and freely developing, naturally combines impetuosity, scherzo and soft lyrical intonations. Subtle shades of dynamics, expressive changes of mode (variability), mobility of melodic intonations, sometimes lively and light, sometimes sensitive, sometimes bright and jubilant, accompaniment that sensitively follows the melody - all this gives figurative versatility to the whole melody, emphasizing the poetic colors of the verse. A light musical touch in the instrumental introduction, interlude and conclusion creates an imitation of forest voices and birdsong.

“Izbushka” is a musical and poetic idyll, a picture of happiness and the beauty of human life in the lap of nature. The genre basis of the song is barcarolle. Calm movement, uniform rhythmic swaying perfectly corresponds to the poetic mood (serenity, peace) and the picturesqueness of the verse (movement and bursts of waves). The punctuated accompaniment rhythm, unusual for barcarolle, frequent in Grieg and characteristic of Norwegian folk music, imparts clarity and elasticity to the movement.

“First Meeting” is one of the most poetic pages of Grieg’s song lyrics. An image close to Grieg - the fullness of lyrical feeling, equal to the feeling that nature and art gives to a person - is embodied in music full of peace, purity, sublimity. A single melody, broad, freely developing, “embraces” the entire poetic text. But the motives and phrases of the melody reflect its details. Naturally woven into the vocal part is the motif of a horn playing with a muted minor repetition - like a distant echo. The initial phrases, “floating” around long foundations, based on stable tonic harmony, on static plagal phrases, with the beauty of chiaroscuro, recreate the mood of peace and contemplation, the beauty that the poem breathes. But the conclusion of the song, based on wide spills of melody, with gradually increasing “waves” of melody, with the gradual “conquest” of the melodic peak, with intense melodic moves, reflects the brightness and strength of emotions.

“Good morning” is a bright hymn to nature, full of joy, jubilation. Bright D major, fast tempo, clearly rhythmic, dance-like, energetic movement, a single melodic line for the entire song, directed to the top and culminating in a climax - all these simple and bright musical means are complemented by subtle expressive details: elegant “vibrato”, “decorations” of the melody, as if ringing in the air (“the forest is ringing, the bumblebee is buzzing”); variant repetition of part of the melody (“the sun has risen”) in a different, tonally brighter sound; short melodic upswings with a stop at a major third, increasingly intensifying in sound; bright “fanfare” in the piano conclusion. Among Grieg's songs, a cycle based on poems by G. Ibsen stands out. The lyrical and philosophical content, mournful, concentrated images seem unusual against the general light background of Grieg's songs. The best of Ibsen’s songs is “The Swan” - one of the peaks of Grieg’s work. Beauty, the power of the creative spirit and the tragedy of death - this is the symbolism of Ibsen’s poem. Musical images, like poetic texts, are distinguished by their utmost laconicism. The contours of the melody are determined by the expressiveness of the recitation of the verse. But the spare intonations and intermittent free-declamatory phrases grow into a solid melody, unified and continuous in its development, harmonious in form (the song is written in three-part form). The measured movement and low mobility of the melody at the beginning, the severity of the texture of the accompaniment and harmony (the expressiveness of the plagal turns of the minor subdominant) create a feeling of grandeur and peace. Emotional stress in the middle part is achieved with even greater concentration, “stinginess” musical means. Harmony freezes on dissonant sounds. A measured, calm melodic phrase achieves drama, increasing the height and strength of the sound, highlighting the peak, final intonation with repetitions. The beauty of the tonal play in the reprise, with the gradual enlightenment of the register coloring, is perceived as a triumph of light and peace.

Grieg wrote many songs based on poems by the Norwegian peasant poet Osmund Vinje. Among them is one of the composer’s masterpieces - the song “Spring”. The motif of spring awakening, the spring beauty of nature, which is frequent in Grieg, is connected here with an unusual lyrical image: the acuteness of perception of the last spring in a person’s life. The musical solution of the poetic image is wonderful: it is a bright lyrical song. The wide, flowing melody consists of three formations. Similar in intonation and rhythmic structure, they are variants of the initial image. But not for a moment does the feeling of repetition arise. On the contrary: the melody flows with great breath, with each new phase approaching a sublime hymnic sound.

Very subtly, without changing the general character of the movement, the composer translates musical images from picturesque, bright to emotional (“into the distance, into the distance, space beckons”): whimsicality disappears, firmness appears, aspirational rhythms appear, unsteady harmonic sounds are replaced by stable ones. A sharp tonal contrast (G-dur - Fis-dur) helps to clearly define the line between different images of a poetic text. Giving clear preference to Scandinavian poets in his choice of poetic texts, Grieg only at the beginning of his creative path wrote several romances based on texts by German poets Heine, Chamisso, and Uhland.

Piano concert

Main article: Piano Concerto (Grieg)

Grieg's piano concerto is one of the outstanding works of this genre in European music of the second half of the 19th century. The lyrical interpretation of the concert brings Grieg's work closer to that branch of the genre that is represented by the piano concertos of Chopin and especially Schumann. The closeness to Schumann's concerto is revealed in the romantic freedom, the brightness of the expression of feelings, in the subtle lyrical and psychological nuances of the music, and in a number of compositional techniques. However, the national Norwegian flavor and the figurative structure of the work, characteristic of the composer, determined the vivid originality of Grieg’s concert.

The three parts of the concert correspond to the traditional dramaturgy of the cycle: a dramatic “knot” in the first part, lyrical concentration in the second, and a folk-genre picture in the third.

A romantic outburst of feelings, bright lyrics, an affirmation of the strong-willed principle - this is the figurative structure and the line of development of images in the first part.

The second part of the concert is a small but psychologically multifaceted Adagio. Its dynamic three-part form follows from the development of the main image from concentrated, with notes of drama, lyricism to an open and complete revelation of a bright, strong feeling.

In the finale, written in the form of a rondo sonata, two images dominate. In the first theme - cheerful energetic halling - folk-genre episodes found their completion, as a “life background”, setting off the dramatic line of the first part.

Major works
Suite "From the Times of Holberg", Op. 40--
Six Lyric Pieces for Piano, Op. 54
Symphonic dances op. 64, 1898)
Norwegian dances op.35, 1881)
String Quartet in G minor Op. 27, 1877—1878)
Three violin sonatas Op. 8, 1865
Cello Sonata in A minor Op. 36, 1882)
Concert Overture “In Autumn” (I Hst, op. 11), 1865)
Sigurd Jorsalfar op. 26, 1879 (three orchestral pieces from the music to the tragedy of B. Bjornson)
Wedding day in Trollhaugen, Op. 65, No. 6
Heart Wounds (Hjertesar) From Two Elegiac Melodies, Op.34 (Lyric Suite Op.54)
Sigurd Jorsalfar, Op. 56 – Homage March
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46
Peer Gynt Suite No. 2, Op. 55
Last Spring (Varen) from Two Elegiac Pieces, Op. 34
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A Minor, Op. 16

Chamber instrumental works
First violin sonata in F major op. 8 (1866)
Second violin sonata in G major op. 13 (1871)
Third Violin Sonata in C minor Op. 45 (1886)
Cello sonata a minor op. 36 (1883)
String quartet in g minor op. 27 (1877-1878)

Vocal and symphonic works (theater music)
“At the Gates of the Monastery” for female voices - solo and choir - and orchestra op. 20 (1870)
“Homecoming” for male voices - solo and chorus - and orchestra op. 31
“Lonely” for baritone, string orchestra and two horns - Op. 32
Music to Ibsen's play "Peer Gynt" op. 23 (1874-1875)
"Bergliot" for recitation with orchestra Op. 42 (1870-1871)
Scenes from Olaf Trygvason, for soloists, chorus and orchestra, Op. 50 (1888)
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Piano works (about 150 in total)
Small Pieces (Op. 1 published in 1862); 70

Contained in 10 “Lyrical Notebooks” (ed. from the 70s to 1901)
Among the major works: Sonata e-moll Op. 7 (1865),
Ballad in the form of variations op. 24 (1875)
For piano, 4 hands
Symphonic pieces op. 14
Norwegian dances op. 35
Waltzes-caprices (2 pieces) op. 37
Old Norse Romance with Variations Op. 50 (there is an orc. ed.)
4 Mozart sonatas for 2 pianos 4 hands (F-dur, C-moll, C-dur, G-dur)
Romance based on words by Andersen “The Heart of a Poet” (1864)

Choirs (total - with posthumously published ones - over 140)
Album for male singing (12 choirs) op. thirty
4 psalms to old Norwegian melodies, for mixed choir a capella with baritone or bass Op. 70 (1906)

Edvard Hagerup Grieg(Norwegian Edvard Hagerup Grieg; June 15, 1843, Bergen, Norway - died September 4, 1907, ibid.) - Norwegian composer of the Romantic period, musical figure, pianist, conductor. Grieg's work was formed under the influence of Norwegian folk culture.

Among Grieg's most famous works are two suites from the music to Henrik Ibsen's drama Peer Gynt, a piano concerto, and violin sonatas.

Grieg focused his attention on songs and romances, of which he published more than 600. About twenty more of his plays were published posthumously. Grieg's vocal compositions were written to the words of Danish and Norwegian, sometimes German poets.

He was buried in his hometown along with his wife, Nina Hagerup, who was the composer’s cousin.

Bergen. Childhood and youth (from birth to 1858)

Edvard Grieg was born on June 15, 1843 in Bergen into a cultured and wealthy family descended from his paternal great-grandfather, the Scottish merchant Alexander Grieg, who moved to Bergen around 1770 and for some time served as British vice-consul in this city. The composer's grandfather, John Grieg, who inherited this position, played in the Bergen orchestra and married the daughter of its chief conductor, Nils Haslund. The composer's father, Alexander Grieg, was a third-generation vice-consul. The composer's mother, Gesina Grieg, née Hagerup, studied piano and vocals in Arfelon with Albert Methfessel, then performed in London, and constantly played music at home in Bergen. performing works by Mozart, Weber], Fryderyk | Chopin, and, as was customary in wealthy families, from childhood she taught music to Edward, his brother and three sisters. The future composer first sat down at the piano at the age of four, and already in childhood he began to be fascinated by the beauty of consonances and harmonies.

Why not remember that mysterious, inexplicable joy that overwhelmed me when, stretching out my hands to the piano, I pulled out - oh no, not a melody! Where there! No, it must have been harmony. First a third, then a triad, then a chord of four sounds. And finally, with the help of both hands - oh rejoicing! - five-note, non-chord. When it sounded, my delight knew no bounds. What a success! None of my subsequent successes intoxicated me as much as this one. I was about five years old then.

Edvard Grieg. "My first success." Selected articles and letters

At the age of twelve, Grieg wrote his first piece for piano. Three years later, after graduating from high school, on the urgent advice of the “Norwegian Paganini” - the famous Norwegian violinist Ole Bull, Grieg entered the Leipzig Conservatory to study

Leipzig. Conservatory (1858-1863)

At the famous conservatory, founded in 1843 by Mendelssohn, Grieg was not happy with everything: with his first piano teacher, Louis Plaidy, they diverged so much in tastes and interests (in Grieg’s opinion, Plaidy was a straightforward pedant and an incapable performer) that, at his own request, Edward transferred to the class of Ernst Ferdinand Wenzel. Outside the conservatory, in a city with a developed musical culture in which Johann Sebastian Bach and Robert Schumann lived, Grieg became familiar with the music of modern composers, in particular visiting the Gewandhaus concert hall, where they played the music of Schumann, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner and Chopin. Schumann has since always remained Grieg's favorite composer, and his early works, in particular the piano sonata (1865), bear traces of Schumann's influence. During his studies, Grieg composed "4 Piano Pieces", op. 1 and “4 Romances”, op. 2, based on the words of German poets. In these early works The influence of Grieg's favorite classics is noticeable: Schumann, Schubert, Mendelssohn. In 1862, Grieg graduated from the conservatory with excellent grades. According to the professors, during his years of study he showed himself to be “an extremely significant musical talent,” especially in the field of composition, and also as an outstanding “pianist with his characteristic thoughtful and expressive manner of performance.” In the same year, in the Swedish city of Karlshamn, he gave his first concert. Later, Grieg recalled without pleasure his years of study at the conservatory - scholastic teaching methods, the conservatism of teachers, their isolation from real life. In tones of good-natured humor, he described his childhood and conservatory years in the autobiographical essay “My First Success” (first published in Russian in the Russian Musical Newspaper, 1905). However, Grieg said about his composition teacher Moritz Hauptmann: “He personified for me every opposite of scholasticism.”

Copenhagen. Beginning of career, Euterpe society, marriage (1863-1866)

Nina Hagerup and Edvard Grieg during their engagement, circa 1867

After graduating from the conservatory, Grieg wished to work in his homeland and returned to Bergen. However, his stay in his hometown this time was short-lived - the young musician’s talent could not be improved in the conditions of the poorly developed musical culture of Bergen. In 1863, Grieg left for Copenhagen, the center of musical life throughout what was then Scandinavia. In the same year, he wrote Poetic Pictures, six pieces for piano, released as opus 3, where national characteristics first appeared in his music. The rhythmic figure underlying the third piece is often found in Norwegian folk music and becomes characteristic of many of Grieg's tunes. In Copenhagen, Grieg became close to a group of like-minded people, inspired by the idea of ​​​​creating a new national art. One of them was Rikard Noordrok, a Norwegian who was clearly aware of his task as a fighter for the Norwegian national music. In communication with him we became stronger and more formed aesthetic views Griga. In 1864, in collaboration with several Danish musicians, they founded the musical society "Euterpe" with the goal of introducing the public to the works of Scandinavian composers. Grieg performed in it as a conductor, pianist and author, and in two years he released “Six Poems” based on poems by the German poets Heine, Uhland and Chamisso (1863-1864); First Symphony (1863-1864); a number of romances with lyrics by Hans Christian Andersen, Rasmus Winter and Andreas Munch; "Humoresques" for piano (1865); First violin sonata (1865); overture “In Autumn” (1866); the only piano sonata (1865-1867). Norwegian folk motifs occupy more and more space in his work. After meeting Nurdrok, he wrote:

My eyes were definitely opened! I suddenly comprehended all the depth, all the breadth and power of those distant prospects of which I had no idea before; Only then did I understand the greatness of Norwegian folk art and my own calling and nature.

Also in Copenhagen, Grieg met Nina Hagerup, his cousin with whom he grew up in Bergen, who moved with her family to Copenhagen at the age of eight. During this time, she became an adult girl, a singer with a beautiful voice, which the aspiring composer really liked. At Christmas 1864, Grieg proposed to her, and they married in July 1867. Their creative partnership continued throughout their entire life together.

Oslo. Heyday of activity (1866-1874)

Unable to endure the pressure of relatives who, due to an unconventional marriage, turned away from the Griegs, the newlyweds moved to Christiania (Oslo), and closer to the autumn of 1867, Grieg organized a concert as “a report on the achievements of Norwegian composers.” It featured Grieg's first violin sonata and piano sonata, songs by Nurdrok and composer Halfdan Kjerulf. The result was an invitation to the post of conductor of the Christian Philharmonic Society.

Here in Oslo, Grieg's activity flourished. The first notebook of “Lyric Pieces” was published (1867); in 1868, a piano concerto and several collections of romances and songs based on poems by Jorgen Mu, Christopher Janson, Andersen and other Scandinavian poets were published. Critics find the Second Violin Sonata (1867) much more developed, varied and rich than the First. In 1868, the Griegs had a daughter, who was named Alexandra. A year later, the girl fell ill with meningitis and died. What happened put an end to the future happy life of the family. After the death of her daughter, Nina withdrew into herself, but the couple continued to perform together and went on tour together. In 1869, Grieg discovered a classic collection of Norwegian musical folklore, compiled by the famous composer and folklorist Ludwig Matthias Lindemann. The result was the cycle “25 Norwegian Folk Songs and Dances” for piano, op. 24, consisting of a variety of humorous and lyrical, labor and peasant songs. In 1871, together with the composer Johan Swensen, Grieg founded the concert society “Christiania Musical Association” (now the Oslo Philharmonic Society). Along with the classics, they tried to instill interest and love among listeners in the works of their contemporaries - Schumann, Liszt, Wagner, whose names were not yet known in Norway, as well as in the music of Norwegian authors. In the struggle for their views, they had to face great difficulties from the cosmopolitan-minded big bourgeoisie, however, among the advanced intelligentsia, supporters of a distinctive national culture, Grieg found warm support. Then a close friendship began with the writer and public figure Bjornstjerne Bjornson, who had a great influence on the composer’s creative views. Several songs were published in collaboration with Björnson, as well as Sigurd the Crusader (1872), a play in praise of the 12th-century Norwegian king. Also in the early 1870s, Grieg and Björnson were busy thinking about an opera. Their plans were not realized mainly because there were no operatic traditions in Norway. All that remained from the attempt to create an opera was the music for individual scenes of Bjornson’s unfinished libretto “Olav Tryggvason” (1873), based on the legend of King Olav, who baptized Norway in the 10th century. In 1994, the Russian composer and librettist Lev Konov completed the outlines and wrote the children's epic opera Asgard. Franz Liszt, who lived in Rome and did not know Grieg personally, at the end of 1868 became familiar with his First Violin Sonata. He was amazed by the freshness of the music and sent an enthusiastic letter to the author, which played a big role in Grieg’s life: Liszt’s moral support strengthened his ideological and artistic position. In 1870, their personal meeting took place. A noble and generous friend of everything talented in modern music, who especially warmly supported those who revealed the national principle in creativity, Liszt warmly accepted the composer’s recently completed piano concert. Telling his family about his meeting with Liszt, Grieg added:

These words have infinite meaning to me. It's something of a blessing. And more than once, in moments of disappointment and bitterness, I will remember his words, and the memories of this hour will have a magical power to support me in the days of trials.

In 1874, the Norwegian government sentenced Grieg to life state scholarship. He received an offer from the famous Norwegian poet Henrik Ibsen. The result of the work, which was also of interest to the composer himself, was the music for the drama Peer Gynt, one of the most famous overtures from Grieg’s entire legacy. By his own admission, Grieg was a fanatical admirer of many of Ibsen's poetic works, especially Peer Gynt. The presentation of the overture in Oslo on February 24, 1876 was accompanied by great success, Grieg's music became increasingly famous in Europe. In Norway it is gaining enormous popularity, penetrating the concert stage and into home life; his works are published by one of the most reputable German publishing houses, and the number of concert trips increases. Wide recognition and financial security allowed Grieg to leave concert activities in the capital and return to Bergen.

Bergen (1874-1885) and "Trollhaugen" (from 1885 until death). Death of the composer

At the end of the 1870s, Grieg became interested in composing large instrumental works. A piano trio and a piano quintet were conceived. However, only the string quartet (1878), written on the theme of one of the early songs, was completed. In 1881, “Norwegian Dances” for piano four hands (op. 35) were created in Bergen. In the work of Grieg's predecessors, four-handed works were distributed as music accessible to a wide range of fans, hence the simplicity of their concept and style. Grieg has different tendencies - the number and ratio of parts of this suite, dynamics, contrasts, rich texture bring the “Dances” closer to a symphony. That is why the orchestral version of this work became popular. The dampness in Bergen aggravated Grieg’s pleurisy, which he had received at the conservatory, and there was a fear that it could develop into tuberculosis. His wife moved further and further away from him and left in 1883. Grieg lived alone for three months, but then, on the advice of his friend, musicologist Franz Beyer, he reconciled with his wife and, as a sign of this, decided to leave Bergen. Since 1885, Grieg’s main place of residence was Trollhaugen - a villa built by his order near Bergen. A passionate lover of Norway, Grieg spent a long time in the mountains, living in the wilderness among peasants, fishermen and lumberjacks. The poetry of Norwegian nature, the spirit and structure of folk music were reflected in his best works of these years: a ballad for piano, op. 24; First string quartet. In Grieg's letters from that period, similar descriptions of the mountains and nature of Norway are often found. The songs released at that time became hymns to great nature for the composer. Concert trips to Europe over time became systematic. Grieg presented his works in Germany, France, England, Holland, Sweden, both as a conductor and pianist, and while accompanying his wife. Concert activities Grieg did not leave until the end of his days. In January 1888, in Leipzig, Grieg met Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and a friendship arose between the composers. Tchaikovsky admired the poetry of Grieg's music, the freshness and originality of his style. The Hamlet Overture was dedicated to Grieg and a remarkable description of his work was given in Tchaikovsky’s “Autobiographical Description of a Travel Abroad in 1888.” In 1893 they were jointly awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Cambridge. Even earlier, in 1889, Grieg became a member of the French Academy of Fine Arts, in 1872 of the Royal Swedish Academy, and in 1883 a member of Leiden University in Holland. In 1898, Grieg organized the first Norwegian music festival in Bergen, which is still held today. He invariably took part in all events of Norwegian public life, paid great attention to the work of concert organizations and choral societies, and acted as a critic and publicist. Grieg followed the development of musical life in Europe, gave detailed essays on classical composers (Wagner, Schumann, Mozart, Verdi, Dvorak), and promoted the work of Norwegian composers - Svensen, Kjerulf, Nurdrok. In the 1890s, Grieg’s attention was most busy with piano music and songs. From 1891 to 1901, six notebooks of “Lyric Pieces” and more than a dozen song collections were written. In 1903, a new cycle of arrangements of folk dances for piano appeared. In the last years of his life, Grieg published a witty and lyrical autobiographical story “My First Success” and a programmatic article “Mozart and his significance for modern times.” They clearly expressed the composer's creative credo: the desire for originality, for defining his own style, his place in music. Despite his illness, Grieg continued his creative activity until the end of his life. In April 1907, the composer made a large concert tour of the cities of Norway, Denmark, and Germany. In the same year in the fall, Grieg gathered for a music festival in England. He and his wife stayed at a small hotel in Bergen to wait for a ship to London. There Grieg got worse and had to go to the hospital. On September 4, Edvard Grieg died. His death was celebrated in Norway as national mourning. According to the composer's will, his ashes were buried in a rock above the fjord near his villa. Later a memorial house-museum was founded here.

Creation

The work of Edvard Grieg absorbed typical features Norwegian musical folklore - epic and lyrical songs skalds, melodies of the shepherd's alpine horn, labor and everyday songs. This folklore was formed over many centuries, and its features were consolidated in the XIV-XVI centuries. A significant role in them was played by the reproduction of images of nature, characters from Norwegian folk tales about underground world- gnomes, kobolds, trolls, brownies, merman (for example, “Procession of Dwarves” and “Kobold” from “Lyric Pieces”, “In the Cave of the Mountain King” from “Peer Gynt”).

Norwegian folk melodic music is marked by a number of characteristic features that determined the originality of Grieg's musical style. In instrumental music, melodic lines often develop complex patterns in layers of grace notes, mordents, trills, and melodic arrests. These techniques of folk violin music-making are enshrined in many of Grieg's dance plays. Similar techniques penetrate into his vocal music, where melodic suspensions serve to express a wide sigh.

Grieg often used modes that sounded fresh in his time - Dorian, Phrygian. They contributed to the enrichment of his harmonic techniques, including alterations, an unusual combination of keys, chromatic descent of the bass, and the frequent use of an organ point.

In piano pieces op. 17, 35, 63 and 72 Grieg comprehensively depicted the music of such Norwegian dances as springar, halling, gangar, developed before him by violinists, for which Norway has long been famous. He also gave detailed scenes from folk life based on dance intonations and rhythms (“Scenes from rural life”, op. 19; “Wedding day in Trollhaugen” from op. 65), they are characterized by lively, energetic rhythms, an active character, sometimes with a touch of humor. Plot motifs are often introduced into dances, especially gangars (in particular, comic scenes called “stabe-loten” are popular). Grieg often used them and often imbued his works with plot-driven programming when he wanted to capture in music the morals and customs of his native people.

Grieg admired the genius of Mozart, while at the same time believing that when he met Wagner “this universal genius, whose soul has always remained alien to any philistinism, would have rejoiced like a child at all the new achievements in the field of drama and orchestra”. Bach for him was the “cornerstone” of musical art. In Schumann, he appreciated, first of all, the “warm, deeply cordial tone” of the music and considered himself a member of the Schumann school. A tendency towards melancholy and daydreaming makes him similar to German music. “However, we are more fond of clarity and brevity, even our spoken language is clear and precise. We strive to achieve this clarity and precision in our art.", stated Grieg. He found many warm words for Brahms, and began his article in memory of Verdi with the words: "The last great one has passed away...".

Grieg turned to the piano throughout his life. In short plays, he recorded a kind of “diary entries” - personal life impressions and observations, in which he himself appears as a fascinating storyteller. The themes of the plays are endowed with such genre specificity, and the rhythmic and harmonic moves contain so much unexpected and fascinating that musical development is likened to a good short story.

There are two distinct streams in Grieg's piano music. One of them is associated with the expression of personally subjective feelings, and here Grieg is more intimate, turning to the sphere of that “house music” that, since Mendelssohn’s “Songs Without Words,” has occupied a prominent place in European piano lyricism (for example, Tchaikovsky’s piano miniatures). Another stream is associated with the area of ​​genre-characteristic, with folk song and dance. And if in the first case the composer sought to convey poetic individual states, then in the second he was primarily interested in sketching scenes of folk life and pictures of nature.

Of Grieg's approximately one hundred and fifty piano pieces, seventy were published in ten collections of Lyric Pieces. The best of these plays have long been available wide circles music lovers. By nature they are impulsive, improvisational, but committed for the most part within the framework of a three-part composition. The titles of the pieces are in the nature of epigraphs, which are designed to evoke certain associations in connection with the content of the music. The choice of titles is not always successful and sometimes sins as a tribute to salon tradition, which has nothing to do with music. It is marked by great lyrical charm and originality, rich melody, endowed with a lively, warm, vocal breath. That is why original piano pieces and his own transcriptions of his own vocal songs for piano coexist so organically in Grieg’s legacy (op. 41, 52).

List of selected works

• Piano Sonata in E minor, op. 7 (1865)
• Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano in F major, op. 8 (1865)
• “In Autumn” for piano four hands, op. 11, also for orchestra (1866)
• “Lyrical plays”, 10 collections, from 1866 (op. 12) to 1901 (op. 71).
• Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano in G major, op. 13 (1867)
• Concerto for piano and orchestra, op. 16 (1868)
• "Sigurd the Crusader", op. 22, music for the play by Björnstjerne Björnson (1872)
• "Peer Gynt", op. 23, music to the play by Henrik Ibsen (1875)
• String Quartet in G minor, op. 27 (1877-1878)
• “Norwegian Dances” for piano four hands, op. 35, also for orchestra (1881)
• Sonata for cello and piano, op. 36 (1882)
• Sonata No. 3 for violin and piano in C minor, op. 45 (1886-1887)
• Symphonic dances, op. 64 (1898).

Grieg's legacy

Today, Edvard Grieg's work is highly revered, especially in Norway. His works are actively performed as a pianist and conductor by one of the most famous contemporary Norwegian musicians, Leif Ove Andsnes. Grieg's plays are used in artistic and cultural events. Various musical performances, figure skating scenarios and other productions are staged.

Trollhaugen, where the composer lived part of his life, became a house museum open to the public. Here visitors are shown the composer’s native walls, his estate, and interiors. Things that belonged to the composer - a coat, a hat and a violin - still hang on the wall of his work house. Near the estate there is a life-size statue of Grieg and his working hut.

In modern culture

• Carl Stalling, a composer for the Warner Bros. film studio, often used the melody from the play "Morning" to illustrate morning scenes in cartoons. Walt Disney's Skeleton Dance (1929) features Edvard Grieg's "Procession of the Dwarves" (or Troll Dance in the Mountain King's Cave)
• The musical play “The Technicolor Chimney Sweep” (1957), based on the story by the Brothers Grimm, used exclusively Grieg’s music.
• The musical Song of Norway (1970) is based on events in Grieg's life and uses his music.
• Edvard Grieg's music was used in the cartoons "The Legend of Grieg" (1967), " an old house"(1977), "Peer Gynt" (1979), "Basket with Fir Cones" (1989), "Dwarves and the Mountain King" (1993).
• Rainbow - Hall of the Mountain King (album Stranger in Us All, 1995) - a hard rock composition based on the music of the play "In the Cave of the Mountain King" with lyrics by Candice Knight (wife of Ritchie Blackmore, the band's guitarist). The song Vikingtid by the Russian pagan metal band Butterfly Temple from the album “Dreams of the North Sea” also contains fragments of this work by Grieg.
• The first movement of the piano concerto is used in Adrian Lyne's film Lolita (1997).
• Movement of Siuta No. 1, Op. 46 (“Morning mood”) is often used in propaganda videos of the Russian political party “Patriots of Russia”