Edvard Grieg was born in 1843 and was raised in the Norwegian town of Bergen. Very early on he
showed a strong interest in music, and would often sit at the piano for hours, fiddling with his own
tunes. After some basic conservatory training he moved to Copenhagen met the composer Rikard
Nordraak, an enthusiast of Norwegian music and a heavy influence on Grieg. Grieg would go on to
become the greatest Norwegian nationalist, and is still
today perhaps the only truly recognized composer from that country. He divided his time between
composing and playing up until his death in 1907.
Grieg is perhaps best remembered for his Peer Gynt Suites, a set of tunes based on
Norwegian folk literature. He also penned a fabulous Piano Concerto and several Violin Sonatas that
have become among the favorites in their respactive geres. In terms of chamber music, he wrote
relatively little, with two string quartets (in g and
in F) constituting his whole output. To his credit, however, these works
are rather nice but generally overlooked.
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