Edvard Grieg

(1843-1907)

Grieg, like Chopin, composed mostly short piano pieces.  And, like Chopin, he was in poor health most of his life.  His most famous music, however, is probably his incidental music to Peer Gynt, a play by Ibsen.  This made Grieg a national figure and gave him worldwide fame.  He also wrote a large number of songs, since he was married to a very fine soprano.  His lyric pieces are a direct extension of the style of Chopin.  One nice quality of the lyric pieces is that he gave them all names, not just numbers.  This often helps in the interpretation.  Although most of the lyric pieces were written in the 19th century, they often foreshadow the beautiful jazz harmonies of 20th century American piano music.