Grieg, Edvard Hagerup 1843-1907
Norwegian composer

Born in Bergen of Scots descent, he studied at the Leipzig Conservatory, where he was influenced by Schumann's music. He made Copenhagen his main base between 1863 and 1867, and there was in close contact with Niels Gade, Hans Christian Andersen and the young Norwegian poet-composer Nordraak. With their encouragement, he evolved into a strongly national Norwegian composer with an intense awareness of his folk heritage. After some years teaching and conducting in Christiania (Oslo), the success of his incidental music for Ibsen's Peer Gynt (1876) on top of the award of a state pension in 1874 enabled him to settle near Bergen. Apart from his Piano Concerto in A minor, some orchestral suites, three violin sonatas and one quartet, his large-scale output was small, although he wrote many songs. In 1867 he married his cousin, Nina Hagerup, a well-known singer.

Bibliography: Henry T Finck, Grieg and his Music (1929)