Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Norwegian Music

Edvard Grieg & His Composer Friends

Edvard Grieg was a gentle, generous soul. But he was also something of a rebel-artist who established a personal and national identity outside the dominant Austro-German tradition. As Norway’s most important composer, he provided inspiration not only to Scandinavians, but to artists all over Europe and the United States.

His personality and achievements engendered much affection and loyalty. Tchaikovsky dedicated his “Hamlet Fantasy Overture” to him. Liszt performed his piano concerto. Antonin Dvořák was a friend, and Frederick Delius worshipped him.

This week on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll hear works dedicated to Grieg by some of his composer friends and admirers.

The American composer Edward MacDowell never actually met Grieg, though they shared a certain musical affinity. He contacted the Norwegian to ask permission to dedicate to him his Piano Sonata No. 3, which he subtitled the “Norse.” Grieg was full of compliments about the piece, and he enthusiastically accepted. The two men enjoyed an admiring, though unfortunately short-lived correspondence, since both were already nearing the end of their lives. MacDowell died in 1908, at the age of 47; he was already in the throes of the illness that would claim him at the time Grieg passed in 1907, at the age of 64.

Though Julius Röntgen was born in Leipzig, by his early 20s he had settled in Amsterdam. He went on to become one of the most important figures in Dutch music, establishing the city’s music conservatory and participating in the founding of the Concertgebouw. Röntgen was successful in becoming a good friend not only of Johannes Brahms (no mean feat), but also Grieg, whom he visited in Norway 14 times. The result was a number of works he composed on Norwegian themes. Röntgen dedicated his suite “Aus Jotunheim,” inspired by a hike he had taken with the composer through the Norwegian mountains, to Grieg and his wife, Nina, on the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary.

Finally, Grieg encountered the tireless Australian pianist Percy Grainger only toward the end of his life, but he was convinced he had found his ideal interpreter. He invited Grainger to perform his Piano Concerto in A Minor under his own direction. Sadly, Grieg died before it could come to pass. Nevertheless, Grainger continued to champion Grieg’s music for the rest of his life. Also, he dedicated a number of folk-inspired works to the memory of the Norwegian master. We’ll hear two historical recordings: one of Grainger playing music of Grieg and then another of the pianist playing one of his own such works.

I hope you’ll join me in celebrating Edvard Grieg with music written for him by composer friends and admirers. That’s “Griegarious,” on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Remember, KWAX is on the West Coast, so there’s a three-hour difference for the Trenton-Princeton area. Here are the respective air-times of my recorded shows (with East Coast conversions in parentheses):

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EDT)

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EDT)

Stream them here!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

PHOTO: (left to right) Grieg, Grainger, Nina Grieg, and Röntgen at Grieg’s home, Troldhaugen, in 1907

September 9, 2023
Norway’s Stage Halvorsen & Grieg on Air

If all the world’s a stage, then why not Norway? This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” vicariously tread the boards with incidental music by two of that country’s most prominent composers.

Following a lengthy apprenticeship as a violinist, in the course of which he performed in orchestras all over Europe, Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935) developed an interest in conducting. In 1893, the same year he was appointed principal conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic, he worked as conductor of the theater orchestra at Bergen’s National Stage. In 1899, he became conductor of the newly-opened National Theater in Kristiana, a post he would occupy for the next three decades, until his retirement in 1929.

Following his retirement, Halvorsen largely concentrated on writing symphonies and his popular Norwegian Rhapsodies. Until then, his work in the theater, understandably, brought many opportunities to write for the stage. In fact, he composed music for more than 30 plays.

One of those was “Askeladden,” or “The Ash Lad,” a children’s comedy, based on Norwegian folk tales. Askeladden is an unprepossessing young man who succeeds where others fail, generally winning the hand of a princess and half the kingdom. Halvorsen actually composed the music for this particular play in his retirement. In fact, it is his last orchestral score.

Norway’s best-known composer, of course, is Edvard Grieg (1843-1907). Grieg’s suite from the play “Sigurd Jorsalfar,” or “Sigurd the Crusader,” is actually rather famous, yet we seldom have an opportunity to hear the complete incidental music. Sigurd I, King of Norway, reigned from 1103 to 1130. His reign is regarded by historians as a golden age for medieval Norway.

Sigurd became the subject of a play by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, for which Grieg provided music in 1872. The familiar suite was given its premiere 20 years later. Bjornson’s play concerns the brothers, Sigurd and Øystein, joint rulers of 12th century Norway, and the beautiful Borghild, whose love for Øystein is unrequited, but who herself is loved by Sigurd. The composer does his best to lend a third dimension, or at least some pageantry, to the historical tableaux.

Your ticket is reserved for Norway, incidentally. I hope you’ll join me for “A-fjordable Theater,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

May 23, 2021
Grieg Birthday Broadcast on WWFM

It’s Grieg to me!

Join me today for music by the great Norwegian master on his birthday anniversary, including a knock-out performance of his Piano Concerto with Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. We’ll also have music to mark the births of Franz Danzi, Guy Ropartz, Robert Russell Bennett, and Otto Luening.

There’s Norway you’ll want to miss this show! Be with me from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

June 15, 2017
Grieg’s Peer Gynt Plus Norwegian Gems on WWFM

This Tuesday morning at 10:00, Alice Weiss will host “The Classical Network in Concert,” featuring cellist Gabriel Cabezas, winner of the 2014 Astral Artists National Auditions. On the program will be major works for the instrument by Britten and Shostakovich, as well as transcriptions performed in association with other Astral Artists.

On account of the earlier broadcast, there will be no noontime concert today, leaving me with a blank canvas on which to paint for the succeeding four hours. Since I’m on earlier in the afternoon on Tuesday, I like to play at least one piece that you generally wouldn’t hear during the day, due to its extraordinary length. Today, I will be dusting off a recording of the complete incidental music composed for the premiere production in 1876 of Henrik Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt,” by Edvard Grieg. I think you’ll be surprised by just how much beauty, mystery, and menace never made it into the popular suites. You’ll also have a chance to brush up on your Norwegian!

Astonishingly, Grieg found work on the music to be a frustrating experience. He thought it a “terribly unmanageable subject,” and labored against the limitations imposed on him by the management of the theater, which gave him specifications for the duration of each number. “I was thus compelled to do patchwork,” he complained, “hence the brevity of the pieces.”

Of course, the music was a triumphant success and includes some of Grieg’s best known melodies. However, the original score was not published until after the composer’s death, and is still rarely heard in its entirety.

As an added bonus this afternoon, we’ll also hear one of the Hardanger fiddle concerts of Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt. Tveitt, a late proponent of Norwegian nationalism, suffered a terrible loss from which he never emotionally recovered. In 1970, his farmhouse burned to the ground, reducing approximately 300 of his manuscripts – fully four-fifths of his compositional output – to ash. Tveitt, a broken man, drank himself to death, little realizing that, through private recordings, radio archives, and surviving orchestral parts, a sizable portion of these works would eventually be reconstructed.

Join me today, from noon to 4 p.m. EDT, for music from Norway and more, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

April 4, 2017
Grieg’s Circle: Friends & Admirers

From all accounts, Edvard Grieg was a gentle-though-principled, generous soul. He was certainly Norway’s most important composer, and his example proved an inspiration not only to Scandinavians, but also to musicians worldwide seeking to find a way around the Austro-German stranglehold on music.

Is it any wonder that he attracted such a devoted following? Tchaikovsky dedicated his “Hamlet Fantasy Overture” to Grieg. Liszt performed his piano concerto. Antonin Dvorak was a friend. Frederick Delius worshipped him.

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll listen to an hour of music dedicated to Grieg by his friends and admirers.

The American composer Edward MacDowell never actually met Grieg, though he shared a certain musical affinity. He contacted the Norwegian to ask permission to dedicate to him his Piano Sonata No. 3, which he subtitled the “Norse.” Grieg was full of compliments about the piece, and he enthusiastically accepted. The two men enjoyed an admiring, though unfortunately short-lived correspondence, since both were already nearing the end of their lives. (MacDowell died in 1908, at the age of 47; he was already in the throes of the illness that would claim him at the time Grieg passed in 1907, at the age of 64.)

Julius Röntgen was born in Leipzig, but by his early 20s he settled in Amsterdam. He went on to become one of the most important figures in Dutch music, establishing the city’s music conservatory and participating in the founding of the Concertgebouw. Rontgen was successful in becoming a good friend not only of Johannes Brahms (no mean feat), but also Grieg, whom he visited in Norway 14 times. The result was a number of works he composed on Norwegian themes. Röntgen dedicated his suite “Aus Jotunheim,” inspired by a hike he had taken with the composer through the Norwegian mountains, to Grieg and his wife, on the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary.

Grieg encountered the tireless Australian pianist Percy Grainger only toward the end of his life, but he was convinced he had found his ideal interpreter. He invited Grainger to perform his Piano Concerto in A Minor under his own direction. Sadly, Grieg died before it could come to pass. Nevertheless, Grainger continued to champion Grieg’s music for the rest of his life. Also, he dedicated a number of folk-inspired works to the memory of the Norwegian master. We’ll hear two historical recordings, of Grainger playing music of Grieg and then one of his own such works.

I hope you’ll join me for “Grieg-arious,” music by Grieg’s dedicated friends. You can enjoy it tonight at 10 ET, with a repeat at 3 a.m. Friday, or listen to it later as a webcast at http://www.wwfm.org.

PHOTO: (left to right) Grieg, Grainger, Nina Grieg & Röntgen at Grieg’s home, Troldhaugen, in 1907

August 24, 2014

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