Creativity Grieg summary. Short biography of edvard grig most important

Biography

Born June 15, 1843 in Bergen in the family of a diplomat. The first music teacher for Edward was a mother who received a good musical education.

In 1858-1862 he studied at the Leipzig Conservatory, and then in 1863 trained in Copenhagen with a Danish composer N. Gade. Here Grieg met with G. H. Andersen, on whose verses he wrote several heartfelt romances; the famous storyteller was one of the first to appreciate his original talent.

The composer decided to follow the path of promoting national Norwegian music. He based his work on folk motifs and became a truly national composer. The first step in this direction was made in the piano sonata (1865).

In the autumn of 1866, Grieg returned to Norway and settled in Christiania (now Oslo).

His friendship with the playwright and poet was of great importance to him. B. Bjornson. To his poems Grieg composed romances based on the plots of plays Bjornson wrote an opera Olaf Trygvason(remained unfinished) and music for the production "Sigurd Yursalfar"(1872).

In the capital of Norway Grieg also acted as a public figure - in 1871 he founded Music Society(now the Philharmonic Society) and the Academy of Music, which was the first professional music school in Norway. Unfortunately, the academy was closed two years later due to financial difficulties.

In 1868 Grieg created one of the most inspired works - a piano concerto, which was even called the anthem of Norway.

In 1872 the composer was elected a member of the Swedish Academy of Music.

Two years later, he moved to his native Bergen. The music for the drama was written here G. Ibsen "Peer Gynt"(1876, later revised into two suites, 1888 and 1896). Grieg considered this piece "too Norwegian", but it was it that brought him worldwide fame.

In 1889 Grieg became a member of the French Academy of Fine Arts, in 1893 - an honorary doctorate from the University of Cambridge, and in 1906 - from Oxford.

Since 1885, he lived permanently at his villa Trollhau-gen (Troll Valley) near Bergen on the banks of the fjord.

Scores do not burn - Edvard Grieg

Author's program of Artem Vargaftik. In Copenhagen, many important and 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 the strength to survive the loss of his only child. In addition, the origins, to which the composer's music constantly refers, are most easily found 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 post this option. In my opinion, even this quality of the video will not prevent you from enjoying A. Vargaftik's story, amazing 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) - Norwegian composer of the Romantic period, musical figure, pianist, 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 Bjornstjerne Bjornson 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 talent (who had been composing music from the age of 12) and advised his parents to assign him to the Leipzig Conservatory, which took place in the summer of 1858.

One of the most famous works Grieg is considered the second suite - "Peer Gynt", which includes the pieces: "Ingrid's Complaint", "Arabic Dance", "Return of Peer Gynt to his Homeland", "Solveig's Song", "" "Anitra's Dance", "" "In the Cave mountain king", "" "Morning""

The dramatic piece is Ingrid's Complaint, one of the dance melodies that sounded 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 couple a daughter, Alexandra, who died of meningitis after one year of life, which began to cool relations between the spouses.

Grieg published 637 songs and romances. About twenty more plays by Grieg 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. Ulanda). The composer showed an interest in Scandinavian literature, and in particular in the literature of his native language.

Grieg died in his native city - Bergen - on 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 acted as British vice-consul in this city. The post of British representative in Bergen was inherited first by the composer's grandfather, and then by the composer's father, also Alexander Grieg. Edvard-John Grieg's grandfather played in the Bergen orchestra and married the daughter of its chief conductor Nils Haslunn. The composer's mother, Gesina Hagerup, was a pianist who graduated from the Hamburg Conservatory, which usually only admitted men. Edward, his brother and three sisters were taught music from childhood, as was customary in wealthy families. For the first time, the future composer sat down at the piano at the age of four. At the age of ten, Grieg was sent to general education school. However, his interests lay in a completely different area, in addition, the boy's independent nature often pushed him to deceive teachers. According to the composer's biographers, in the elementary grades, Edward, having learned that students who got wet under frequent rains in his homeland, were allowed to go home to change into dry clothes, Edward began to wet his clothes on the way to school. Since he lived far from school, classes were just finishing by the time he returned.

early years

Ole Bull - the man who determined the fate of Grieg

The first musician to whom Grieg played a couple of his own compositions on the piano was Ole Bull. Listening to 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 important events for creative life Grieg. First of all, Grieg is in close contact with Scandinavian literature and art. He meets prominent representatives of it, for example, the famous Danish poet and storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. This involves the composer in 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, the fifteen-year-old Edvard Grieg got into the Leipzig Conservatory. In the new educational institution, founded by Felix Mendelssohn, Grieg was far from satisfied with everyone: 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 (in Later Grieg studied with Ernst Ferdinand Wenzel, Moritz Hauptmann, Ignaz Moscheles). After the gifted student went to concert hall"Gewandhaus", where he listened to the music of Schumann, Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner. “I could 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 purpose in life. According to the professors, during the years of study he showed himself as "a highly significant musical talent", especially in the field of composition, as well as an outstanding "pianist with his characteristic thoughtful and full of expressive manner of performance." His destiny now and forever was music. In the 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 an ardent 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 went to Copenhagen, the center of the musical life of the then Scandinavia.

In Copenhagen, Grieg found an interpreter of his works, the singer Nina Hagerup, who soon became his wife. The creative community of Edvard and Nina Grieg continued throughout their life together. The subtlety and artistry with which the singer performed Grieg's songs and romances were that 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 work, 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 Nurdrok organized the Euterpe Musical Society, which was supposed to acquaint the public with the works of Scandinavian composers. This was the beginning of a great musical and social, educational activity. During the years of his life in Copenhagen (1863-1866) Grieg wrote many musical works: Poetic Pictures and Humoresques, the piano sonata and the first violin sonata. With each new work, the image of Grieg as a Norwegian composer emerges more clearly.

In the lyrical work "Poetic Pictures" (1863) very timidly break through 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 juicy genre sketches of Humoresque (1865), the sharp rhythms of folk dances and harsh harmonic combinations sound much bolder; there is a Lydian modal coloring characteristic of folk music. 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 Humoresques, the piano and first violin sonatas appeared. The drama and impetuosity inherent in the piano sonata seem to be a somewhat outward reflection of Schumann's romance. On the other hand, the bright lyricism, hymnism, 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 adult girl. Childhood friend turned into beautiful woman, a singer with a beautiful voice, as if created for the performance of Grieg's plays. Previously in love only with Norway and music, Edward felt that he was losing his mind from 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 held out her hand to him and agreed.

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

The first year of marriage was typical for a young family - happy, but financially difficult. Grieg composed, Nina performed his works. Edward had to get a job as a conductor and teach piano to save the family's financial situation. In 1868 they had a daughter, who was named Alexandra. A year later, the girl will fall ill with meningitis and die. What happened put an end to the future happy life of the family. 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 a piano concerto, the sixty-year-old composer approached Edward, squeezed his hand and said: “Keep it up, 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" - the first significant play, after which the Swedish Academy of Arts recognized his merits, and the Norwegian authorities appointed him a lifetime 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.

In solitude, Grieg wrote his main work - music for Henrik Ibsen's drama Peer Gynt. It embodied his experiences of that time. The melody "In the Hall of the Mountain King" (1) reflected the violent spirit of Norway, which the composer liked to show in his works. The world of hypocritical European cities, full of intrigues, gossip and betrayal, was recognizable in the "Arabian Dance". The final episode - "Song of Solveig", a poignant and exciting melody - spoke of the lost and forgotten and not forgiven.

Death

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

Over the years, Grieg became more and more withdrawn. He was little interested in life - he left his home only for the sake of the tour. Edward and Nina have been to Paris, Vienna, London, Prague, Warsaw. During each performance, a clay frog lay in the pocket of Grieg's jacket. Before the start of each concert, he always took it out and stroked its back. The talisman worked: at the concerts every time there was an unimaginable success.

In 1887, Edward and Nina Hagerup were again in Leipzig. They were invited to the New Year's Eve 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, a lively correspondence ensued between the composers. Later, in 1905, Edward wanted to come to Russia, but this was prevented by the chaos of the Russo-Japanese War and the composer's ill health. In 1889, in protest against the Dreyfus affair, Grieg canceled a performance in Paris.

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

Musical and creative activity

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 Grieg's piano and violin sonatas, Nurdrok's and Hjerulf's songs (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 activity was in the nature of musical enlightenment. The concerts included symphonies by Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann, works by Schubert, oratorios by Mendelssohn and Schumann, excerpts from Wagner's operas. Grieg paid great attention to the performance of works by Scandinavian composers.

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

While in Norway, Grieg comes 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 classical 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 "Norwegian Folk Songs and Dances for Piano". Images presented here: favorite folk dances - halling and springdance, various comic and lyrical, labor and peasant songs. Academician B. V. Asafiev aptly called these adaptations “sketches of songs”. This cycle was for Grieg a kind of creative laboratory: in contact with folk songs, the composer found those methods musical writing which 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, the freedom of their development,” music critics say.

The Second Sonata and the Piano Concerto were highly acclaimed by Liszt, who became one of the first promoters of the concerto. In a letter to Grieg, Liszt wrote about the Second Sonata: "It testifies to a strong, deep, inventive, excellent composer's talent, which can only follow its own, natural path in order to achieve high perfection." For the composer, who made his way in the art of music, for the first time representing the music of Norway in the European arena, Liszt's support has always been a strong support.

In the early 70s, Grieg was busy with the idea of ​​an opera. Musical dramas and theater became a great inspiration for him. Grieg's ideas were not realized mainly because there were no traditions of opera culture in Norway. In addition, the libretto promised to Grieg was not written. From the attempt to create an opera, only the music for individual scenes of Bjornson's unfinished libretto Olaf Trygvason (1873), according to the legend of King Olaf, who spread Christianity among the inhabitants of Norway in the 10th century, remained. Grieg writes music for Bjornson's dramatic monologue "Bergliot" (1871), which tells about the heroine of a folk saga, as well as music for the drama of the same author "Sigurd Yursalfar" (the plot of the Old Icelandic saga).

In 1874, Grieg received a letter from Ibsen with a proposal to compose music for a production of the drama Peer Gynt. Collaboration with the most talented writer of Norway 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 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 activity. Europe. 1876-1888

The performance of Peer Gynt in Christiania on 24 February 1876 was a great success. Grieg's music in Europe began to become popular. A new creative period begins in the life of the composer. Grieg stops working as a conductor in Christiania. Grieg moves to a secluded area in 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 the death of Grieg, Trollhaugen was the main residence of the composer. In the mountains come "healing and new Vital energy”, in the mountains “new ideas grow”, from the mountains Grieg returns “as new and best person". Grieg's letters often contained similar descriptions of the mountains and nature of Norway. This is how Grieg writes in 1897: “I saw such beauties of nature that I had no idea about ... A huge chain of snowy mountains with fantastic shapes rose directly from the sea, while the dawn in the mountains was four in the morning, bright summer night and the whole landscape seemed to be 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 character, they bring great pleasure to the composer. Grieg gives concerts in the cities of Germany, France, England, Holland, Sweden. He performs as a conductor and pianist, as an ensemble player, accompanying Nina Hagerup. The most modest person, Grieg in his letters notes "giant applause and countless challenges", "colossal furor", "giant success". Grieg did not leave 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 contacts with musicians from other countries. In 1888 Grieg met with P. I. Tchaikovsky in Leipzig. Having received an invitation in the 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 unfortunate that this had to happen. First of all, you have to be human. All true art grows only from man. All Grieg's activities in Norway are an example of pure and disinterested 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 belong 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 arrangements of folk songs, a composer always 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. Last major orchestral work Grieg, "Symphonic Dances" (1898), written on folk themes.

In 1903, a new cycle of arrangements of folk dances for piano appeared. IN last years During his lifetime, Grieg published the witty and lyrical autobiographical novella My First Success and the program article Mozart and His Significance for Modernity. They vividly expressed the composer's creative credo: the desire for originality, for the definition of his style, his place in music. Despite a serious illness, Grieg continued his creative activity until the end of his life. In April 1907, the composer made a big concert trip to the cities of Norway, Denmark, and Germany.

Characteristics of works

Lyric plays

"Lyric Pieces" make up the bulk of Grieg's piano work. Grieg's "Lyrical Pieces" continue the type of chamber piano music that is represented by Schubert's "Musical Moments" and "Impromptu" and Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words". The immediacy of the statement, lyricism, the expression in the play of predominantly one mood, the tendency to small scale, the simplicity and accessibility of the artistic conception and technical means are the features of the romantic piano miniature, which are also characteristic of Grieg's Lyric Pieces.

Lyrical pieces fully reflect the theme of the composer's homeland, which he loved and revered so much. The theme of the Motherland sounds in the solemn "Native Song", in the calm and majestic play "At the Motherland", in the genre-lyrical skit "To the Motherland", in numerous folk dance plays conceived as genre and everyday sketches. The theme of the Motherland continues in the magnificent " musical landscapes» Grieg, in the peculiar motifs of folk-fiction plays ("Procession of the Dwarves", "Kobold").

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

The features of the style of "lyric plays" are as diverse as their content. Very many plays are characterized by extreme laconicism, stingy and precise strokes of miniature; but in some plays there is a desire for picturesqueness, a wide, contrasting composition (“Procession of the Dwarves”, “Gangar”, “Nocturne”). In some pieces, one can hear the subtlety of the chamber style (“Dance of the Elves”), others sparkle with bright colors, impress with the virtuosic brilliance of the concert (“Wedding Day in Trollhaugen”).

"Lyrical plays" are distinguished by a great variety of genres. Here we meet elegy and nocturne, lullaby and waltz, song and arietta. Very often, Grieg turns to the genres of Norwegian folk music (springdance, halling, gangar).

The artistic integrity of the cycle of "Lyrical Pieces" is given by the principle of programming. 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 "Lyrical Pieces" they decided artistic principles cycle: variety of content and lyrical tone of music, attention to the themes of the Motherland and the connection of music with folk origins, conciseness and simplicity, clarity and elegance of musical and poetic images.

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

"Waltz" is distinguished by its striking originality. Against the background of a typical waltz figure of accompaniment, an elegant and fragile melody with sharp rhythmic outlines appears. "Cranky" variable accents, triplets on a strong beat of the measure, reproducing the rhythmic figure of spring dance, bring a peculiar flavor of Norwegian music to the waltz. It is enhanced by the modal coloration characteristic of Norwegian folk music (melodic minor).

"A Leaf from an Album" combines the immediacy of lyrical feeling with the elegance, "chivalry" of an album poem. In the artless melody of this play, the intonations of a folk song are heard. But light, airy ornamentation conveys the sophistication of this simple melody. Subsequent cycles of "Lyric Pieces" bring new images and new artistic means. "Lullaby" from the second notebook of "Lyric Pieces" sounds like a dramatic scene. An even, calm melody is made up of variants of a simple chant, as if grown out of a measured movement, swaying. With each new holding, the feeling of peace and light intensifies.

"Gangar" is built 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 unfolding of the melody corresponds to the character of a majestic smooth dance. The intonations of flute tunes woven into the melody, a long sustained bass (a detail of the folk instrumental style), hard harmonies (a chain of large seventh chords), sometimes sounding rude, “clumsy” (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. Interestingly, with a figurative change in the theme, 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, clear tonicity give the theme a calm, contemplative, solemn character. Smoothly and gradually, singing every sound of the tonality, keeping "purity" up to major, the melody descends. The thickening of the register coloration and the amplification of the sound lead the light, transparent theme to a harsh, gloomy sound. It seems that this procession of melody will never end. But now, with a sharp tonal shift (C-dur-As-dur), a new version is introduced: the theme sounds majestic, solemn, chased.

"Procession of the Dwarves" is one of Grieg's magnificent examples of musical fantasy. In a contrasting composition, the plays are opposed to each other by whimsicality. fairy world, the underground kingdom of the trolls and the bewitching beauty, clarity of nature. The play is written in three parts. The extreme parts are distinguished by bright dynamism: in the rapid movement, the fantastic outlines of the “procession” flicker. Musical means are extremely sparse: motor rhythm and against its background a whimsical and sharp pattern of metrical accents, syncopation; chromatisms compressed in tonic harmony and scattered, hard-sounding large seventh chords; "knocking" melody and sharp "whistling" melodic figurines; dynamic contrasts (pp-ff) between two period sentences and broad slurs of rise and fall in 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 pour out). The light sound of the theme, simple in structure, is associated with the sound of a folk melody. Its clean, clear structure was reflected in its simplicity and rigor. harmonic warehouse(alternating major tonic and its parallels).

"Wedding Day at 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 a concert piece. Its character is most of all determined by the genre prototype: the movement of the march, the solemn procession lies at the heart of the play. How confidently, proudly invocative ups sound, chased rhythmic endings of melodic images. But the melody of the march is accompanied by a characteristic fifth bass, which adds to its solemnity the simplicity and charm of rural coloring: the piece is full of energy, movement, bright dynamics - from muffled tones, a stingy transparent texture of the beginning to sonorous ff, bravura passages, a wide range of sound. The play is written in a complex three-part form. Solemn festive images of the extreme parts are contrasted with tender lyrics of the middle one. Her melody, as if sung in a duet (the melody is imitated in an octave), is built on sensitive romance intonations. There are also contrasts in the extreme sections of the form, also three-part. The middle evokes a dance scene in the performance with a contrast of energetic courageous movement and light graceful “pas”. A huge increase in the power of sound, activity of movement leads to a bright, sonorous reprise, to a culminating performance of the theme, as if raised by the strong, powerful chords that preceded it.

The contrasting theme of the middle part, tense, dynamic, connecting active, energetic intonations with elements of recitation, introduces notes of drama. After it, in the reprise, the main theme sounds with disturbing exclamations. Its structure has been preserved, but it has taken on the character of a living statement, the tension of human speech is 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, concise melody.

Romances and songs

Romances and songs are one of the main genres of Grieg's work. Romances and songs in more were written by the composer at 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 not long before the composer's career ended.

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

In Grieg's songs, a large world of poetic images, impressions and feelings of a person arises. Pictures of nature, written brightly and picturesquely, are present in the vast majority of songs, most often as the background of a lyrical image (“In the forest”, “The 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 (song cycle “From the Rocks and Fjords”). In Grieg's songs, a person's life appears diverse: with the purity of youth ("Margarita"), the joy of love ("I Love You"), the beauty of labor ("Ingeborg"), with the suffering that occurs on the path of a person ("Lullaby", "Woe mother"), with his thought of death ("The Last Spring"). But no matter what Grieg's songs "sing" about, they always carry a sense of the fullness and beauty of life. In the songwriting of Grieg, various traditions of the chamber vocal genre continue their life. Grieg has many songs based on a single broad melody that conveys the general character, the general mood of the poetic text (“Good morning”, “Izba”). Along with such songs, there are also romances in which subtle musical recitation marks the nuances of feelings (“The Swan”, “In Separation”). Grieg's ability to combine these two principles is peculiar. Without violating the integrity of the melody and the generalization of the artistic image, Grieg is able to concretize and make tangible the details of the poetic image with the expressiveness of individual intonations, successfully found strokes of the instrumental part, the subtlety of harmonic and modal coloring.

In the early period of creativity, 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 infinite beauty of the surrounding world, nature. In songs based on Andersen's texts, the type of vocal miniature characteristic of Grieg was determined; song melody, couplet form, generalized transmission of poetic images. All this makes it possible to classify such works as "In the Forest", "The Hut" as a song genre (but not a romance). With a few bright and precise musical touches, Grieg brings in lively, “visible” details of the image. The national characteristic 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 swiftness of the movement, the lightness and transparency of the sound determine the poetic image of the song. In the melody, wide, freely developing, impetuosity, scherzo and soft lyrical intonations are naturally combined. Subtle shades of dynamics, expressive changes of mode (variability), mobility of melodic intonations, sometimes lively and light, sometimes sensitive, sometimes bright and jubilant, accompaniment, sensitively following the melody - all this gives the figurative versatility of the whole melody, emphasizes the poetic colors of the verse. A light musical touch in the instrumental introduction, interlude and conclusion creates an imitation of forest voices, birdsong.

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

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

“Good morning” is a bright hymn to nature, full of joy and exultation. Bright D-dur, fast pace, clearly rhythmic, close to dance, energetic movement, a single melodic line for the whole song, striving to the top and culminating in a culmination - 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 a part of the melody (“the sun has risen”) in a different, tonally brighter sound; short melodic ups and downs with a stop on a major third, all growing stronger in sound; bright "fanfare" in the piano conclusion. Among the songs of Grieg, a cycle on the verses of G. Ibsen stands out. The lyric-philosophical content, mournful, concentrated images seem unusual against the general light background of Grigov's songs. The best of Ibsen's songs - "The Swan" - is one of the pinnacles of Grieg's work. beauty, strength creative spirit and the tragedy of death - such is the symbolism of Ibsen's poem. Musical images, as well as the poetic text, are distinguished by extreme laconicism. The contours of the melody are determined by the expressiveness of the recitation of the verse. But stingy intonations, intermittent free-declamatory phrases grow into an integral melody, unified and continuous in its development, harmonious in form (the song is written in three-part form). 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 tension in the middle part is achieved with even greater concentration, "stinginess" of musical means. Harmony freezes on dissonant sounds. A measured, calm melodic phrase achieves drama, increasing the height and strength of the sound, highlighting the top, final intonation with repetitions. The beauty of the tonal play in the reprise, with the gradual enlightenment of the register color, is perceived as a triumph of light and peace.

Many songs were written by Grieg based on the poems of the Norwegian peasant poet Osmund Vigne. Among them is one of the composer's masterpieces - the song "Spring". The motive of spring awakening, the spring beauty of nature, frequent in Grieg, is associated here with an unusual lyrical image: the sharpness of perception of the last spring in a person's life. The musical solution of the poetic image is remarkable: it is a light lyric song. The wide smooth melody consists of three constructions. Similar in intonation and rhythmic structure, they are variants of the initial image. But not for a moment there is a feeling of repetition. On the contrary: the melody flows on a big breath, with each new phase approaching the sublime hymn sound.

Very subtly, without changing the general character of the movement, the composer translates musical images from picturesque, bright to emotional (“in the distance, in the distance space beckons”): whimsicality disappears, firmness, aspiration of rhythmics appear, unsteady harmonic sounds are replaced by stable ones. A sharp tonal contrast (G-dur - Fis-dur) contributes to the clarity of the line between different images of a poetic text. Giving a clear preference for Scandinavian poets in the choice of poetic texts, Grieg only at the beginning of his career wrote several romances to the texts of the German poets Heine, Chamisso, 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 concerto brings Grieg's work closer to that branch of the genre, which is represented by the piano concertos of Chopin and especially Schumann. Proximity to Schumann's concerto is found in the romantic freedom, the brightness of the manifestation of feelings, in the subtle lyrical and psychological nuances of music, in a number of compositional techniques. However, the national Norwegian flavor and the figurative structure of the work, characteristic of the composer, determined the bright originality of Grieg's concerto.

The three parts of the concerto correspond to the traditional dramaturgy of the cycle: the dramatic "knot" in the first part, the lyrical concentration in the second, the folk-genre picture in the third.

A romantic outburst of feelings, light lyrics, the assertion of a strong-willed beginning - this is the figurative structure and the line of development of images in the first part.

The second part of the concerto 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, lyrics to an open and complete revelation of a bright, strong feeling.

The finale, written in the form of a rondo sonata, is dominated by two images. In the first theme - a cheerful energetic hulling - folk-genre episodes found their completion, as a "life background" that set 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 music to B. Bjornson's tragedy)
Wedding Day at 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
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16

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

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

Contained in 10 "Lyric Notebooks" (published from the 70s to 1901)
Among 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 orchestral edition)
4 Mozart sonatas for 2 pianos 4 hands (F-dur, c-moll, C-dur, G-dur)
Romance on the words of Andersen "Heart of the poet" (1864)

Choirs (total - with posthumously published - 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)

The harsh beauty of the northern nature, the majestic heroism of ancient legends, the bizarre mystery of fairy tales - this is how Norway seems to us. The spirit of this country was embodied in his music by Edvard Grieg. In the history of Norwegian culture, he played the same role as in Russia or in the Czech Republic, revealing to the world the beauty of his native musical folklore, melted down in a furnace classical forms. Edvard Grieg lived and worked in a difficult time for his native country: there was a struggle against the Swedish union imposed on Norway after the Napoleonic wars, and in the atmosphere of the struggle for independence, the national identity Norwegians. An important role in this process was played by the formation of national art (it is no coincidence that Grieg emphasized that he was not just a Scandinavian, but a Norwegian composer).

Grieg's homeland is the city of Bergen. His father - a descendant of a Scot - was a consul in the third generation, but there were also musicians in the family. Maternal great-grandfather was a conductor, and the mother of the future composer was a talented pianist. She herself taught children music. Edward began learning the piano at the age of six, and at first the lessons were not easy: he liked to improvise, and the scales and exercises - boring, but necessary - seemed to him "a stone instead of bread." Many years later, the composer recalled his mother with gratitude - after all, without her severity, he "would never, in any way, have moved from dreams to deeds."

Grieg composed his first piano work at the age of twelve, and at the age of fifteen his parents presented it to the famous violinist Ole Bull, whom his contemporaries called the "Norwegian Paganini". After listening to the young musician's improvisation, Bull advised him to enter the Leipzig Conservatory, and Grieg - with the support of his parents - followed this advice.

The years of study at the conservatory turned out to be not the happiest time in the life of the composer - the teachers seemed to him overly pedantic, he often disagreed with them in artistic views (Grig was fascinated by modern music of romantic composers, and this was not encouraged at the conservatory). Only about Moritz Hauptmann, from whom Grieg studied composition, he retained warm memories, calling him the personification of "the opposite of scholasticism."

After completing his studies at the conservatory, Grieg returned to his native city, but cultural life Bergen gave too little musical impressions, and the young composer went to Copenhagen. This happened in 1863, and at the same time the piano cycle "Poetic Pictures" was created - the first work by Grieg, bearing the features national identity. The same features marked other early works of Grieg - "Humoresque", piano sonata, First violin sonata. Grieg's interest in his native culture was shared by Rikard Nurdrok, a composer whom he met in Copenhagen. Together they organized the Euterpe society, which promoted the works of composers from the Scandinavian countries.

From 1866 Grieg lived in Christiania. At this time in his life, the time of the flowering of creativity comes. In the coming years, he created a number of works - Piano Concerto, Violin Sonata No. 2, romances and songs based on poems by Scandinavian poets. Acquainted in 1869 with folklore samples from the collection of Ludwig Lindemann, Grieg created the piano cycle "Twenty-five Norwegian Folk Songs and Dances". Grieg's activities in Christiania were not limited to composing music - he initiated the creation of the Academy of Music, became one of the organizers of the Musical Association of Christiania. As a conductor, Grieg presented to the public the creations of compatriot composers. In addition, he performed as a pianist - solo and in a duet with his wife Nina Grig, who was an excellent singer. One of Grieg's friends was the writer Bjornstern Bjornson, in collaboration with whom the composer created several songs. In addition, they worked on the opera "Olav Tryggvasson", but it was not completed.

In 1874, the playwright Henrik Ibsen invited the composer to write musical numbers for the drama Peer Gynt. The music created by Grieg turned out to be self-sufficient, able to exist outside of a dramatic performance - two orchestral suites "Peer Gynt" belong to the composer's most famous creations.

Since 1880, Grieg lived in the Trollhaugen villa, located not far from his hometown. Here he could enjoy the beauty of nature, communicate with Norwegian peasants. The composer writes piano pieces, romances, the suite "From the time of Holberg", the G-minor String Quartet. Solitude is interrupted by tours, during which Grieg introduces Norwegian music to Europe. In Europe, Grieg's work was recognized - he was an honorary doctor of the University of Cambridge.

Grieg's last creation was the Four Psalms for baritone and choir, based on old Norwegian melodies. The composer passed away in 1907, in connection with his death, mourning was declared in the country.

Villa "Trollhaugen" is now a house-museum.

All rights reserved. Copying is prohibited.

Edvard Grieg is a Norwegian composer, pianist, conductor, and folk music critic.

The creative heritage of Edvard Grieg includes more than 600 songs and romances, 20 plays, symphonies, sonatas and suites for piano, violin, cello.

Grieg in his works managed to convey the mystery of Swedish and Norwegian fairy tales, where a dwarf hides behind every stone, a troll can crawl out of any hole. The feeling of a fairy tale, labyrinths can be caught in his music.

Grieg's most famous and recognizable works are "Morning" and "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from the Peer Gynt suite. We invite you to listen to these works.

Listen to "Morning" from the Peer Gynt Suite

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Listen to "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from the Peer Gynt Suite

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Biography of Grieg

Full name: Edvard Hagerup Grieg. Years of life: 1843 - 1907 Height: 152 cm.

Homeland: the city of Bergen in Norway. The rainiest city in Europe. Today it is the 2nd largest city in Norway.

Bergen - the birthplace of Grieg

Grieg's father, Alexander Grieg, was from Scotland. In Bergen, he acted as British Vice-Consul. Mother - Gesina Hagerup was a pianist - the best in Bergen. She graduated from the conservatory in Hamburg, despite the fact that only young men were admitted to this educational institution. Grieg had two brothers and 3 sisters who studied music since childhood.

Walking one day near Bergen in the mountains, little Edward stopped at a pine tree peeping out of the gorge, looked at it for a long time. Then he asked his father: “where do trolls live?” And although his father told him that trolls only live in fairy tales, Edward did not believe him. He was firmly convinced that trolls lived among the rocks, in the forests, in the roots of old pines. As a child, Grieg was a dreamer and loved to tell stories. amazing stories to your loved ones. Edward considered his mother a fairy, because only a fairy can play the piano like that.

Reading the diaries of little Grieg, one can emphasize that phenomenal ideas are born in childhood. Grieg, approaching the piano, immediately noticed that two adjacent notes sounded bad. But if through one, then it turns out beautifully. He wrote about this in his diary. Once, when he grew up, he pressed 4 notes. And a little later, when the hand grew up - 5 notes through one. And it turned out to be a nonaccord or dimaccord! And then in his diary he wrote that he had become a composer!

At the age of 6, his mother began to teach Grieg how to play the piano. Playing scales and arpeggios, Grieg imagined how a platoon of soldiers was marching.
Throughout his childhood, he lived in a fantasy world. He made boring exercises interesting, gray weather, a bright, long road to school - a change of magical pictures. When Grieg grew up, he was allowed to visit musical evenings. On one of these evenings, he listened to Mozart play.

When Grieg was 8 years old, Ole Bull, a virtuoso violinist who gained recognition throughout Europe, visited his house as a guest.
At the age of 10, Grig began to attend school, but studying was not interesting for him.

At the age of 12, Grieg wrote his first composition: "Visiting the Kobolds."
Edward took the notebook with his first essay to school. The teacher, who disliked the boy for his inattentive attitude to study, ridiculed these notes. Grieg did not bring his compositions to school anymore, but he did not stop composing.

The Grieg family moves to Landos, a suburb of Bergen. There, together with his older brother, Edvord often went to a neighboring farm to listen to the songs of the peasants and their playing on the folk fiddles.

The Norwegian motif - the national pattern of Norway - is dance, haligen, tunes - with all this, Grieg grew up. And he "hid" these melodies in his works.

When Edward was 15 years old, Ole Bull heard his game and uttered prophetic words: "This boy will glorify Norway." It was Bull who advised Grieg to go to Germany to study at the Leipzig Conservatory.

In 1958, Edward became a student at the conservatory.
During his studies, Grieg suffered from pleurisy and lost one lung. For this reason, he stopped growing and remained tall - 152 cm. While the average height of men in Norway was more than 180 cm.

One way or another, Grieg graduated from the conservatory with excellent grades and admiring recommendations.

During the years of study, Edward attended many concerts, enjoying the works of great musicians - Wagner, Mozart, Beethoven.
Grieg himself had an interesting ritual. During each of his performances, a clay frog lay in the pocket of Grieg's jacket. Before the start of each concert, he always took it out and stroked its back. The talisman worked: at the concerts every time there was an unimaginable success.

In the 1860s, Grieg wrote the first works for piano - pieces and sonatas.
In 1863 he trained in Copenhagen with the Danish composer N. Gade.

During the same period of his life in Copenhagen, Grieg met and became friends with Hans Christian Andersen. The author of well-known fairy tales: Ugly duck, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Flint, Ole Lukoye, Shepherdess and Chimney Sweep, The Princess and the Pea, The Little Mermaid, Swineherd, The Snow Queen etc. The composer wrote music for several of his poems.

Nina Hagerup

All in the same Copenhagen, Edvard Grieg meets the woman of his life - Nina Hagerup. The young successful singer reciprocated Grieg's passionate confession. On the way to their boundless happiness, there was only one obstacle - family ties. Nina was Edward's maternal cousin. Their union caused a storm of indignation of relatives, and for all subsequent years they became outcasts in their own families.

In 1864, Edward proposed to Nina Hagerup on Christmas Eve, in the company of young cultural figures, presenting her with a collection of his love sonnets called Melodies of the Heart, which were written by his friend Hans Christian Andersen.

In 1865, together with another composer from Norway, Nurdrok, Grieg founded the Euterpe Society, which was supposed to popularize the works of young composers.

In 1867 he marries Nina Hagerup. Due to the disapproval of relatives, the couple had to move to Oslo, the capital of Norway.

From 1867 to 1874 Grieg worked as a conductor at the Philharmonic Society in Oslo.

In 1868, Liszt (the idol of all Europe) got acquainted with the work of Grieg. He is amazed. Having sent him a letter of support, in 1870 they met in person.

Grieg, in turn, writes to Liszt that he has composed a concerto and wants to perform it for Liszt in Weimor (a city in Germany).

Liszt is waiting for him, waiting for the tall Norwegian. Instead, he sees a "dwarf" one and a half meters tall. However, when Liszt heard Grieg's piano concerto, a truly huge Liszt with huge hands exclaimed to the little man Grieg: "Giant!"

In 1871, Grieg founded a musical society that promoted symphonic music.
In 1874, for services to Norway, the government of the country issued Grieg a lifetime scholarship.

In 1880 he returned to his native Bergen and was the head of the musical society Harmony. During the 1880s, he wrote works, mainly intended for playing the piano in 4 hands.

In 1888 he met Tchaikovsky, the acquaintance grew into friendship.

Later, Tchaikovsky said about Grieg: “... a person is very vertically challenged and frail complexion, with shoulders of uneven height, whipped curls on his head, but with the bewitching blue eyes of an innocent, lovely child ... ”Tchaikovsky even dedicated his Hamlet overture to Edward.

In 1889 he received membership in the French Academy of Fine Arts, in 1872 - in the Royal Swedish Academy, and in 1883 - Leiden University.
In 1893 he received a doctorate in music from the University of Cambridge. At the same time, he combines his studies with tours of Europe with his wife Nina.

Between tours of the largest European cities, he returned to Norway and retired to his estate, called "Troll Hill".

Taking advantage of his fame, in 1898 he organized a music festival of Norwegian music in his native Bergen, where the best musicians and musical figures of the world gathered, and thus finally included Norway in the active musical life of Europe. This festival is still held today. Grieg performs a lot, organizes concerts and
festivals, where he performs as a conductor, pianist, educator. Often they perform together with his wife, the gifted chamber singer Nina Hagerup, who inspired him to write a large number of
romances (naturally, on the texts of Scandinavian poets).
From 1891 to 1901, Grieg created without rest - he wrote plays and a collection of songs, in 1903 he released an arrangement of folk dances for piano performance.

Continuing to tour with his wife in Norway, Denmark and Germany, he catches a cold, and on September 4, 1907, he dies of pleurisy.

Grieg's works

Suite Peer Gynt

One of the most significant works of Grieg is the Peer Gynt suite, based on the drama of the Norwegian writer Heinrich Ibsen. One day, a parcel came to Grieg from the playwright Heinrich Ibsen. It was a new play for which he asked Grieg to compose music.
Peer Gynt is the name of a guy who grew up in a small village. Here is his home, his mother and the girl who loves him - Salveig. But the homeland was not sweet for him - and he went in search of happiness to distant countries. After many years, not finding his happiness, he returned to his homeland.

After reading the play, Grieg sent a reply with gratitude for the proposal and his consent.

After the premiere of the performance in 1876, Grieg's music fell in love with the public so much that he composed two suites from it for concert performance. Of the 23 numbers of music for the performance, 8 pieces were included in the suites. Both the music for the performance and the suites were written for a symphony orchestra. Then the composer made an arrangement of both suites for piano.

The first suite consists of four parts:

• "Morning",
• "Death to Oze"
• Anitra dance,
• "In the Hall of the Mountain King."

The second suite also consists of four parts:

• "Ingrid's Complaint"
• arabic dance,
• "The Return of Peer Gynt"
• Solveig song.

In fact, Grieg became the first Norwegian composer who gained worldwide fame, moreover, he promoted Scandinavian folk motifs to new level. Consider Solveig from Peer Gynt. There we hear the Norwegian motive, and in the theme of the dancing Anitra, the same motive, but already hidden. In the same place we hear our favorite chord of 5 notes - the discovery of childhood. In the cave of the mountain king - again this folk Norwegian motif, but already hidden - in the opposite direction.

Grieg gave a big concert in the city of Oslo, the program of which consisted exclusively of the composer's works. But at the last minute, Grieg unexpectedly replaced the very last number of the program with a work by Beethoven. The next day, a very venomous review by a well-known Norwegian critic, who did not like Grieg's music, appeared in the largest metropolitan newspaper. The critic was especially stern about the last number of the concerto, noting that this "composition is simply ridiculous and completely unacceptable." Grieg telephoned this critic and said:

You are disturbed by the spirit of Beethoven. I must inform you that last work, performed in Grieg's concerto, I composed! From such embarrassment, the unfortunate disgraced critic had a heart attack.

Grieg and his friend, the conductor Franz Beyer, often went fishing in Nurdo-svannet. Once, while fishing, Grieg suddenly came up with a musical phrase. He took out a piece of paper from his bag, wrote it down, and calmly placed the paper next to him. A sudden gust of wind blew the leaf into the water. Grieg did not notice that the paper had disappeared, and Beyer quietly fished it out of the water. He read the recorded melody and, hiding the paper, began to hum it. Grieg turned around with lightning speed and asked:

What is this? .. Beyer answered completely calmly:

Just an idea that just popped into my head.

- "Well, everyone says that miracles do not happen! Grieg said in great amazement. —

Imagine, because I, too, a few minutes ago came up with exactly the same idea!

In the story “Basket with Fir Cones”, Konstantin Paustovsky creates a portrait of Grieg with a few bright strokes. The writer hardly talks about the appearance of the composer. But by the way the hero of the short story listens to the voice of the forest, how he looks at the life of the earth with kind, laughing eyes, we recognize in him the great Norwegian composer. We believe that Grieg could only be like this: an infinitely sensitive and talented person for good.

Svetlana Petukhova

INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA

Journal number:

Special issue. NORWAY - RUSSIA: AT THE CROSSROADS OF CULTURES

The release in 1997 of the full-length 12-episode domestic cartoon "Dunno on the Moon" opened the world of art by Edvard Grieg, already popular, to another part of the Russian audience. Now even very young children sometimes ask the question: who is the author of the music for the songs from Dunno? Beautiful, easy to remember melodies, which are an integral part of the kind, witty and instructive tale about fantastic adventures, about growing up and dreaming, finally, about nostalgia and the long-awaited return home.

“Wherever we are, even for many years,
With our hearts we always rush home,

The fabulous resident Romashka sings to the tune of Grigov's Solveig's Song. And the heart aches, and the ear passionately follows the melancholy sighs of a deceptively simple and, as it were, familiar melody. Once it was composed for a different, but in the sense of a related text:

“Winter will pass and spring will flash,
All the flowers will wither, they will be covered with snow,

And you will come back to me - my heart tells me ... ". Solveig's song is a symbol of expectation and longing, endless fidelity and eternal love. One of the few musical themes associated in the minds of listeners all over the world with this particular range of images.

EDVARD GRIG'S TALISMAN - THE FROG BRINGING HAPPINESS

In the same way, the work and the name of Edvard Grieg in the first place and are inextricably linked with Norway, the largest representative of the musical art of which the composer is to this day. However, on the whole, the ongoing plot of Russian-Norwegian musical relations, historical, concert, style interweaving, is much broader and more diverse than the twists and turns of a single, albeit outstanding, biography. Already in 1838, a remarkable virtuoso, the violinist Ole (Ole) Bull (1810-1880), arrived in St. Norwegian. In 1880, at the invitation of Nikolai Rubinstein, the post of professor of the piano class at the Moscow Conservatory was taken by Edmund Neupert (1842-1888) 1 - best pianist Scandinavia, the first performer of Grieg's Piano Concerto (spring 1869, Copenhagen) and the first performer in Norway of Anton Rubinstein's Third Concerto (summer 1869, Christiania, now Oslo), 15 years later (in April 1884) performing in the Norwegian capital with a fantastic success 2. Finally, by the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, the names of composers Johan Svendsen (1840-1911), Christian Sinding (1856-1941) and Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935) became well known in Russia.

There is no doubt that Grieg's musical contemporaries constituted a generation that for the first time truly interested enlightened Europe precisely in the unity of creative convictions. It was a generation of like-minded people, professionally trained 3 , ambitious and, most importantly, striving to bring the achievements of the art of their native country beyond its borders. geographical boundaries. Nevertheless, since then and until now, the only Norwegian musician who has achieved the widest worldwide recognition remains Edvard Grieg. He was also the only living composer whom P.I. Tchaikovsky, who spoke with pleasure with him, directly called him a genius 4 , and M. Ravel - however, later - noted as a foreign master who significantly influenced contemporary French music.

Over time, Grieg's art has lost a distinct national status: intonations that were once perceived as indirect folk have now become a global property. Coldish and unexpected harmonies; sharp, uneven, unusual rhythms; witty roll calls of registers; soft touches of intervals and a free melody covering a huge space - all this is him, Grieg. Admirer of Italian nature and non-aggressive northern sun. A keen traveler whose paths always led home. A musician who achieved fame and missed important premieres of his compositions. In life, in Grieg's work, there are enough contradictions and inconsistencies; taken in total, they naturally balance each other, creating the image of the artist, far from romantic stereotypes.

Edvard Grieg was born in Bergen - an ancient city, "where it always rains", the legendary capital of the Novezian fjords - narrow and deep sea bays between high steep rocky shores. Grieg's parents were sufficiently educated and financially secure to allow their three children (two boys and a girl) to choose their own business. The father paid for the studies at the Leipzig Conservatory not only for Edward, but also for his brother, an excellent cellist, and later, when Edward went on trips abroad to get comprehensive impressions, he also financed them. The family did not interfere with Grieg's musical career; on the contrary, each achievement of the son and brother was sincerely welcomed by the relatives. Throughout his life, Grieg had the opportunity of fruitful communication with friends and like-minded people. Ole Bull advised the boy's parents to send him to Leipzig. There, Grieg's teachers were the best European professors: the outstanding pianist Ignaz Moscheles, the theoretician Ernst Friedrich Richter, the composer Karl Reinecke, who after graduation left a significant postscript in the Griegian certificate - "possesses a highly significant musical talent, especially for composition" 5.

Returning to Scandinavia, Grieg lived for a long time in his native Bergen, Christiania and Copenhagen. The composer's correspondence covers about two dozen names of representatives of Scandinavian art - both widely known today and forgotten. An unconditional influence on the formation of Grieg had personal communication with composers of the older generation Nils Gade (1817-1890) and Johann Hartmann (1805-1900), peers Emil Hornemann (1841-1906), Rikard Nurdrok (1842-1866) and Johan Svendsen, the famous storyteller Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), poets and playwrights Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) and Bjornstjerne Bjornson (1832-1910).

P.I. TCHAIKOVSKY MEETS EDWARD GRIG ON THE FIRST DAY OF 1888 IN LEIPZIG. "<...>INTO THE ROOM ENTERED A VERY SMALL MAN, MIDDLE-AGED, VERY SICKLY BUILT, WITH SHOULDERS OF A VERY UNUNIFORM HEIGHT, WITH HIGHLY WHIPPED BLOND CURLS ON THE HEAD AND A VERY RARE, ALMOST YOUTH BEARD AND MUSTACH. - RUSSIAN COMPOSER REMEMBERED A FEW MONTHS LATER. TCHAIKOVSKY DEDICATED THE FANTASY OVERTURE "HAMLET" OR. 67A, UNDER THE CONTROL OF A RUSSIAN MUSICIAN ON NOVEMBER 5, 1891 IN MOSCOW PERFORMED A.I. ZILOTI GRIG'S PIANO CONCERT. AND THE STILL ONGOING STORY NAMED "RUSSIAN GRIG" OBLIGES ITS BIRTH TO THE GREAT TCHAIKOVSKY.

Grieg's early fame in his homeland is the result of equally early woke up abilities for writing and, of course, considerable musical and social ambitions. At the age of 10, Grieg wrote his first work ( piano piece), at 20, together with friends, founded the Euterpe Musical Society in Copenhagen, at 22 he stood at the conductor's stand to acquaint the public with two parts of his only symphony, at 24 he tried to create the first Music Academy in Norway, and finally, at 28 he organized a concert there Musical Society (now the Metropolitan Philharmonic Society). However, the popularity of the "local scale" did not attract the young man: always far-sighted, he was well aware that significant artistic impressions and true creative development await him only outside the usual boundaries - geographical, communication, style. Grieg's travels differ from romantic wanderings, like the wanderings of his most famous hero, Peer Gynt, primarily by a clear awareness of the goal. In general, Grieg's whole life and solidity, immutability, the distinct direction of his worldview are the result of a choice made once and for all between the possible and the necessary. An understanding of one's own creative prospects and the paths of development that are obligatory for them, most likely, came to Grieg during his studies at the Leipzig Conservatory (1858-1862). It was precisely where the teaching traditions of Felix Mendelssohn (its founder) were alive, where the music of undoubted innovators - R. Schumann, F. Liszt and R. Wagner - was treated with caution so far, the main signs of Griegian musical writing developed. Consciously complicating the harmonic language and texture, giving preference to bright, emblematic melody, actively attracting national thematics, already in their early writings he searched individual style, clarity of form and structure.

Grieg's long journey to Italy through Germany (1865-1866) also had a specific task and was also associated with a controversial stage in an outwardly prosperous biography. Going to Leipzig, Grieg left a seriously ill friend in Berlin - Rikard Nurdrok. After a successful premiere performance of Grieg's sonatas (piano and first violin) at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the composer promised his friend to return, but changed his plans. “Flight to the South” brought Grieg the planned variety of impressions: there he visited churches and palazzos, listened to the music of F. Liszt, V. Bellini, G. Rossini, G. Donizetti, met G. Ibsen, performed in the Roman Scandinavian society and participated in carnival. In the midst of pleasure, I received a letter: Nurdrok died. Grieg did not comment on his then behavior with a single word, but created his only “Funeral March” for the death of a friend, which he conducted in his first subscription concert in Christiania a year later. (And he noted in a letter: “it sounded great.”) And later, accepting the fallen fame, he dedicated the first edition of the Piano Concerto to Nurdrok.

SOME RESEARCHERS CALL THE FIRST PERFORMANCE OF GRIG'S PIANO CONCERT IN RUSSIA THE PETERSBURG PREMIERE WHICH HELD ON NOVEMBER 22, 1876 (CONDUCTOR E.F. NARAVNIK, SOLOIST I.A. BOROVKA). POSSIBLE, THIS FACT HAS BEEN CONSOLIDATED IN THE LITERATURE BECAUSE TCHAIKOVSKY COULD HAVE BEEN PRESENT AT THE SPEECH. HOWEVER, IN MOSCOW THIS CONCERT WAS PLAYED EARLIER - JANUARY 14, 1876 IN THE HALL OF THE NOBLE ASSEMBLY AT THE SYMPHONY EVENING OF THE RUSSIAN MUSICAL SOCIETY. SOLIROVED by P.A. Shostakovsky, and behind the conductor’s remote control was Nikolai Rubinstein - “Moscow Rubinstein”, the organizer of the musical life of the second capital, the founder of the conservatory, the favorite of the heterogeneous public and the indulgence of the local philanthropists. GRIG'S PIANO CONCERT, IN THE 1870'S YET NOT OFTEN DECORATED EUROPEAN CONCERT SCENES, WAS NOT ONLY PRESENT IN N.G. RUBINSTEIN - A PIANOIST AND CONDUCTOR, BUT HAS ONE OF THE OUTSTANDING PLACES IN HIS TEACHING ACTIVITIES.

Moving to Christiania and the beginning of an independent life is connected with Grieg's marriage to his cousin - Nina Hagerup - and with a long break in relations with his parents. They did not welcome the union of their beloved son with such a close relative and therefore were not invited to the wedding (as were the bride's parents). The joys and pains associated with family life, also remained outside the Grigovian correspondence and diary entries. And - by and large - beyond the boundaries of Grigov's creativity. The composer dedicated his songs to his wife, a good singer, and was happy to perform with her in concerts. However, the birth and early death (at the age of a little over) of the only daughter Alexandra, the absence of other children from Grigov, apparently, had little effect on his attitude. And the point here is not in the Nordic asceticism of character, in the then accepted restraint of reactions. And not in the desire to hide the events of private life from the public (Grig gained pan-European fame later).

Awareness of his creative abilities and great prospects brought with him a huge responsibility, under the burden of which the composer voluntarily existed until his death. Grieg always knew what he had to do. The great goal - to bring Norwegian music to the pan-European level, to bring it world fame and thus forever glorify his native country - seemed achievable to Grieg in the process of a distinct step-by-step movement, in which writing ambitions had to obey both mandatory external influences and the organization of internal algorithms for the existence of musical life. Norway. In April 1869, Grieg did not attend the premiere of his Piano Concerto in Copenhagen, which resulted in a triumphant success. Apparently, the composer felt that his presence at the newly opened Academy of Music in Christiania was more important. But also for this reason, leaving the Academy in October of the same year, Grieg went to Italy - at the invitation of Liszt, who personally performed the same concerto at home, and was delighted.

THE PERFORMANCE OF GRIG'S PIANO CONCERT HELD IN THE GREAT CASINO HALL IN COPENHAGEN BECAME A SCANDINAVIAN EVENT. EDMUND NEUPERT PERFORMED AS A SOLOIST, STANDED AT THE CONDUCTOR’S PANEL CHIEF CONDUCTOR OF THE ROYAL OPERA, HOLGER SIMON PAULI, AND IN THE ROOM WAS THE MUSIC ADVOTOR QUEEN LOUISE. AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR ALSO ATTENDED THIS PREMIERE - ANTON RUBINSTEIN WAS IN THE GUEST BOX. ON APRIL 4, 1869, BENJAMIN FEDDERSEN, A FRIEND OF THE COMPOSER, SENT HIM THE FOLLOWING LETTER:<...>WHILE MY EARS WERE ENTIRELY LOOKED AT YOUR MUSIC, I DID NOT TAKE MY EYES AWAY FROM THE CELEBRITY LODGE, I WATCHED EVERY MINE, EVERY GESTURE AND I DARE TO STATE THAT GADE, HARTMAN, RUBINSTEIN AND WINDING WAS FULL OF JOY AND ADMIRE FOR YOUR WORK.<...>NEUPERT DOES HIS JOB JUST EXCELLENT<...>AND RUBINSTEIN'S PIANO CONTRIBUTE TO SUCCESS WITH ITS INCOMPARABLE RICH AND COLORFUL SOUND" .

There are many such turns in Grieg's biography; they cannot be adequately assessed without adopting the Griegian value system: first music and musical practice, and then everything else. Perhaps for this reason, despite the brightness and drama of Grieg's works, the emotional degree of their author's statement is perceived more as a result of a thoughtful, mediated reaction than a direct response. It is no coincidence that Grieg wrote little during his travels; most of his works were created by him at home, in solitude and silence. Having gained material independence, the composer built a house on the coast of the Bergen fjord, on top of a high cliff. It was there, in the Trollhaugen estate (the home of the trolls), that the maestro returned after the tour, which became more and more every year: in Germany, Holland, Switzerland, France, England, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Livonia. Ironically, at the premiere of the composition, which immediately after the performance brought Grieg tremendous fame, the author was also absent, this time for family circumstances. Grieg's parents died with an interval of 40 days in the autumn of 1875, and funeral chores, affecting the composer's psyche and mood, detained him for a long time in Bergen.

Grieg's music for Ibsen's drama "Peer Gynt" received separate fundamental reviews. The performance, shown for the first time on February 24, 1876 in Christiania, ran for almost 5 hours. For subsequent performances, the composer arbitrarily added or stopped numbers and fragments musical text. Therefore, it is now impossible to understand in all details how exactly these representations took place. Two author's suites from the music to "Peer Gynt" run for a total of 90 minutes. Each of these minutes of sounding is known to most listeners. And of everything written by Grieg - music for stage works, symphonic opuses, chamber ensembles, songs, choirs, piano compositions - the piano concerto in A minor, numerous pages from ten notebooks of piano "Lyrical Pieces", a few romances and separate fragments have survived in mass memory. chamber instrumental pieces. Over the past century, Grieg's "signature" intonations have dissolved in the work of other world schools and composers. However, even now Grieg is not difficult to recognize. It seems that only in his music the gloomy coloring of impenetrable forests and deep caves is so visibly shaded by the mean rays of the long-awaited sun. That only here traces of the sea element left such an indelible imprint on the tumbling lines of menacing passages. That the transparency and stillness of the air before sunrise is conveyed so realistically only in this orchestra. That the vastness of the natural space surrounding a person, only Grieg managed to turn into echoes of enduring loneliness.

He did not die unexpectedly, although he planned a lot more. He did not have time to go to London a second time, did not reach Russia, where he was persistently and for a long time invited by the pianist and conductor A. Siloti. The cause of death was emphysema of the lung - a consequence of tuberculosis suffered in his youth. With such a disease, perhaps it would be easier to live in a different climate. Not at all where it rains, winds and cold summers. But then it would be a different story - without the tart aroma of pine needles, fantastic troll dances and Solveig's yearning voice floating between the fjords.

THE EDITORIAL OFFICE OF THE TRETYAKOV GALLERY MAGAZINE THANKS THE EDWARD GRIG MUSEUM, TROLLHAUGEN AND THE BERGEN PUBLIC LIBRARY FOR THE PROVIDED ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL.