Edvard Grieg

My favourite composer is Grieg and his Piano Concerto. It ranks with most popular works in this branch of music created in the 19th century.

The Concerto wa s written in 1868 in a Danish village, where the composer was staying with his family. The composer drew his inspiration from Norway' history, culture and folklore. While being highly original in its national colour, Grieg' music has an irresistible appeal to audience in all parts of the world for it is deeply poetic, spontaneous and refined. It was introduced in Copenhagen in 1869.

Franz Liszt admired this concerto very much, a fact that is borne out in a letter, written by Grieg in Rome, bearing the date April9, 1870. Here Grieg describes his first meeting with the famous musician. Playing the new concerto at sight he was lavish in his praise throughout the performance. "In the Adagio and in the Finale in particular, his performance and enthusiasm for the piece reached their peak. After Liszt had played the solemn bars of the Finale, he suddenly stopped playing, rose from the piano and walking across the vast monastic hall, he literally roared out the theme."

Already in the seventies Grieg' Concerto gained world fame.

Cristinel Sebe
"Duiliu Zamfirescu" School, Focsani, Romania
Teacher Petru Dumitru <petrudumitru@netscape.net>