Piano Forum

agreed on the piano concerto in A minor.  michael thomas roder writes: 'norway's first noteable composer of romantic music was edvard grieg (1843-1907).  he studied piano at the leipzig conservatory for four years, beginning in 1858 at age fifteen.  his teachers included e.f. wenzel, friend and champion of robert schumann and moscheles.  he also studied composition, but never felt he had received the training necessary to write for orchestra' (personally, i think he'd done just fine)

also, mr. roeder goes on to say that grieg never became a virtuoso performer, nor did he stress virtuosic elements in his compositions.  preferring instead in the creation of lyric miniatures, particularly songs and short lyric piano pieces.  his most successful large-scale composition was the a-minor concerto (composed when he was 25).  the concerto does have strong virtuoso content, particularly in the cadenza of the first movement - which franz liszt sightread the first time in 1870 when he met grieg. 

grieg dedicated this concerto to edmund nupert (1842-1888) who first performed the work in the spring of 1869 in copenhagen under the direction of the composer.  (liszt had suggested the second theme have trumpets instead of cellos - but at the end of griegs life - he switched the orchestration back to cello). 

the concerto is 'very clearly modeled on schumann's in the same key and shares with it a similar striking piano opening followed by a lyrical idea presented by the orchestra and then repeated by the piano.  chopin was grieg's favorite composer and you can hear some of chopin's style in the piece too, particularly the nocturne-like treatment of the first movement's second theme in the piano.  some critics referred to grieg as 'the chopin of the north.'