Edvard Grieg Works

Edvard Grieg (1843 – 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is renowned as a nationalist composer, drawing inspiration from Norwegian folk-music. He wrote, "I am sure my music has the taste of codfish in it". (Frommer's Norway: 3rd edition, ISBN 978-0-470-10057-8, page 274, 2007.) Grieg's compositions have been used extensively in movies, television, music education, and popular music.

Among his best known works are the Piano Concerto in A Minor, the incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt (which includes Morning Mood and In the Hall of the Mountain King), and the Lyric Pieces, a wonderful collection of piano miniatures. He originally wrote his popular Holberg Suite for the piano, and later arranged it for string orchestra. Grieg wrote many songs, in which he set lyrics by poets Heinrich Heine, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Henrik Ibsen, Hans Christian Andersen, Rudyard Kipling, and others.

According to the book Classical Music for Dummies (David Pogue and Scott Speck: Classical Music for Dummies, IDG Books, ISBN 0-7645-5009-8, 1997), "In today's pop music world, the word "hook" refers to the catchy, repeated element in a piece of music.... In classical music, the same concept applies. A hook helps you remember, and identify with, a particular piece of music. The compositions of Mozart ... Grieg, and Schubert have hooks galore - so many hooks, in fact, that several of them have been pilfered for the melodies of today's rock songs." Indeed many of Grieg's melodies have been adapted by popular musicians, and have been used in television programs, video games, and movies. Morning Mood was often used in Warner Brothers cartoons.