Grieg: Cello Sonata, Op. 36 / Piano Sonata, Op. 7

Description

Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907) Piano Sonata, Op. 7 Intermezzo in A Minor for Cello and Piano Cello Sonata, Op. 36 Edvard Grieg, arguably the most popular composer ever to emerge from the Scandinavian peninsula, was born in Bergen, Norway, in 1843. His father was a rich merchant of Scottish descent, his mother a gifted poet and musician, who was principally responsible for recognising young Edvard's talent, and began giving him piano lessons when he was six years old. His progress was fairly spectacular, but more importantly he already showed a greater interest in experimenting with his own ideas than playing the music of others. Edvard was a caring and sensitive child and, as is so often the case with the artistically prone, he endured a perfectly miserable schooling, being endlessly teased and derided for his interest in music. When he was fifteen, however, he was lucky enough to be granted an audience with the travelling violin virtuoso, Ole Bull, who was so impressed that he arranged for Grieg's transfer to the Leipzig Conservatory forthwith. This turned out to be something of a mixed blessing, for while Grieg was intuitively a child of the Romantic era, the tuition he received was severely traditional, based ostensibly on the classics of Bach and Mozart. He left the Conservatory claiming that he was as stupid as when he entered it. In 1862 Grieg returned briefly to Norway, before making for the Scandinavian cultural capital, Copenhagen. In 1864 he met Rikard Nordraak, whose healthy obsession in the sagas, fjords and music of the homeland inspired Grieg to believe that a form of national music was also possible. Fired with renewed enthusiasm to compose, he set off for. Southern Europe to broaden his musical horizons. Returning in 1866, he gave a concert of his own music, including some piano miniatures, Hans Christian Andersen song settings and the First Violin Sonata, which once and for all established his reputation in his own country. In 1867 he married Nina Hagerup, and the following year their daughter Alexandra was born, inspiring Grieg to compose his first and most popular masterpiece, the A minor Piano Concerto. A meeting with Franz Liszt in Rome in the early 1870s, during which Liszt sight-read the Violin Sonata and the Piano Concerto with great approval, was of crucial importance to Grieg's sense of evolving destiny. Returning to Norway he was contacted by the great playwright Henrik Ibsen to compose some incidental music to his play, Peer Gynt. The resulting set of inspired miniatures has maintained an honoured place in the orchestral repertoire ever since. The 1880s and 90s represented a period of consolidation and increasing international recognition for Grieg. In 1885 he took up residence in Troldhaugen where he was to stay for the next twenty years, and subsequently developed a yearly blueprint which he would maintain right through the following decade: the spring and early summer were spent composing, the late summer going for long