Good morning.

Today we’re listening to Edvard Grieg, a Norwegian composer and pianist. Born in 1843, Grieg began piano lessons with his mother at age six, and enrolled in Leipzig Conservatory at age fifteen.¹ In the 1860s his compositions attracted the attention and support of Liszt, and later on did the same for Tchaikovsky. As Kathryn Louderback has noted, Grieg drew from Norwegian folk musical elements such as major/minor key switching and the Lydian and Mixolydian church modes. Within this framework he composed novel chord progressions, many of which sound shockingly contemporary today. First we’re playing a 1974 collection of his solo piano “Lyric Pieces” performed by Emil Gilels. Second we’re playing a 2007 collection of generally faster pieces performed by Alberto Boischio.

Grieg: Lyric Pieces - Edvard Grieg & Emil Gilels (60m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal

Alberto Boischio Plays Edvard Grieg - Edvard Grieg & Alberto Boischio (80m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal

Have a really nice Wednesday.