Grieg: Violin Sonatas

Featuring

Alban Beikircher
Senka Brankovic
Edvard Grieg

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Grieg was deeply impressed by Robert Schumann's music, seeing his own dreams and the secret longings of Romanticism expressed within it.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Norwegian musicians Rikard Nordraak, composer of the Norwegian National Anthem, and violin virtuoso Ole Bull, a 'nordic Paganini', inspired Grieg to develop a national romantic style in music.

Composer Biography

Edvard Grieg studied at the Leipzig Conservatory from 1858 to 1862, an institution founded by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in Grieg's birth year.

Composition History

Grieg's Third Violin Sonata in C minor, Op. 45, was his last completed chamber music work and his last large-scale composition overall.

Performer Biography

Alban Beikircher, the violinist on this recording, plays a violin made by Martin Schleske in 2010.

Compositional Technique

Grieg's three violin sonatas use a classic three-movement structure but feature a lyrical treatment of the violin, prioritize motivic combinations over thematic intricacies, and stylize Norwegian folk music.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Grieg considered his three violin sonatas among his best works, each representing a different stage in his artistic development: the first 'naïve', the second 'nationalistic', and the third with a 'wider outlook'.