During Edvard Grieg's time, Norway was a new nation still under the King of Sweden, leading to a need for an independent cultural identity.
Composition History
The Norwegian song emerged as a Scandinavian equivalent of the German Romantic lied, blending music and poetry.
Compositional Technique
Hugo Wolf, a great admirer of Wagner, rethought the lied in terms of the operatic genre for his Italienisches Liederbuch, giving the piano a key role.
Compositional Technique
Richard Strauss's lieder are known for captivating harmonies, delicate modulations, and mastery of word-setting, creating vocal masterpieces.
Composer Biography
Edvard Grieg entered the Leipzig Conservatory at age fifteen, and Agathe Backer-Grøndahl studied in Berlin and with Franz Liszt and Hans von Bülow.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Grieg worked to build a national Norwegian repertory, giving concerts with exclusively Norwegian music and founding the Norwegian Academy of Music in 1867.
Composer Biography
Agathe Backer-Grøndahl, the most important Norwegian female composer of the late 19th century, composed nearly 200 art songs.
