The Spirit of Norway
Grieg encounters two musicians who seek to express in music the spirit of Norway. One is a towering figure in Norwegian culture, the other a young upstart. With Donald Macleod.
Donald Macleod looks at Grieg鈥檚 associations with two musicians who sought to express the spirit of Norway in their music.
Donald Macleod looks at the people and places that had a significant impact on Edvard Grieg鈥檚 life and work, meeting Norwegian fiddlers, folksong collectors and nationalist firebrands along the way. From Henrik Ibsen, who commissioned Grieg to write his most famous work, to the composer's wife Nina, for whom he wrote all his songs, this week Donald explores the key influences on the composer鈥檚 outlook and development.
In today's programme, we meet two figures who were influential on Grieg's approaches to nationalism at the beginning of his career - one, the virtuoso violinist Ole Bull, was a towering figure in Norwegian culture, the other, the young firebrand Rikard Nordraak, didn鈥檛 live to fulfil his promise, but had a defining impact on Grieg as he was starting out.
Lyric Pieces Book 1: IV Elves鈥� Dance
Alice Sara Ott, piano
Violin Sonata No 1 in F major: III
Augustin Dumay, violin
Maria Jo茫o Pires, piano
In Autumn
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Neeme J盲rvi, conductor
Funeral March for Richard Nordraak (arr for orch by Johan Halvorsen)
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Ole Kristian Ruud, conductor
Ballade
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
Produced by Megan Jones for 麻豆社 Audio Wales and West
Last on
More episodes
Music Played
-
![]()
Edvard Grieg
Lyric Pieces Book 1 (No 4, Elves' Dance)
Performer: Alice Sara Ott.- Deutsche Grammophon : 4794631.
- Deutsche Grammophon.
- 8.
-
![]()
Edvard Grieg
Sonata No 1 in F major for violin and piano, Op 8 (3rd mvt)
Performer: Augustin Dumay. Performer: Maria Jo茫o Pires.- DEUTSCHE GRAMMOP : 437-525-2.
- DEUTSCHE GRAMMOP.
- 3.
-
![]()
Edvard Grieg
In Autumn, Op. 11
Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme J盲rvi.- DG : 471-300-2.
- DG.
- 4.
-
![]()
Edvard Grieg
Funeral March for Richard Nordraak
Orchestra: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Ole Kristian Ruud.- BIS : SACD-1591.
- BIS.
- 11.
-
![]()
Edvard Grieg
Ballade in G minor, Op 24
Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes.- EMI CLASSICS : 394-3992.
- EMI CLASSICS.
- 4.
Broadcast
- Tue 16 Apr 2024 16:00麻豆社 Radio 3
Vaughan Williams Today
Programmes, concerts and features celebrating Vaughan Williams's 150th anniversary.
Beethoven Unleashed 鈥� the box set
The complete set of Radio 3 Beethoven Unleashed podcasts, with Donald Macleod.
What was really wrong with Beethoven?
Georgia Mann and neurosurgeon Henry Marsh examine the composer's numerous health problems
Composers A to Z
Visit the extensive audio archive of Radio 3 programmes about Composers and their works.
Who knew? Five eye-opening stories from Composer of the Week
The production team reflects on 5 of Donald Macleod鈥檚 best stories from the last 20 years
Five reasons why we love Parry's Jerusalem
What is the strange power of Jerusalem which makes strong men weep?
A man out of time 鈥� why Parry's music and ideas were at odds with his image...
The composer of Jerusalem was very far from the conservative figure his image suggests.
Composer Help Page
Find resources and contacts for composers from within the classical music industry.