The 20th annual Symposium will be held on Thursday, April 23, 2009.

Edvard Grieg, Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16
Goodrich Chapel, 10:05 AM

Ji Yun  Lee,   '10 27
   Major: Economics and Management
   Hometown: Gwangiu, South Korea

Sponsor(s): David Abbott
Support:  

Abstract: 
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) was Norway’s most recognized composer during the period of National Romanticism. During his time, Norwegian culture was heavily overshadowed by German romantic tradition. As he grew older, Grieg’s love towards his homeland grew, and he became increasingly conscious of the musical potential of his own country’s folk-culture and began to promote Norwegian nationalism by writing pieces based on traditional popular music. His great sense of musicality allowed him to create melodies rooted from the folk traditions of Norway, as the universal appeal of his music captures the culture and images of rural Norway. His first biographer, Aimer Gronvold, concluded that there was an intense and indissoluble relationship between the environment Grieg lived in and the music that he created.

The piano concerto in A minor, Op. 16 is among Grieg’s earliest and best-known works, written by the 24-year-old composer in 1868. It has become almost synonymous with Norway, as the name of Grieg has been identified with the concept of Norwegian music. Being one of the most popular of all piano concerti, Grieg’s concerto is played throughout the world; it is used from commercials to pop hit, films, and TV shows.

Along with the significance of the piece being known as a nationalistic Norwegian composition, the piano concerto in A minor remains the only concerto Grieg completed. The composer revised the work at least seven times; the final version of the concerto was completed only a few weeks before Grieg’s death at the age of 64, and it is this version that has achieved worldwide popularity. This grand work of contains three movements: Allegro molto moderato, Adagio, and Allegro moderato molto e marcato. My performance of the concerto’s first movement will be heard today in a version for two pianos, with the orchestral reduction on a second piano by Dr. Abbott, my instructor, leading the ears of the audience to rural Norway of late eighteenth century.

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