EDVARD GRIEG Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 Allegro molto moderato Adagio Allegro moderato molto e marcato Born: June 15, 1843, in Bergen, Norway Died: September 4, 1907, in Bergen, Norway Work composed: 1868 World premiere: April 3, 1869, in Copenhagen, Edmund Neuport as soloist

Grieg had an abiding love for the music of Robert Schumann, instilled at an early age by his piano teacher Ernst Wenzel. While still a young man, Grieg leapt at the chance to hear Robert’s widow Clara, one of the premier pianists of the 19th century, perform her husband’s piano concerto at a Gewandhaus concert.

After completing his studies in Leipzig, Grieg moved to Copenhagen to study with the Danish composer Niels Gade, esteemed in his day as an apostle of Mendelssohn and Schumann, both having died relatively early in their lives in 1847 and 1856 respectively. Gade introduced Grieg to the luminaries of the day, including Hans Christian Andersen. In 1864 Grieg fell under the sway of Rikard Nordraak, a composer only a year older than he (and who died at 23) who argued that Norwegian composers should create a specifically Norwegian style (paralleling the kind of national consciousness that was motivating Glinka in Russia, Smetana in Czechoslovakia, and other composers throughout the continent.

After introducing a number of songs and chamber works to establish himself in his homeland, Grieg achieved an enormous and lasting upsurge in popularity with his Piano Concerto in A minor, cast in the same key as Schumann’s and boasting certain undeniable similarities, especially the introductory cascades of piano chords at the beginning of both works. If Grieg otherwise kept to writing delectable miniatures utilizing Norwegian folk materials, the Piano Concerto is far more beholden in its scope to Schumann’s brand of German Romanticism. The evergreen concerto also extended Grieg’s reputation beyond the borders of his native land. Though written in 1868, Grieg incorporated changes suggested by Franz Liszt before having the work published in 1872. Grieg continued to touch up the score over the next 30-plus years.

The first movement opens with a bold statement from the soloist — a series of clashing chords descending the length of the keyboard, followed by an upwardly sweeping sequence of arpeggios. The serene main theme is then uttered softly by the woodwinds, and eventually taken up by the piano. This primary tune serves as the connective tissue that binds the otherwise episodic development section. The mood of the entire movement alternates between virtuosic heroism and Grieg’s essentially lyric impulse. A strenuous cadenza reflects the composer’s pianistic prowess.

A sentimental, songful Adagio recalls Hans von Bülow’s description of Grieg as the “Chopin of the North,” with its salon-like atmosphere and lovely, yet economical writing for the piano. Without pause, the finale leaps forward with great vigor, impelled by the stirring rhythm of the halling, a popular Norwegian dance of the day. Structurally, the finale exhibits the episodic alternations of a rondo fused to developmental niceties redolent of sonata-allegro form. A songful and restrained middle section allows us to catch our collective breath before the movement’s stirring and majestic conclusion.