Edvard Grieg and Norwegian Nationalism

It is scarcely a matter of question that Edvard Grieg was the most influential figure in the movement to create a Norwegian national style of music in the second half of the nineteenth century. The question, thus, is not of his influence itself, but rather, how he came to be so influential, a question that is best approached from a consideration of the people and factors that made Grieg who he came to be. Most significant among these are Grieg’s time at the Leipzig Conservatory, comprising his formal education in the field of music aside, of course, form the piano lessons he received from his mother throughout his childhood, and his time in Denmark following his time at the conservatory, where he met such nationalists such as Rikard Nordraak, who would die of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-three, but not before composing the Norwegian National Anthem. The conservatory years shall be explored through Grieg’s autobiographical article “My First Success,” and his time in Denmark shall be considered using his comments on the work of Christian Frederik Emil Horneman and his comments on the work of Rikard Nordraak.

Grieg was appointed to attend the Leipzig Conservatory with a considerable degree of excitement at the age of fifteen on the recommendation of his relative by marriage, the famous Norwegian violinist and nationalist, Ole Bull (Benestad and Halverson 75-76). Bull, it would seem, was impressed by the young Grieg’s abilities in both performance and composition on the piano, declaring that at the conservatory Grieg was to become a musician. The Leipzig Conservatory, having been founded in the year of Grieg’s birth by none other than Felix Mendelssohn, had quickly become one of Europe’s leading musical institutions after the German tradition of music-making. Indeed, as Grieg himself acknowledged, it was a great honor to have the opportunity to study there (Benestad and Halverson 77), but dissatisfaction and disagreement throughout his experience altogether spoiled his appreciation for the presentation of the musical art offered at the Leipzig Conservatory.

This is demonstrated quite thoroughly through Grieg’s experiences with his teachers at the Conservatory. For example, his first piano teacher at the aforementioned institution was Louis Plaidy, for whom Grieg has very little praise, commenting that “His method of teaching was one of the most uninspired imaginable” (Benestad and Halverson 78). To Grieg, this man who idolized the works of the early classical period was quite the opposite of the teacher he desired. Fortunately, it did not take too terribly long for Grieg to find men that did appeal a bit more to his tastes, such as Ernst Ferdinand Wenzel, Ignaz Moscheles, Moritz Hauptmann, and most importantly for the matter at hand Carl Reinecke, though not most important to Grieg, it should be noted.

Reinecke provides a perfect example of the shortcomings that Grieg perceived in the academic approach at Leipzig, which he summarizes by stating, “…I wanted something different from what they taught and failed to teach me in the classes” (Benestad 85). Grieg describes how Reinecke had a tendency to assign him compositional tasks requiring skills that the Conservatory had made absolutely no effort to teach him, particularly that of orchestration and of instrumentation (Benestad and Halverson 84). Thus, despite considerable praise for many of his teachers, Grieg did not show mercy to the institution of Leipzig, whose shortcomings were only remedied, according to Grieg, by his own independent study. Assuming he speaks mostly the truth, Grieg’s relatively famous statement, “the atmosphere of Leipzig had thrown a veil over my eyes” (Benestad and Halverson 88) can be treated with accuracy, especially considering the direction Grieg’s music would soon take.

After finishing at the Leipzig Conservatory in 1862, Grieg’s artistic life would undergo the shift from his Germanic education to the Norwegian nationalism for which it is known. For the next few years, Grieg would be in contact with notable Danish composers, particularly Christian Frederik Emil Hormenam, and the great Norwegian nationalist Rikard Nordraak, with whom he had joined together to found a musical society known as “Euterpe”. It was their friendship and influences that allowed Grieg to begin working with the style that truly defined his art.

Grieg’s conservatory friend Horneman, first of all stood out to him as an exemplary composer and a true asset to Scandinavian music, if not specifically to Norway. Their lifelong friendship produced numerous letters, full of mutual goodwill and praise, but the impact specifically that Horneman had on Grieg is best summarized in Grieg’s article on Horneman, which describes both his efforts in the musical society to promote Nordic music and his brilliance as a composer of the same variety (Benestad and Halverson 215). Indeed, Grieg fondly recalls the days with his friend, and he urges others to support him, as well, in the name of the advancement of their mutual cause, still strong sixteen years after the short existence of their Euterpe musical society. This, among other comments, clearly illustrates the lasting effect of Grieg’s days with his fellow artists in the 1860s.

Most important to Grieg though, musically speaking, was his fellow Norwegian Rikard Nordraak, whose legacy, in a sense, Grieg continued after the former’s untimely death in 1866. The veneration that Grieg gave to Nordraak could not be clearer but in the fact that, as soon as he received the tragic word of Nordraak’s passing, Grieg wrote a brilliantly Norwegian funeral march for his friend. Furthemore, in a published article from 1900, Grieg expressed some very strong sentiments in praise of Nordraak and his ideals, reminding the Norwegian people where the music to their national anthem originated, praising the emotional range of Nordraak’s music, and stating that Nordraak had “lived and died with a glowing faith in Norway’s future” (Benestad and Halverson 250-251). In this article, Grieg even mentioned that he should like to be able to write a biography of one of his greatest artistic heroes. The full range of Grieg’s nationalistic fervor and artistic temperament is manifest in this text, titled “Homage to Nordraak,” and it reveals with perfect depth the great extent to which Grieg’s late friend influenced his thinking.

Two factors played chiefly in guiding the artistic development of Edvard Grieg. First, there were frustrations and disappointments at the Leipzig Conservatory, as well as growth and technical development, primarily due to the competence of several of Grieg’s teachers and Grieg’s own drive to succeed in his artistic endeavors. In the end, though, Grieg had been left without a musical style or purpose, being consigned to the Germanic idiom that he had been taught. Second, when in Denmark Grieg encountered a considerable group of men who were interested in the same ends as he, friendships sprung easily, and these would serve as his guide to the future. Largely, then, Grieg’s enthusiastic and sudden development into the epitome of the Norwegian musician can be accredited to his quick jump from an artistic trench to the top of a hill. It is for this reason that both Grieg and his admirers see his change as being so drastic and important. Without the conditions in place as they were, the world might not have been gifted the same Edvard Grieg.

Bibliography

Benestad, Finn ed. trans., and William H. Halverson ed. trans. Edvard Grieg: Diaries, Articles, Speeches. Columbus, Ohio: Peer Gynt Press, 2001.