EDVARD GRIEG first encountered the Schumann’s Concerto in Leipzig during his studies. After completing his Piano concerto in 1868, in 1870 Franz Liszt visited Leipzig and Grieg took the chance to get some advice from him on writing for the piano. Grieg did not ignore the virtuoso’s authority and, in the first edition of the Concerto, implemented the changes the latter had recommended.

Composer, conductor, pianist and musical organiser, Grieg began his career in Bergen, working his way through the Leipzig Conservatory in its illustrious years of high professionalism with the great figures of his time, Ignaz Moscheles and Carl Reinecke (1858-1862). He experienced the influence of Schubert, Schumann and Mendelssohn. Worked in Copenhagen (from 1863) as a conductor, pianist and composer; was involved with fellow students in the founding and activities of the Euterpe Society. Like many Romantic composers, Grieg succumbed to the general Romantic tendency towards national musical self-determination. He found the path to this in the folk heritage, which he collected, studied and used as a source of ideas throughout his life.

In 1866 Grieg settled in Oslo, where he also worked as a teacher and music critic. He founded the Philharmonic Society and attempted to establish a Music Academy in Norway. For his contribution to national culture, from 1874 the state provided him with a lifetime subsidy. Grieg is also credited with starting the first Norwegian Music Festival, still in existence today.

Against the backdrop of piano, vocal music-theatre opuses, his Piano Concerto turns out to be one of the largest, and today – the most performed. Notwithstanding the example of two of the greatest piano masters, Schumann and Liszt, Grieg’s national and stylistic identity in this Concerto is undeniable. He follows in the vein of German Romanticism, increasingly fusing his style with the Norwegian musical tradition. Folk patterns are particularly evident in the finale and recall his Norwegian Dances. Because of his piano miniatures, lyrical style, and national character, Grieg earned the label “the Norwegian Chopin.” Excerpts from the Piano Concerto have repeatedly been used as music for feature films and TV series.