Edvard Grieg

Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use and development of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions put the music of Norway in the international spectrum, as well as helping to develop a national identity, much as Jean Sibelius and Antonn Dvok did in Finland and Bohemia, respectively. Grieg is regarded as simultaneously nationalistic and cosmopolitan in his orientation, for although born in Bergen and buried there, he traveled widely throughout Europe, and considered his music to express both the beauty of Norwegian rural life and the culture of Europe as a whole. He is the most celebrated person from the city of Bergen, with numerous statues depicting his image, and many cultural entities named after him the citys largest building , its most advanced music school , its professional choir , and even some private compani

Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway, onJune 1843. His parents were Alexander Grieg , a merchant and viceconsul in Bergen and Gesine Judithe Hagerup , a music teacher and daughter of Edvard Hagerup. The family name, originally spelled Greig, has Scottish origins. After the Battle of Culloden in 1746, Griegs greatgrandfather, Alexander Greig, traveled widely, settling in Norway about 1770, and establishing business interests in Bergen.

Source: Wikipedia