Grieg: A Piano Treasury is a beautifully presented collector’s edition, which Grieg’s original publisher and musical champion have produced in association with Kode, an association of four art museums and three composers’ homes in and around Bergen, Norway, including Grieg’s home, Troldhaugen.
The book begins with an introduction by Christian Grøvlen, Director of Music and of the Grieg House, Kode, who succinctly and accurately proclaims:
“Edvard Grieg’s world is a world of poetry.”
The ten-page Preface (in German and English) introduces the composer, his world, and his music, including introductions to the sample of 23 late intermediate to early advanced works that follow.
Interspersed with photographs off the composer, his house, piano, family and friends, the text here offers a succinct but fascinating overview, easily readable by players with no specialist knowledge, and inspires a hunger for the music which follows.
And how fitting this intimate portrait is, because Grieg’s music similarly presents an evocative album of his immediate world, the expansive Norwegian scenery, and the culture in which his artistic life played out.
