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Donald Macleod considers the reasons behind Edvard Grieg's wanderlust, with music from his famous piano concerto and the second of his Peer Gynt suites.

On 9th September 1907, it’s estimated that some forty to fifty thousand people turned out to pay their respects and watch Edvard Grieg’s cortège pass through the streets of Bergen. It’s an image that speaks of the enormous affection and esteem in which Grieg was held at the time of his death. Bergen was where Grieg was born in 1843, and in a speech he made 60 years later, he acknowledged that his music was drawn from the life of its people, the surroundings of the town and its natural beauty. His birthplace is one of several locations which provided Grieg with professional opportunity and creative nourishment. This week Donald Macleod is exploring Grieg’s life through the contrasting environments he needed to find the inspiration to write music. Donald begins his survey in Bergen, before assessing the decade Grieg spent in Oslo, the solitude he found in the picturesque Hardanger region. But Grieg had another, contradictory side to his nature, he was also a restless spirit and a keen traveller.

Grieg's passionate love of Norway didn't prevent him from undertaking lengthy conducting tours of the major European cities. It's a routine he established in his forties and which he continued right up to the end of his life.

Fra Monte Pincio
Barbara Bonney, soprano
Antonio Pappano, piano

Piano Concerto in A minor (2nd movt - Adagio)
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
Berlin Philharmonic
Mariss Jansons, conductor

Violin Sonata No 3 (3rd movement - Allegro animato - Prestissimo)
Elena Urioste, violin
Tom Poster, piano

Peer Gynt Suite No 2, Op 55
West German Radio Symphony Orchestra
Eivind Aadland, conductor

Symphonic Dances, Op 64 (No 4 in A minor)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo, conductor

Remembrances (Lyric Pieces, Bk 10, Op 71 no 7)
Ayako Kitahama (piano)