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Grieg鈥檚 final years were spent either touring Europe as a performer, or preferably enjoying his new home, 鈥渨here it鈥檚 more beautiful鈥�, he said, 鈥渢han the most beautiful place imaginable.鈥�

Donald Macleod looks at the people and places that had a significant impact on Edvard Grieg鈥檚 life and work, meeting Norwegian fiddlers, folksong collectors and nationalist firebrands along the way. From Henrik Ibsen, who commissioned Grieg to write his most famous work, to the composer's wife Nina, for whom he wrote all his songs, this week Donald explores the key influences on the composer鈥檚 outlook and development.

Today, we find Grieg in the Spring of 1885, when a plan he'd been nurturing for a couple of years came to fruition. The composer and his wife Nina had a house built for them on the shores of a fjord just south of Bergen, which still stands. They named it Troldhaugen, or 鈥榁alley of the Trolls鈥�.

Lyric Pieces Op 43: III In my homeland
Stephen Hough, piano

Violin Sonata No 3: I Allegro molto ed appassionato
Terje Tonneson, violin
Einar Henning Smebye, piano

Wedding Day at Troldhaugen
Alice Sara Ott, piano

Peer Gynt Suite No 2: III Peer鈥檚 Homecoming, IV Solveijg鈥檚 Song
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Ole Christian Ruud, conductor

Haugtussa: VI-VIII
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo soprano
Bengt Forsberg, piano

Stimmungen Op 73: XII-XV
Einar Steen-N酶kleberg, piano

Produced by Megan Jones for 大象传媒 Audio Wales and West