"These are truly works of the highest order, wonderfully evocative and consummately crafted, and their rediscovery is surely one of the most genuinely joyous musical finds of recent years." pianodao.com, February 2025
We are immensely proud to have published the first ever Urtext editions of piano music by the Norwegian composer, Agathe Backer Grøndahl, Fantasistykker (Fantasty Pieces) Op. 39 and I Blaafjellet (In the Blue Mountains) Op. 44.
Agathe Backer Grøndahl (1847–1907) was a Norwegian pianist, composer, and music teacher. She studied under Franz Liszt and became renowned for her talents as a pianist and composer. She wrote over 400 works, primarily for piano and voice, blending Romantic influences with Norwegian folk elements.
Despite suffering hearing loss later in life, she continued composing and teaching, leaving a lasting impact on Norway’s musical heritage. Backer Grøndahl was a contemporary and close friend of Edvard Grieg, with her compositions – until now – having been largely overlooked.
Edition Peters celebrated her wonderful music with guests at a piano recital interwoven with anecdotes from Backer Grøndahl’s life given by the editor, Christian Grøvlen, at the Norwegian Ambassador’s Residence in London on 6th February 2025.
Agathe Backer Grøndahl’s Fantasy Pieces have elements that could be said to resemble Grieg’s Lyric Pieces or Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte. They can be seen as tone paintings and often have programmatic titles. She composed several musical cycles consisting of such pieces over several years. With titles such as ‘I Baaden’ (‘In the Boat’), ‘Sommernat’ (‘Summer Night’) and ‘Rosernes Sang’ (‘Song of the Roses’), it is easy to imagine a Jane Austen-like universe, with white umbrellas, soft colours and gallant suitors. The music also has some of the same elegance and decorativeness about it, but there are always several layers there; a pressure, a strong and immediate emotional force. There is beauty and charm on the surface, but just below the darkness lies smouldering. Here we are at the core of Agathe Backer Grøndahl’s music.
In the Blue Mountain is one of Grøndahl’s main works, a wide-ranging suite with links to the European bravura tradition of romantic pianism inspired by Liszt. The work is dedicated to her sister, the painter Harriet Backer, and was premiered by Backer Grøndahl herself during the great Musikkfesten in Bergen in 1898. A programmatic work, the piece evokes the different moods of the magical mountains, with fantastic creatures such as trolls and wood nymphs.
Read a review of the publications by Andrew Eales here.