You don't hear these pieces every day...

...but you will, once I record them and you buy the CD or download it. :)

Looking forward to playing this recital, in which I trace the development of Edvard Grieg as composer of piano music, through an exploration of some of his lesser known (but unique and beautiful) works.

re-Post on Grieg's Transcriptions of his Own Songs

[re-posting this entry from April 2009, regarding Volume 2]:

The most recent work I've been doing regarding the edits has been on some of the beautiful pieces in Opus 41 & 52, with the somewhat awkwardly translated title, "Piano Pieces after His Own Songs".  Grieg, who of course is well known for his piano music, was a masterful composer of songs for voice and piano.  Of the 181 songs he wrote, Grieg himself chose twelve of his songs to transcribe for solo piano. They comprise the two volumes mentioned above, each volume with six pieces.  

These transcriptions are not widely known or performed by pianists, unlike the favourite Lyric Pieces, Ballade, Sonata, and Piano Concerto. I myself only happened upon them in rummaging through my mother's music cupboard.  My mother must have purchased the Vilhelm Hansen edition of Opus 41 #1-3 on one of our family vacations to Copenhagen, while browsing the famous Danish music shop.

My particular enjoyment of these pieces comes of course because of their beauty, but also because of the opportunity to combine the two dominant aspects of my career as pianist: as soloist and as accompanist to singers.  In these works, I am soloist, singer, and accompanist. Although the poetic texts are not articulated, I very clearly hear the words as I play the part of the singer.  As many of these pieces are somewhat virtuosic elaborations on their original song counterparts, I delight also in the opportunity to explore the sonorities of my instrument.

I suggest that pianists consider exploring this repertoire, as the opportunity to focus on the lyrical element and the aspect of letting phrases "breathe" as if sung is instructive in developing one's musicality and pianism.  At the same time, I would encourage singers to listen to these transcriptions in order to gain a new perspective on the songs: directly from the composer.  It is interesting to notice the subtle differences between a particular song and its corresponding transcription.  Quite often the piano transcription has been expanded or lengthened from the original, but there are also more subtle differences in terms of the placement of expression markings or tempo directions.

I also find it interesting to contemplate the possible reasons for Grieg's choices of songs to transcribe.  Some of his most famous songs (Solveig's Song, and Jeg elsker dig) were chosen, and placed next to some much lesser known songs (Jeg giver mit digt til Vaaren, and Kaerlighed).  I'd love to know what Grieg's choices were based on.  Were these songs simply among his favourites?

For this "Volume Two" CD, I have recorded four of the transcriptions; this in addition to five that are on my first CD means I just have three left to record...for "Volume Three"?  (Don't let me get ahead of myself here!)  I hope you enjoy them.  

[Indeed, I am now going ahead with the remaining 3 in Volume 3: Hun er saa hvid, Prinsessen, and Gamle mor. :) ]

Why record another volume of Grieg piano music?

For the past several years, the music of Norwegian composer, Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), has been a growing area of specialty for me as a pianist. Perhaps originating with a love for this composer that began in my childhood, and perhaps as well due to my Northern European heritage, I feel a deep connection to his music and this has been appreciated by my listeners.  To mark the centenary of Grieg’s death, I released my first solo CD in 2007.  The recording was very warmly received and was soon followed by a second volume, released in 2009.  At the time of the first CDs release, Grieg provided me with the vehicle to expand back into solo concertizing after years of focusing almost solely on collaborative playing.  My "dual-track" career as soloist and accompanist continues to develop and Grieg continues to be a part of this development. It seems that the more I get to know Grieg's music, the more my love for it grows!

Although much of Edvard Grieg’s repertoire is considered to be standard piano repertoire, there are not a great number of recordings available.  The most famous of the recordings are Emil Gilels’ recording from 1974 (with which my discs have been favourably compared) and Leif Ove Andsnes’ two discs from 1993 and 2002.  At this stage in my career, I feel that there would be an audience and a market for one more volume in my series of recordings of Grieg’s miniatures for piano.  I look forward to implementing what I learned in doing the first two recordings with even greater focus and efficiency in this third volume.

I am so grateful that my audience continues to be interested in this work. Please show your support by "pre-buying" your copy of volume 3.  Details are found here and you can use the "donate" button at the right of this page.  

Happy 2nd Anniversary, Volume Two!

I just happened to notice that my 2nd solo CD ("Piano Music of Edvard Grieg: Volume 2") was released exactly two years ago today.  I have trouble understanding exactly how two years could have passed since then, but then again 2010 and 2011 have been a time of great challenge in my life as many of you know.

As I get going again with renewed focus on my performing and recording career after somewhat of a hiatus for the past 16 months, I just thought I'd take a moment to mark the occasion of this anniversary with a little blogpost. Stay tuned for news of the next recording as well; there's a "Piano Music of Edvard Grieg: Volume 3" brewing. It was December 2006 when I first went to the studio to record "Piano Music of Edvard Grieg" (Volume 1). Apparently Grieg has now had me in his clutches for five full years and shows no signs of letting go of me.

By the way, as it's that time of year when gift-giving is all the rage, you may consider purchasing one of the copies of Volume 2 that I have left.  I'm offering the discs at a price of $15 (CDN) this month, and should likely be able to get you yours in time for Christmas. Please get in touch through my facebook page, or by my email address found on my website, or by commenting on this post.

Oh, and also, if you would just like to hear some Grieg yourself as a break from all the Christmas music, you can hear tracks (for free!) on the "listen and buy" page at https://www.facebook.com/mogenpianist or at bandcamp. Of course you can also download said tracks for a modest fee...