Edvard Grieg
From Philosopedia
Grieg, Edvard Hagerup (1843—1907)
Grieg was a composer who developed a strong nationalistic style that has come to be known as “the voice of Norway.” Founder of the Norwegian Academy of Music, Grieg - aided by his wife, the singer Nina Hagerup Grieg who interpreted his songs - became a leading composer in his day. His “Concerto in A Minor for Piano and Orchestra” received excellent reviews, and in its first performance he was the solo pianist. Grieg is particularly known for his “Peer Gynt” (1876).
His interest in Unitarianism is described by David Monrad-Johansen in a 1945 biography in which Grieg is quoted:
- “During a visit to England in 1888 I was very much impressed by Unitarian opinions (trust in God alone—belief in a three-in-one God and in a son co-equal with Him is barred) and in the nineteen years that have passed since then I have stood by this conclusion.”
In 1890, he wrote, "Whether one believes in God, Satan, Christ along with the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary, in Mohammad or in nothing, it is still the case that the mystery of death cannot be explained away. In 1901 he said wistfully, "I could wish that I were a Buddhist, the better to understand and sympathize with the idea of annihilation."
Peter Hughes, writing in the Dictionary of Unitarian Universalist Biography, has an extensive biography not only of Grieg but also of his wife, a Danish-Norwegian Unitarian.
As many as 50,000 people witnessed Grieg's funeral procession. "The Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak" (Grieg's choice) and The Last Spring were played at graveside. His ashes were later moved to a cliff-side grotto overlooking the fjord at Troldhaugen.
Upon his death, his wife gave in his honor an organ to the Free Church Society (Unitarian) in Copenhagen. She was a member from 1908 to 1935. Thorvald Kierkegaard, the Danish Unitarian minister, conducted her funeral ceremonies in Copenhagen. Her ashes are now united with her husband's at Troldhaugen.
Not so well known, according to Marin Greif, was Grieg’s interest in the “dazzlingly good-looking Australian composer and pianist Percy Grainger,” whose good looks also dazzled Vachel Lindsay.
(See an article by Knut A. Berg, "Freethinking Believers: The Unitarians," with a photo of Grieg, whose wife Nina Grieg [1845 - 1935] was a Unitarian.)
