Agathe Ursula Backer Grøndahl (1 December 1847 – 4 June 1907) was a
Norwegianpianist and
composer. Her son
Fridtjof Backer-Grøndahl (1885–1959) was also a pianist and composer, who promoted his mother's compositions in his concerts.
After her arrival to Norway in 1868, she debuted with
Edvard Grieg, then 26 years old, as conductor of the Philharmonic Society.[2] A recommendation from
Ole Bull led to further studies with
Hans von Bülow in
Florence in 1871.[1][n 1] Later the same year she played at the
Gewandhaus in
Leipzig, becoming a pupil of
Franz Liszt in
Weimar in 1873.[1] In 1874 she married the conductor and singing teacher
Olaus Andreas Grøndahl, and was generally known thereafter as Agathe Backer Grøndahl.[3] During the second half of the 1870s she built up an outstanding pianist career with a series of concerts in the Nordic countries, also playing with very great success in
London and
Paris.
In 1889 and 1890 she gave concerts in London and
Birmingham with a wide-ranging program, including Grieg's
piano concerto.[2] After that she was proclaimed one of the century's greatest piano artists by
George Bernard Shaw, who also remarked on the sensitiveness, symmetry and artistic economy of her compositions.[4] At the World Exhibition in Paris in 1889, she repeated her success with her brilliant interpretation of Grieg's piano concerto.[2] It was then that she began experiencing nerve problems, although she eventually resumed her artistic career as a pianist. Later in the 1890s she became almost completely
deaf. She gave her last concerts in Sweden and Finland in the autumn of 1901. Then she retired to teaching.
As a teacher she was markedly successful and influential. Her students included
Erika Stang and
Bertha Tapper. Her children studied under her and are counted with her gifted pupils. She was the author of many songs and a great deal of music for the piano, and both as pianist and composer stands at the head of modern music in Norway.[5] Agathe Backer Grøndahl died at her home in
Ormøya, outside Christiania, at the age of 59.[2] She is today chiefly remembered for her piano pieces and songs.
Compositional style
Agathe Backer Grøndahl played a major role in the period often called the golden age of Norwegian music history. She composed in total some 400 pieces spanning seventy opus numbers. She was a prominent character on the Norwegian musical scene and a close friend of
Edvard Grieg. Her earlier compositions synthesized the predominant pianistic and stylistic ideas of 1850s Europe. In her later years however, her style transformed and anticipated some of the early twentieth century impressionistic ideas, which ultimately led the composer
Pauline Hall to call her the first true Norwegian impressionist.
List of works
Songs
3 Songs, Op. 1, (1868–9)
5 Songs, Op. 2, (1871)
5 Songs, Op. 3, (1870–73)
7 Songs, Op. 4, (1869–74)
4 Songs, Op. 5, (1871–2)
6 Songs, Op. 6 (1867–71)
Summer Life, 4 Songs, Op. 7
5 Songs, Op. 8 (1871–6)
6 Songs, Op. 9 (1871–9)
4 Songs, Op. 10 (1871–5)
5 Songs, Op. 12 (1879)
5 Songs, Op. 13 (1881)
6 deutsche Lieder, Op. 14
6 Songs, Op. 16
Songs at Sea, Op. 17 (1884)
7 Folkeviser og Romanser, Op. 18
Serenade, Op. 21 (1888)
5 Songs, Op. 23 (1888)
6 Songs, Op. 26 (1890)
6 Songs, Op. 27 (1890)
Chant de Noces: Bryllupsmorgen, Op. 28 (1890)
10 Songs, Op. 29, (1892)
10 Songs, Op. 31, (1894)
Norske folkeviser, arrangements, Op. 34 (1894)
The Night is Calm, Old Folks Waltz, Op. 40 (1897)
5 Songs, Op. 41 (1897)
The Child's Spring Day, song cycle, Op. 42 (1899)
8 kjaempeviser, Op. 43 (1896–7)
20 folke- og skjaemteviser, Op. 43 (1896–7)
5 Songs, Op. 46, (1897–9)
2 Sange fra havet, Op. 48
3 Sange i moll, Op. 49
Sommer (Jynge), 8 songs, Op. 50 (1899)
12 folkeviser og melodier fra fremmede lande, Op. 51 (1902)
The Mother Sings, 8 songs, Op. 52 (1900)
Sydover 6 songs, Op. 54 1900
Ahasverus, 6 songs, Op. 56 (1900)
6 deutsche Liebeslieder aus der Jugend, Op. 60 (1869–1900)
Clover Field, Op. 62 (1901)
4 Songs, Op. 65 (1901–4)
One more Glimpse, Op. 70 (1907)
Piano solo
6 concert-etuder, Op. 11 (1881)
3 morceaux, Op. 15 (1882)
4 skizzer, Op. 19 (1886)
Suite, 5 movements Op. 20 (1887)
3 études, Op. 22 (1888)
6 idylles, Op. 24 (1888)
3 klaverstykker, Op. 25 (1890)
Norske folkeviser og folkedanse, Op. 30 (1891)
3 études de concert, Op. 32 (Copenhagen, 1895)
Norske folkeviser og folkedanse, Op. 33 (1894)
3 klaverstykker, Op. 35 (1894)
Fantasistykker, Op. 36 (1895)
Serenade, Op. 37 (1896)
3 ungarske studier, Op. 38 (1896)
Fantasistykker, Op. 39 (1896)
In the Blue Mountain, fairytale suite, 6 pieces, Op. 44 (1897)
^Her songs from this early period are in the German Romantic tradition of
Felix Mendelssohn and
Robert Schumann, but also reflect her own ability to shape a melody and use the piano in a rich manner.