Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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As I write, I am enjoying the magical afterglow of an event I recently attended at the Norwegian Ambassador’s residence in Kensington. Organised with publisher Edition Peters, the evening celebrated the release of the first ever urtext editions of piano works by Agathe Backer Grøndahl (1847-1907).
The Edition Peters scores for both works have been published in association with Kode, the association of art museums and composers’ homes in and around Bergen, who previously also partnered for the publication of Grieg – A Piano Treasury, reviewed here.
Christian Grøvlen, who is Director of Music and the Composer’s Homes for Kode, and the editor of the Edition Peters scores, performed the two recently published works: the Fantasy Pieces Op.39 and In the Blue Mountain Op.44, introducing each with the rapt fascination and deep insight of a true expert.
While the latter piece was a virtuosic concert work in the manner of Liszt, it was the Fantasy Pieces that impressed me the more. While designating these miniatures “salon pieces,” Grøvlen highlighted Backer Grøndahl’s genius with the form, and her innovative compositional style.
I am surprised that a renewed interest in Backer Grøndahl’s music hasn’t come sooner. Enjoying the generous hospitality and chatting with other guests after the performance, it was clear that none there doubted that this music is of special importance and quality.
Agathe Backer Grøndahl
Though posterity has by and large ignored Backer Grøndahl, she is undoubtedly one of Norway’s great composers. That her music is returning to the publishing and recording catalogues, and to the practise room and concert hall, is certainly cause for celebration.
Agathe Backer was born in Holmestrand on 1st December 1847, the third of four sisters, all of whom were artistically inclined. Her sister Harriet was to become one of Norway’s most celebrated painters, but from the start Agathe’s interest was in music, and she took to the piano prodigiously from a young age, picking out tunes by ear on the family instrument.
She was soon composing, too. Harriet Backer later recounted:
“Agathe once came to me in tears and said, ‘I have made a beautiful song. It came to me in such a way that I could not resist’.”
When Agathe was ten years old, the family moved to the capital Kristiania (today’s Oslo) and she was able to begin lessons with one of the country’s most renowned teachers. From there, she continued her piano education with Theodor Kullak in Berlin, before going on to study with Hans von Bülow and Franz Liszt.
In 1875, Agathe Backer married choral conductor Olaus Andreas Grøndahl, and they subsequently had three sons. During this time, she maintained a successful concert career, performing in London and Paris, including the famous Piano Concerto in A minor by her friend Grieg, while also enjoying a seemingly happy domestic life.
Those who knew Backer Grøndahl noted her shy, withdrawn personality, and in her later years she experience nervous problems. It is no wonder that she increasingly devoted her time to composition, piano teaching, domestic life, and the local music scene.
Writing about her, the famous British author and music critic George Bernard Shaw observed:
“She composes, she says, in the quiet of the evening, when the day’s work is done…
‘what work?’ I ask, astounded. ‘Oh, all the things one has to do’, she replies, ‘the housekeeping, the children, the playing, the three lessons I give every day to pupils.’…
She adds … that it is as a wife and mother that she gets the experience that makes her an artist.”
Towards the end of her life, Backer Grøndahl almost entirely lost her hearing, but still continued to compose. By the time of her death in 1907, she had published 70 works, including 250 songs and around 150 piano pieces, leaving a lasting impact on Norway’s musical heritage.
Fantasy Pieces Op.39
Backer Grøndahl’s piano output includes several sets of Fantasy Pieces, miniature pieces suitable for the amateur enthusiasts of her day, and now approachable for players at early advanced level (around UK Grade 7-8).
Of these various sets, Christian Grøvlen suggests that the Fantasy Pieces Op.39 represent a particular highlight.
These are short, exquisitely formed character pieces that recall the miniatures of Schumann, Mendelssohn and Grieg. They can be played individually or as a suite, each piece offering a compressed tone painting with a programmatic subject. They are quirkily titled:
- Souvenir
- Summer Night
- Swallows Soaring
- Song of the Roses
- In the Boat
- The Fountain
- Bird’s Winter Song
- Norwegian
- Withered
- Old-fashioned
At the Norwegian Ambassador’s residence, Christian Grøvlen delighted the audience with his performance and discussion of each of the ten pieces, adding a special magic to their launch. In the absence of any recordings, I can but give my personal view that these pieces have a unique and very remarkable quality.
It was particularly fascinating and instructive to follow Grøvlen’s demonstration of how distinct Backer Grøndahl’s voice is from that of her compatriot and friend Grieg. Though both composers channel the folklore, cultural and geographical landscape of their homeland, her music is certainly very different to his.
While Grieg rarely strayed from conventional form, or indeed from the more central range of the instrument, Backer Grøndahl delivers highly focused, compressed structures with a taut narrative. She explores the outer sonorities of the piano’s highest and lowest notes, and evokes pianistic colours that anticipate impressionism.
Grøvlen traces a link between Backer Grøndahl’s music, Harriet Backer’s paintings, and the ‘New Romantic’ movement popular in Norway in the 1890’s, epitomised by the poetry of Vilhelm Krag (1871-1933) and noted for its symbolism, expressivity, and connection to nature.
Agathe Backer Grøndahl was both an innovator and a composer of her time, whose own superb pianism significantly informed her writing, even in these more accessible pieces. I believe that they are sure to engage, challenge, and delight all who explore them.
In the Blue Mountain Op.44
Grøvlen went on to introduce and perform In the Blue Mountain, published in a separate, second volume by Edition Peters.
One of Backer Grøndahl’s most substantial and virtuosic concert works, this Fairytale Suite is written in the manner of the bravura tradition of Romantic pianism championed by her teacher Liszt. While the character of the piece will delight audiences, its technical challenges place it at the top end of the professional performing repertoire.
The six movements combine to form a single piece; thematically and programmatically linked, they have the following titles:
- Night
- In the Troll Hall
- The Great Troll
- Hulder-Call
- The Mountain Captive’s Song
- Dance of the Trolls
In the Blue Mountain is certainly a fascinating and hugely enjoyable work, though one which I suspect will receive less attention than the Fantasy Pieces, due in no small part to the very significant demands it makes of the performer.
Grøvlen is a brilliant advocate for it, and his performance certainly made an impact; we must hope other artists will similarly discover the work’s joys.
The New Urtext Editions
Edition Peters scores hardly need introduction, their distinctive green covers always a welcoming sight that promises both musical value and editorial quality. But even by the publisher’s high standards, the two Backer Grøndahl scores are superb indeed.
Printed on quality cream paper, the books naturally both begin with title pages, credits and contents, before a Preface written by the editor. Here, Grøvlen chrysalises both the composer’s biography and the essence of her achievement.
This is followed by a more in-depth Biographical Sketch, including detailed information on the works in each volume, contributed by Johannes Hilton, who is Curator of Music for Kode.
In both editions, we also find black and white photography of the composer, original title page engravings from the 1890’s, and facsimiles of the composer’s original manuscripts.
The scores themselves are of course authoritative, and an impressive work of original scholarship. Their presentation is spacious and beautifully engraved, with page turns carefully placed, and an eminently readable music font. No editorial fingering is added. Each volume concludes with the editor’s Critical Commentary.
Closing Thoughts
While it is fair to say that some repertoire disappears from view with good reason, this is clearly not the case with the piano music of Agathe Backer Grøndahl. 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.
As Grøvlen puts it,
“Agathe Backer Grøndahl’s music is rich in passion, depth, colour, virtuosity and nobility, creating a lasting impression on anyone who experiences it.”
I can certainly confirm this has proven true for me, and I look forward to exploring, playing, and teaching Backer Grøndahl’s music in the coming years.
If you enjoy late nineteenth-century piano miniatures, and are ready for a marvellous, fresh discovery, these works will not disappoint you.
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