I can’t get much of a musical angle on my recent short trip to Norway. I didn’t for example see the new opera house in Oslo or attend a church service (this country provides plenty of work for organists). Another thing I might have done and didn’t was to visit Grieg’s house at Troldhaugen near Bergen. However this started me thinking about how countries treat their national composers (that is if they have just one – some are spoiled for choice). If Britain has one, Elgar just beats Purcell for the title. Like Grieg, he’s remembered (apart from actual performances of his music) in a rather understated sort of way, apart from contributing to the local tourist industry in the area where he lived. My father once claimed to have seen the ‘Elgar Tyres and Service Station’ or similar near Hereford, though we think that may have been just a local firm with the same name.
I have I think only performed one piece by Grieg – his Ave maris stella – though my alarm clock plays Morning from Peer Gynt, so his music (in a synthesised form) is often the first thing I hear on waking.
It’s being pointed out to me that this cuts the other way, with composers helping to create national identity in countries such as Norway and Finland. With this in mind, I was surprised not to see more evidence of Grieg about. For example, I didn’t see any statues of him among the many I passed while walking around. Perhaps I just went down the wrong streets.