Edvard Grieg Alexander Greig, travelled widely, settling in Norway about 1770, and establishing business interests in Bergen. Edvard Grieg was raised in a musical family. His mother was his first piano teacher and taught him to play at the age of six. Grieg studied in several schools, including Tanks Upper Secondary School. In the summer of 1858, Grieg met the eminent Norwegian violinist Ole Bull, who was a family friend; Bull's brother was married to Grieg's aunt. Bull recognized the 15-year-old boy's talent and persuaded his parents to send him to the Leipzig Conservatory, the piano department of which was directed by
Haugtussa (Grieg) Haugtussa (Grieg) Haugtussa, Op. 67, or "The Mountain Maid", is a song cycle for soprano and piano composed by Edvard Grieg in 1895 and published in 1898. It is the only song cycle in his entire output. The text was written by the Norwegian writer Arne Garborg, an excerpt from his book of poetry "Haugtussa". It tells the story of Haugtussa, a young herding girl, and her first love affair with a boy, her first heartache. Both the lyrics, which brim over with imagery of gurgling brooks and tasty blueberries, and the music that mimics this imagery, intertwine the main