Edvard Grieg great admirer of Grieg's music and a strong empathy was quickly established. In a 1907 interview, Grieg stated: “I have written Norwegian Peasant Dances that no one in my country can play, and here comes this Australian who plays them as they ought to be played! He is a genius that we Scandinavians cannot do other than love.” Edvard Grieg died at the Municipal Hospital in Bergen, Norway in the late summer of 1907 at age 64 from heart failure. He had suffered a long period of illness. His last words were "Well, if it must be so." The funeral
Ballade in the Form of Variations on a Norwegian Folk Song Ballade in the Form of Variations on a Norwegian Folk Song "Ballade in the Form of Variations on a Norwegian Folk Song" in G minor, Op. 24, is a large scale work for piano by Edvard Grieg. It is in the form of theme and variations, the theme being the Norwegian folk song "Mountain Song". A performance usually lasts around 20 minutes. The "Ballade" was one of the works played by Percy Grainger at his 1901 London debut at Steinway Hall. This was four years before he met Grieg, who was to become Grainger's greatest champion. The Norwegian composer Geirr