Nina Grieg Nina Grieg Nina Grieg, née Hagerup (24 November 1845 – 9 December 1935) was a Danish–Norwegian lyric soprano. Nina Hagerup was born in Bergen, Norway. She was the first cousin of composer Edvard Grieg, whom she married. The couple often performed concerts together in Europe, usually to rave reviews. Edvard considered her the best performer of his songs. She was featured as a soloist in Felix Mendelssohn's "Elijah" with "Musikselskabet Harmonien" (later known as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra) in 1866. The English composer Frederick Delius dedicated two sets of songs to her in the years 1888–1890. Nina Grieg never recorded
Haugtussa (Grieg) character’s personal story and the mystic spring-like landscape that surrounds her, which may even motivate it. Edvard Grieg read Arne Garborg's "Haugtussa" in May 1895, and was so inspired that he composed twelve songs in a month, four of which he rejected. He then spent three years completing the project. He first conceived it as a larger work with orchestra, but in 1898 decided to set just a cycle of eight songs for voice and piano, and gave them a final polish before they were printed in September that year. Grieg wanted "Haugtussa" to reflect Garborg's poems, but by using