Fridtjof Backer-Grøndahl (15 October 188521 June 1959) was a Norwegian pianist, composer and music teacher.

Biography

Backer-Grøndahl was born in Christiania (later

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

) in 1885, the son of the conductor and singing teacher

Olaus Andreas Grøndahl Olaus Andreas Grøndahl (4 November 1847 — 31 December 1923) was a Norwegian conductor, singing teacher and composer. The music journalist Cecilie Dahm described him as "... a central figure in Norway's choral movement". His best known work was ...

and the pianist and composer

Agathe Backer Grøndahl Agathe Ursula Backer Grøndahl (1 December 1847 – 4 June 1907) was a Norwegians, Norwegian pianist and composer. Her son Fridtjof Backer-Grøndahl (1885–1959) was also a pianist and composer, who promoted his mother's compositions in his conc ...

. His first studies were with his mother, under whom he made his concert debut at the age of 18. He then went to the Berlin High School for Music where his teacher was

Ernst Rudorff Ernst Friedrich Karl Rudorff (January 18, 1840 – December 31, 1916) was a German composer and music teacher, also a founder of the nature protection movement ''"Heimatschutz"''. Biography Born in Berlin, Rudorff studied piano under Woldemar Ba ...

. He also had private lessons with

Ernst von Dohnányi Ernst von Dohnányi (Hungarian: ''Dohnányi Ernő'', ; 27 July 1877 – 9 February 1960) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and conducting, conductor. He used the German form of his name on most published compositions. Biography Dohnányi was bo ...

and

Xaver Scharwenka Theophil Franz Xaver Scharwenka (6 January 1850 – 8 December 1924) was a German pianist, composer and teacher of Polish descent. He was the brother of Ludwig Philipp Scharwenka (1847–1917), who was also a composer and teacher of music. Life ...

. He made a special study of the Piano Concerto in A minor by his countryman (and his mother's friend)

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

. He toured in Germany and neighbouring countries from 1905. In 1906 (

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

) and 1907 (

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

) he played Grieg's Concerto under the baton of the composer. He also played the concerto under

Johan Svendsen Johan Severin Svendsen (30 September 184014 June 1911) was a Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist. Born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway, he lived most of his life in Copenhagen, Denmark. Svendsen's output includes two symphonies, a vi ...

.''Backer-Grøndahl, Fridtjof'', Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 1954, Vol. I, p. 341 From 1920 to 1930 Fridtjof Backer-Grøndahl lived in Britain, where he taught at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

and also concertized, including works by his mother, Grieg, and other Norwegian music in his repertoire, along with those of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

, Chopin,

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

and

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

. He wrote some piano pieces and song cycles. He made a small number of recordings of Grieg's ''

Lyric Pieces ''Lyric Pieces'' () is a collection of 66 short pieces for solo piano written by Edvard Grieg. They were published in 10 volumes, from 1867 ( Op. 12) to 1901 (Op. 71). The collection includes several of his best known pieces, such as '' Wedding ...

'', available on YouTube. Also he made recordings of his mother Agathe Backer Grøndahl's piano pieces (2 X 10inch 4ss). Fridtjof Backer-Grøndahl died in Oslo in 1959, aged 73.

References

External links

Fridtjof Backer-Grøndahl
Norsk biografisk leksikon {{DEFAULTSORT:Backer-Grondahl, Fridtjof 1885 births 1959 deaths Norwegian classical composers Norwegian music educators Piano educators Norwegian male classical composers Norwegian male pianists 20th-century Norwegian classical pianists 20th-century Norwegian male musicians