Norwegian composer. He started writing aged only 9, but later studied at the Leipzig Conservatoire and then with the Danish composer Niels Gade. A romantic composer, he went beyond the German tradition he had been taught, to develop a personal and national style that included some use of dissonance, though he is mainly remembered as a lyrical composer. The Lyric Pieces for piano remain popular, as does his Piano Concerto in A minor and the music he wrote for the dramatic production of Ibsen's Peer Gynt.
