Happy Birthday, Edvard Grieg!

​Did you know that this week marks the birthday of composer Edvard Grieg? Grieg was born on June 15th, 1843 in Bergen, Norway.

Through the years, I have played and taught many of Grieg's wonderful pieces--from easy arrangements of "Morning Mood" and "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from the Peer Gynt Suite, to his lovely Lyric Pieces for piano solo, to his exciting Piano Concerto in A minor. So today I am celebrating one of my favorite composers by sharing resources you can use to introduce your students to the music of Edvard Grieg!

Keep reading to learn how you can introduce your students to this famous composer....

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Biographies and Listening Activities

• The Classics for Kids website has a whole page devoted to Edvard Grieg, with a kid-friendly biography, links to several podcasts featuring Grieg's music, and classroom lesson plans that can be used for grades K-5. You can find this page HERE.
• I love this fun listening activity featuring the popular "In the Hall of the Mountain King." It's a great resource for introducing the concept of story-telling through music and the different instruments of the orchestra. PDF available from the Classics for Kids website HERE.
• Making Music Fun has several free Grieg resources, including a biography, a video of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" performed by full orchestra, a Grieg-themed word search, and more! You can find these HERE.

Free Sheet Music

• In the Hall of the Mountain King (elementary) (Arr. Chrissy Ricker) available HERE.
• Morning Song (late elementary) available from G Major Music Theory HERE.
• Quite a few pieces in original form, for the intermediate level and above, are available from Michael Kravchuk's website HERE (scroll down to "Grieg, Edward").

Sheet Music for Purchase
I've also done several arrangements of some of Grieg's best-known pieces that are available for purchase:

• "In the Hall of the Mountain King" (late elementary/early intermediate): HERE.
• Theme from "Piano Concerto in A Minor" (early intermediate piano): HERE.​

And even a few "Grieg-inspired" arrangements with a special twist!

• "Monday Morning Blues" (beginner piano duet): HERE.
• "Monday Morning Blues" (late elementary piano solo): part of the "Easy Rockin' the Classics" collection found HERE.
• "The Mountain King Rag" (early intermediate piano): HERE.

What do you think? What's your favorite piece by Edvard Grieg? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!