Lyric Pieces Book 10, Op. 71
Piano transcriptions of Songs Op. 41
Moods Op. 73
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46 (transcribed Ullman)

Like Chopin, Grieg was more comfortable creating exquisite miniatures rather than large scale orchestral works. Both produced concertos for the piano, and Grieg’s example is one of the most popular in the repertoire, but it is in his small-scale solo works that his poetic musical expression had free reign. Conductor Hans von Bulow called him ‘The Chopin of the North’. Grieg’s music is full of Norwegian folk music idioms as his Lyric Pieces vividly illustrate. Alexander Ullman plays Book 10 on this album. Also included is Moods, seven pieces from 1907, probably the last music Grieg composed. The programme also includes a selection of songs arranged by the composer for solo piano and concludes with a wonderful new transcription by Ullman of the 1st Peer Gynt Suite, brilliantly capturing the colour and textures of the orchestral original.