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When Edvard Grieg came to give his first concerts in London, he had the world at his feet. As the first composer to transmute the sights and sounds of his own spectacular country into music, he was held to be both prophet and pioneer, and English writers described him as the most popular of all living composers, commenting, when he returned to London the following year, on the 'Grieg fever' that raged in the capital.

Between 1862 and 1906 Grieg spent some six months of his life in this country, for most of the time engaged in giving concerts of his own music as conductor, solo pianist and accompanist. Celebrated by his fellow musicians - among them Delius, Parry, Henry Wood and Grainger - Grieg was befriended by royalty, heaped with honours that included doctoral degrees from Cambridge and Oxford, pleaded in high quarters the cause of Norwegian independence, and found new friends who effected a profound change in his religious outlook.

This book explores the impact he had on England as well as examining what the country meant to him, showing how England had a far greater influence on Grieg's life and career than has hitherto been recorded. It also offers an array of fascinating insights into the musical life and milieu of the time.
LIONEL CARLEY is honorary archivist of the Delius Trust and respected author of many books about Delius. Lionel Carley's Edvard Grieg in England gives us far more than a chronicle of the composer's relations with and visits to England. It also gives a meticulously researched picture of English musical life...Carley has already put us in his debt with his earlier Delius and Grieg studies in which his narrative skills and musical insights are never in doubt. He is a stylist and this shows throughout this absorbing and valuable study. BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE [Robert Layton]
Outstanding...The illustrations are excellent, and the notes, bibliography and indexes are all that can be wished for. This book is superbly produced, as befits the author's treatment of his unique subject. MUSICAL OPINION [Robert Matthew-Walker]
Handsomely researched. THE OLDIE [Richard Osborne]
Dr Carley's highly enjoyable book is a compelling read, not only providing a revealing insight into the private and public life of the composer, but also a detailed account of concerts of the day between 1888 and 1906 in England. CLASSICAL MUSIC ON THE WEB [Christopher Fifield]
Lionel Carley has written a fascinating book about a great composer in an interesting cultural situation at a dynamic period in British history. DANISH YEARBOOK OF MUSICOLOGY
Recommended. CHOICE
A unique statement about a composer for whose works the British retain an affection as well as an admiration. The publishers have done justice to a text which merits a place in the libraries of all musical institutions. The author...is to be congratulated. ANGLO-NORSE REVIEW
Most good books are about more than they say. This is one of them...Eminently readable, jargon-free and packed with...fascinating information. PIANO

Edvard Grieg in England