Agathe Backer Grøndahl

Composer and pianist Agathe Backer Grøndahl, whose later music anticipated Impressionism, was a prolific figure who wrote more than 400 works, mostly art songs and piano works. A close friend of Edvard Grieg, she was an influential teacher as well. In the 1870s and 1880s, Backer Grøndahl was a major concert attraction in the Scandinavian countries and toured as far as Paris and London, where playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw pronounced her one of the greatest pianists of the day. While her earlier songs and piano works drew heavily on the styles of Schumann and Mendelssohn, Backer Grøndahl developed a more personal style later in life that showed the influence of French Impressionism. She died in Ormøya, near Christiana, on June 4, 1907. She remained largely obscure for several decades, but increasing attention given to music by women has led to a revival of her music.