Backer-Grondahl, Agathe (Ursula)

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Backer-Grondahl, Agathe (Ursula)

Backer-Grondahl, Agathe (Ursula), Norwegian composer and pianist; b. Holmestrand, Dec. 1, 1847; d. Ormòen, near Christiania, June 16, 1907. She studied in Norway with Kjerulf and Lindeman, in Florence with Hans von Bülow, and in Weimar with Liszt. She married the singing teacher Grandahl (1875). Among her piano works, Études de concert, Romantische Stücke, and Trois morceaux became well known and have been frequently reprinted. She also wrote a song cycle, Des Kindes Frühlingstag.

Bibliography

I. Hoegsbro, Biography of the Late A. B.-G. (N.Y., 1913); O. Sandvik, A. B.-G. (Oslo, 1948); C. Dahm, A. B. G.: Komponisten og pianisten (Oslo, 1998).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire