by Dr Sally LK Garden - Founder of The Grieg Society of Scotland
13th March. 2024
We were delighted to welcome Sally Garden - a member of the Society - to tell us about her long-time passion in the history of Edvard Grieg, and his very talented wife, Nina Grieg.
Sally did a good job of enlightening us about Edvard’s Caledonian connections, and his very talented wife, Nina Grieg. She was not only a wonderful singer, but also a concert pianist. We were even treated to concert recordings when Edvard and Nina played the piano as a duet. Follow this link to view a short video clip from the talk.
A most interesting talk, and Sally got us all to sing!
However, she did help by singing this short song about the poet sitting overlooking a battle…
Jeg tog min nystemte Cithar i Hænde, I took my newly tuned guitar in my Hand Sorgen forgik mig på Ulrikkens Top; Sorrow passed me by on Ulrikkens Top Tænkte på Bauner, om de skulde brænde, Thought about beans, if they were to burn, Og byde Mandskab mod Fienden op; And bid warriors success against the Enemy; Følede Freden, blev glad i min Ånd. Felt the Peace, became happy in my Spirit. Og greb til min Cithar med legend Hånd. And grasped my guitar with a familiar Hand. Views from Ulrikken - words by Johan Nordahl Brun (this rough translation by Garry Irvine).
Sally is the founder of the Grieg Society of Scotland - one of many Grieg societies across the globe. No surprise that Grieg’s music was appreciated by many, and travelled far - much to the delight and surprise of Edvard Grieg himself. The website Grieg Society of Scotland has lots of interesting articles, including an excellent discussion with Fumie Masaki…. of the Grieg Society of Japan. If anyone is interested in joining go to https://griegsocietyscotland.org/contact in your browser.
Sally closed by talking about the future and expressed her hope of finding a permanent place for the Greig Society of Scotland, in Scotland. Ragne Hopkins gave the vote of thanks.
The Society was delighted to present Sally with a donation in appreciation and support for her work with the Grieg Society of Scotland. She was most grateful and thanked us on behalf of their committee.
Garry Irvine - President of the Scottish Norwegian Society (Glasgow).
