Violin Sonatas

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Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (18431907) is famous for compositional masterpieces in a variety of different genres, such as piano concerto, orchestral suites, short piano pieces, and songs. Yet Grieg wrote curiously little instrumental chamber music. In fact, only six compositions for chamber music constellations exist, counting also the incompleted string quartet in F major. The violin sonatas thus make up half of his chamber music output, and all three sonatas are important contributions to the repertoire for violin and piano duo. No. 3, the C minor sonata, is widely considered one of Grieg's greatest works, and it's tremendous popularity has indeed tended to overshadow the recognition of his two earlier works throughout the reception history of Grieg's oeuvre. Benedikte Damgaard and Emil Gryesten met as schoolmates at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and began their musical collaboration 10 years ago. They share a profound passion for chamber music and have performed together extensively throughout Denmark, in the Faroe Islands and in Vietnam, in concert series at venues such as Nordens Hus Torshavn, Grand Concert Hall Hanoi, Hue Concert Hall, and in most of the Danish music societies. The duo has recently completed a concert series featuring all of the Beethoven violin sonatas. Both members of the duo have been selected for the Danish Arts Foundation's "Young Elite" program, a special career development program that supports the artistic and international career development of the most talented young Danish musicians. Individually and together they have released 9 CDs of solo and chamber music, and among their many awards, they have won the Jacob Gade Violin Competition, Nordic Piano Competition, Royal Danish Academy of Music Chamber Music Competition, and Val Tidone International Chamber Music Competition.