Canadian architect helps inspire descendant of famous Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg to make his own music

These hills are alive with the sound of music. The strains were once those of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, and, now, they are those of one of his descendants, Alexander Grieg. Alexander and his partner Tonje have worked with a Canadian architect to create a home in Norway, where the younger Grieg can practise his own art, inspired by the nature around him and the influence of his famous forebear.
“As long as I’ve lived, Edvard Grieg has been a part of my life, both as family and relative, but also his music,” said Alexander Grieg. “I grew up with it, as my parents were great lovers of Grieg’s lyric pieces and compositions.
(Edvard Grieg composed music for Ibsen’s play “Peer Gynt.”)
“Working on my own music in Grieg’s own neighbourhood adds a feeling of an extra dimension that feeds my creativity.”
Villa Grieg is located on Lake Nordås, just south of Bergen in Norway. The home’s ground floor is devoted to Alexander Grieg’s recording studio. It looks out on tree trunks, birdlife, flowers, a pond and straight down at Edvard Grieg’s home, Troldhaugen.
Up the stairs is the main living area which encompasses the living, kitchen and dining areas and two bedrooms. A small pond sits below.
“Being an artist and musician, I have always been interested in design, architecture, art and shape,” said Grieg. “With the magnificent view from the site, I wanted to get the most out of it and literally come up from the ground. The shape and the beautiful sculptural form lifted over the pond was new to me.”
Canadian architect Todd Saunders, has taken the inspiration for the design for Villa Grieg from one of his other works. Well known for his design of Newfoundland’s Fogo Island Inn, which rests on stilts, Saunders has placed Villa Grieg on similar pilotis (columns) over the small pond.
He says it was a complicated and unusual house to build. “Fortunately, I was building my house at the same time and he (Grieg) would walk over and see what I was doing, which wasn’t as adventurous as his, but it was on the same path.”
Grieg says the setting stimulates him as a composer and musician, especially given its history. “The scenery is both calming and energetic, radiant, and very inspirational. The proximity to the area where Edvard Grieg himself lived and loved to walk around is an inspiration in itself.”