In 1870, he met Franz Liszt in Rome. Liszt had made it possible for Grieg to get a travel grant. They played Grieg's Violin Sonata No. 1 together, which Liszt liked very much. On a second visit, in April, Grieg brought with him the manuscript of his Piano Concerto which Liszt played by sight. Liszt gave him some advice about the orchestration.
Grieg spent most of his time conducting and playing the piano in concerts. He often travelled, and in 1876 he went to Bayreuth to hear the first performance of Wagner’s Ring cycle. He wrote a review of the operas for a Norwegian newspaper.
In 1876, Ibsen asked Grieg to write some incidental music for the first performance of the play he had written about the Norwegian hero Peer Gynt. Many of the pieces from this work became very popular. They are played by orchestras as well as in arrangements for piano or for piano duet.
In 1883 he and wife parted for a while, although friends managed to persuade the couple to come together again and they spent four months in Rome. They built a house called Troldhaugen in Bergen, with a view of the fjord. They moved into the house in 1885 and Grieg lived there for the rest of his life. They continued to travel and give concerts. Nina had a good voice and sang her husband’s songs. Grieg only performed his own works at concerts. During his last years he received many honours.
In his later life Grieg became famous, although never rich. The Norwegian government gave him a pension. Grieg made some recordings of his piano pieces. These are some of the very first gramophone recordings that were made. The sound is not very good, but they show that Grieg was an excellent pianist. He also recorded music rolls on a pianola.
Edvard Grieg died in the autumn of 1907, aged 64, after a long illness. He had suffered from respiratory problems ever since he was very ill in 1860 as a student in Leipzig. At his funeral thousands of people went out on the streets of his home town to honour him. Following his wish, his own funeral march for Rikard Nordraak was played, as well as the funeral march by Frederic Chopin. His and his wife's ashes are buried in a mountain crypt near his house, Troldhaugen.
Grieg was often inspired by Norwegian folk music. This can be heard in his songs and some of his instrumental music. His chamber music includes 3 violin sonatas and a cello sonata as well as a piano sonata and many shorter piano pieces. However, he has become very well known all over the world through his Piano Concerto and his music for "Peer Gynt". Another popular work is his "Holberg Suite" which was originally written for the piano but later arranged for string orchestra.
The famous opening of Grieg’s Piano Concerto featured in a comedy sketch by Morecambe and Wise in the 1970s. The conductor André Previn was their special guest in the sketch which has become a classic.
Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll is an island in the North Pacific Ocean. No one lives there, but 4 to 20 people use this island, mainly scientists. It is managed as a nature reserve by the United States. It is known as the "Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge".
In 2005, a team of scientists from around the world started to build a research station on the island. They wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the environment of the island.
Palmyra Atoll was claimed by the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1862, and was taken by the United States in 1898 along with Hawaii. The atoll was not included in the Hawaii Admission Act of 1959, which made Hawaii a state, so it remained a US territory.
Kingman Reef
Kingman Reef is a coral reef in the North Pacific Ocean, owned by the United States.
It is the farthest north of the Northern Line Islands. It is only sometimes above water.
Palmyra Atoll is the other U.S. territory in the Northern Line Islands.
Jarvis Island
Jarvis Island (; formerly known as Bunker Island) is an uninhabited island owned by the United States. The small island is a part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands, a group of mostly uninhabited islands.
Jarvis Island was officially made part of the United States in 1858. People used to mine guano there, but they then abandoned it. The United States treats it as a nature reserve.
Located 25 miles south of the equator, Jarvis Island, is an uninhabited coral island located in the South Pacific Ocean. Jarvis has no known natural freshwater sources, and very little rain. This creates a very bleak, flat landscape with plants no larger than shrubs. Jarvis Island has no ports or docks, other than a reef the guano miners blew up in order for the cargo boats to be able to drop anchor. Its grass, vines and low-growing bushes are primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for wildlife. The island has a tropical desert climate, with high temperatures in the day, constant wind, and a very hot sun. There is no evidence that the island has ever supported a native human population, but on August 30, 1913, the Amaranth was carrying a cargo of coal from Newcastle, New South Wales, to San Francisco when it crashed on Jarvis' southern shore. Ruins of ten wooden buildings, and a two-story house among them, could still be seen by the "Amaranth" crew, who left Jarvis aboard two lifeboats. Also, Settlers were moved to Jarvis Island in 1935 to maintain a weather station and plan a landing field. A settlement called Millersville was established on the west coast of the island because of it was the highest elevation. The Japanese shelled the island in 1942 and the men living on Jarvis were evacuated soon afterward. The United States claimed possession of Jarvis under the Guano Islands Act of 1856. The Act gave American citizens the right to claim any unclaimed, uninhabited islands for the purpose of mining guano. Because at the time guano was a very valuable asset used for fertilizer.
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a colonel in the United States Army. He became the General-in-chief of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He led the Army of Northern Virginia in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. He started out as an engineer but then moved up the ranks. Before the Civil War, Lee was an officer in the Mexican-American War. He was also head of West Point. As a colonel in the United States Army he led a battalion of marines to put down the rebellion at Harpers Ferry Armory and captured their leader, John Brown.
Lee was born at Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on January 19, 1807. His parents were American Revolutionary War General and Governor of Virginia, Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, and his wife, Anne Carter Lee. In 1818, Lee's father died in the West Indies without ever seeing his son again. Robert was raised by his mother in Alexandria, Virginia.
Lee and George Washington were both descendants of Augustine Warner, Sr. and his wife, Mary Towneley Warner. Lee was descended through their daughter, Sarah. Washington was descended through their son, Augustine, Jr. Lee and Washington were third cousins, twice removed.
Lee attended Eastern View, a school in Fauquier County, Virginia. He may have attended schools in Shirley, Virginia, and in Alexandria, Virginia. His mother instructed him in the Episcopalian faith. Lee attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, and graduated second in the class of 1829.
On June 30, 1831, Lee married Mary Custis at Arlington House. She was the granddaughter of George Washington's stepson, John Parke Custis. They made their home at Arlington House. They had seven children.