In the spring of 1860, a seventeen-year-old student Norwegian student at the prestigious Leipzig Conservatory developed a severe case of pleurisy. He ultimately survived a disease which killed most patients in the pre-antibiotic era, but its consequences were permanent and devastating. A destroyed left lung combined with a visible thoracic spine deformity and permanent respiratory impairment became his lasting condition.

Born in Bergen, Norway, on June 15, 1843, Edvard Grieg came from a musical family. His mother was an accomplished pianist who provided his first musical instruction. The young Grieg showed remarkable talent at the piano from an early age, impressing his parents enough for them to enroll him in the Leipzig Conservatory for formal training.

Between 1858 and 1862, Grieg studied composition, piano, and music theory as well as Germanic musical traditions. The rigid academic approach, however, often clashed with his more intuitive, emotionally driven musical instincts. Despite graduating with honors, Grieg believed that the education he received nearly suppressed his natural musical talent. But in the mid-1860s he met friends who introduced him to the rich tradition of Norwegian folk music. It eventually instilled in him a passionate belief that Norwegian composers should create a distinctly national musical voice. This newfound interest in Norwegian folk songs and dances shifted his musical direction away from German Romantic music. This interest became the foundation for his future compositions and the hallmark of his mature style.

Grieg most likely suffered from tuberculosis, a deadly illness that spread across Europe during the 19th century. Often called the “White Plague,” it left him plagued by chronic exhaustion, frequent respiratory infections, and constant shortness of breath, forcing him to severely limit his appearances as a concert pianist. His doctors repeatedly recommended that he travel to the warmer and drier regions of Europe for extended stays at spa towns and sanatoriums. This often interrupted his compositional work and separated him from his homeland, which had served as his primary artistic inspiration. He spent much time in Italy and other European health resorts and sanatoriums. His existence consisted of alternating productive phases with mandatory times of healing and relaxation. His chronic respiratory disease resulted in a weakened state and poor physical health, forcing him to decline numerous performance opportunities and conducting engagements and limiting his international exposure during his peak career years. Critics of his music have tended to interpret his compositions as emerging from someone who understood that he was living on knife’s edge and that his time on earth might be limited.

Respiratory disease treatments during the 19th century showed the restricted medical knowledge of that time. His medical care included mainly rest cures and visits to different spas. He died of heart failure compounded by decades of respiratory disease, but triumphed by transforming his suffering into an enduring art.