Which composer wrote the Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16?

Edvard Grieg wrote the Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16.

Grieg completed the concerto in 1868 while staying in Søllerød, Denmark. The first performance took place in Copenhagen on 3 April 1869, with Edmund Neupert as soloist and Holger Simon Paulli conducting. Grieg was not present at the premiere, but the work soon became his most internationally famous large-scale composition.

The concerto opens with a dramatic timpani roll and a descending piano flourish before moving into a strongly rhythmic first movement. Its slow movement is lyrical and spacious, while the finale combines lively dance rhythms with Norwegian color. The concerto’s use of folk-influenced gestures helped establish Grieg’s distinctive musical identity, even though it does not directly quote a specific traditional Norwegian tune.

The score underwent revisions, including a major version prepared in collaboration with the pianist and composer Percy Grainger. It remains one of the most frequently performed Romantic piano concertos. The work is sometimes confused with Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto, also in A minor, but Grieg’s concerto is Op. 16.