Letter from Grieg

I this letter to Emma Langgaard - the first page of which is reproduced here - Grieg refers to her son's "genuine talent" and "all that sound and healthy music that lives and breathes in everything he does".

Later in the letter Grieg advised Rued's parents not to push the boy, but to let him develop gradually and naturally.

In the following years Langgaard only seldom performed in public, and his interest shifted from playing the organ to composition. Even though the choice was open to him, he did not decide on a career as a concert organist. The pressures of that kind of life did not suit his temperament. Instead he sought a post as a church organist, which could provide the basis for his creativity as a musician and a composer.

It was only after a 25-year struggle to secure a position that he obtained a permanent job in Ribe, but by that time the damage had been done.