Rikard Nordraak

Rikard Nordraak was a Norwegian composer who showed musical talent from an early age. He was interested in developing a national style of music that reflected the Norwegian folk culture. He studied music in Copenhagen, Berlin, and Oslo, and composed songs, choral pieces, and piano works. He was a cousin and friend of the poet and playwright Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, who wrote the lyrics for the Norwegian national anthem, "Ja, vi elsker dette landet". Nordraak composed the music for the anthem in 1864, as well as for several of Bjørnson's plays and poems. He also influenced and collaborated with another famous Norwegian composer, Edvard Grieg, who admired his enthusiasm and originality. Nordraak died of tuberculosis in Berlin at the age of 23, leaving behind a small but significant body of music that expressed his patriotic and artistic ideals.