Rikard Nordraak

His father was a brother of Inger Elise Nordraach, the mother of the Norwegian writer and poet, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson.

Nordraak's musical gifts became evident at an early age, but as for many other artists at that time, a different career was already planned.

[2] In 1864, he met Edvard Grieg in Copenhagen and inspired him with the idea of devoting his genius to Norwegian melody and the cultivation of a specifically national art.

Nordraak later wrote incidental music for Bjørnson's plays Maria Stuart i Skotland and Sigurd Slembe.

In May 1865, he returned to Berlin to continue his education, but he was stricken with tuberculosis in October and died in Paris the following March, only 23 years old.

In 1925, Nordraak's coffin was brought home to Norway and buried in the Honor Grove at Vår Frelsers gravlund in Oslo.

The biggest of these compositions, is the Scherzo Capriccio for piano solo, given the opus number 3, published posthumously by Edvard Grieg.

Samlede verker, a critical edition of Nordraak overall compositions were published by Øyvind Anker and Olav Gurvin (1942).