Grieg composed this sonata in the summer of 1865 while on holiday with Benjamin Feddersen in Rungsted, Denmark, near Copenhagen.
[1] Concerning the piece, Norwegian composer Gerhard Schjelderup commented: it is "the work of a youth who has seen only the sunny side of life.
[3] On the second sonata, Schjelderup remarked: it is "the gift to the world of a man who has also shivered in the cold mists of night."
The sonata premiered with Grieg himself at the piano with well-known violinist Adolph Brodsky in Leipzig.
To a certain extent, Grieg built on Norwegian folk melodies and rhythms in this three-movement sonata.