Grieg, Debussy and Ravel

Imagination is everything. Debussy had never seen the ocean floor, yet his La mer conjures the underwater world in all its splendour. Ravel’s La valse transports you to a ballroom in old Vienna. Grieg’s Piano Concerto takes the crown: it dances like a Norwegian wedding guest and smells of the sea breeze. Ravel adored it: ‘Apart from Debussy, there is no composer to whom I feel so akin as Grieg.’