He was a Norwegian composer and pianist. Edvard Grieg was raised in a musical milieu. His mother was his first piano teacher and taught him to play at the age of six. He studied in several schools, including Tanks Upper School, Tanks School and the N.P.S, Norwegian Private School. At the age of 15 his parents sent him to Leipzig.There he concentrated on the piano, and enjoyed the many concerts and recitals given. In the spring of 1860, he survived a life-threatening lung disease, pleurisy and tuberculosis, causing deformity of the spine and a destroyed left lung. In 1861, Grieg made his debut as a concert pianist in Karlshamn, Sweden. In 1862, he finished his studies in Leipzig and held his first concert in his home town, where his programme included Beethoven's Pathétique sonata.Some of Grieg's early works include a symphony  and a piano sonata. He also wrote three violin sonatas and a cello sonata. He wrote in the Romantic tradition with, in his own words, the determination to "create a national form of music, which could give the Norwegian people an identity." Grieg died of chronic fatigue, with much credit given to his lifelong health problems, in his hometown of Bergen.