Edvard Hagerup Grieg (1843-1907) composed his third and last sonata for violin and piano in 1887. This c minor sonata, the most popular violin sonata, is a great example of Grieg’s compositional style, which incorporates and develops Norwegian folk music while keeping the structures laid out by German Romantic composers. This work not only influenced many future musicians, it also shows how Grieg was a symbolic figure of the Romantic nationalist movement.

This thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter one: the Introduction. Chapter two: Grieg’s biography Chapter three: Analysis of Grieg’s Violin Sonata No.3 and chapter four: Interpretations of this sonata. Chapter three will focus on the structures and styles of each movement and Chapter four will go into details of the compositional methods, performing techniques and styles.