This collection of character pieces by Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and Danish composers is a good illustration of the fact that there is plenty to discover in those areas of Europe that more rarely enjoy the limelight. The composers featured in this volume were all famous in their day, and not only participated in European musical life but also helped to shape it: the Norwegian Agathe Backer-Grondahl, for example, was a pupil of Ferenc Liszt and Hans von Bülow, the Swede Ludvig Norman was also an outstanding concert pianist, and Niels Wilhelm Gade was the most important Danish romantic composer, conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and a friend of Mendelssohn and Schumann.