KLEMETTI HEIKKI | Akateeminen Kirjakauppa

Heikki Klemetti (1876–1953) was one of the most important figures in the Finnish music of his day: author, organizer, musicologist, editor, educator, folksong collector, and, above all, choral composer. His work as an organist and composer for the organ has largely been forgotten, an omission this first-ever album of his organ music seeks to correct. The influence of Ostrobothnian folksong can readily be heard, and there are obvious points of contact with the musical language of Sibelius, not least in the unemphatic dignity and nobility of the style, with the modal harmonies occasionally calling to mind another of Klemetti’s contemporaries: Vaughan Williams.

1. Two Organ Pieces, Op. 23: No. 1, Prelude
2. Two Organ Pieces, Op. 23: No. 2, Canzona
3. Canzona (Oskar Merikanto in memoriam), Op. 44 No. 1
4. Festive Overture, Op. 44 No. 2
5. Laetare Jerusalem, Op. 44 No. 3
6. Cantilena, Op. 45 No. 3
7. Toccata, Op. 51 No. 1
8. Impromptu, Op. 51 No. 2
9. Cantilena, Op. 51 No. 3
10. Elegia, Op. 51 No. 4
11. Ad perennis vitae fontem
12. Prelude to Hymn No. 177, ‘O How Lovely’
13. Lullaby for a Responsory to Announcements
14. Kleines Präludium
15. Fantasy
16. Praeludium
17. Four organ chorales: Appeared to the Shepherds
18. Four organ chorales: Day turned to Evening
19. Four organ chorales: God is our Refuge
20. Four organ chorales: O Wondrous Wedding Hall
21. Toccata Romantica