Heikki Klemetti: Works for Organ – Jan Lehtola

Klemetti, Heikki (1876-1953)

Two Organ Pieces, Op. 23, No. 1, Prelude & No. 2, Canzona

Canzona (Oskar Merikanto in memoriam), Op. 44 No. 1

Festive Overture, Op. 44 No. 2

Laetare Jerusalem, Op. 44 No. 3

Cantilena, Op. 45 No. 3

Toccata, Op. 51 No. 1

Impromptu, Op. 51 No. 2

Cantilena, Op. 51 No. 3

Elegia, Op. 51 No. 4

Ad perennis vitae fontem

Prelude to Hymn No. 177, ‘O How Lovely’

Lullaby for a Responsory to Announcements

Kleines Praludium

Präludium

Fantasy

Praeludium

Four organ chorales

Toccata Romantica

Heikki Klemetti (1876–1953) was one of the most important figures in the Finnish music of his day: author, organiser, 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.

Jan Lehtola, organ of Tampere Cathedral, Finland