Oskar Merikanto - Organ Music (Jan Lehtola)

Information

Composer: Oskar Merikanto

1. Häähymni (Wedding Hymn)
2. Bach - Sarabande in D minor, BWV 806 (arr. O. Merikanto)
3. Postlude in D major, Op. 88/2
4. Schumann - Abendlied, Op. 85/12 (arr. O. Merikanto)
5. Postlude in E flat major, Op. 88/1
6. Fantasia and Chorale "Suomi surussa" (Finland in mourning)
7. Postlude in F major, Op. 88/3
8. Bach - Sarabande in E minor, BWV 810 (arr. O. Merikanto)
9. Concert Fantasia
10. Rukous (A Prayer)
11. Passacaglia in F sharp minor, Op. 80

Jan Lehtola, organ

Date: 2001

Label: Ondine

https://www.ondine.net/index.php?lid=en&cid=2.2&oid=3809

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 8 / SOUND QUALITY: 7

In his heyday, Oskar Merikanto (1868-1924) was the leading organ virtuoso in Finland and also was an influential teacher. While his original works for the instrument often incorporate Finnish hymns, Merikanto’s style, with its traditional parameters and contrapuntal earnestness, is rooted in Germanic rigor. The music, though not strikingly original, holds your attention largely through sturdy craftsmanship and the occasional quirky harmonic sequence (as in the D major Postlude and the Concert Fantasia). Symphonic breadth and linear fluidity characterize the 18 variations within Merikanto’s Passacaglia Op. 80, my favorite of his longer works. By contrast, the E-flat Postlude proves that cloying harmonies and lack of charm make an unpalatable brew.

You probably could pass off Merikanto’s transcriptions of Bach’s E minor Sarabande from the Fifth English Suite and D minor Sarabande from the D minor French Suite as Bach originals; but Schumann’s Evening Song (Op. 85 No. 12) crumbles under the turgid weight of the organ’s sustained chords. Jan Lehtola revels in the rich and pungent registrations of the Doesburg Walcker Organ, built in 1916, and his performances are assured, shapely, and completely convincing.

-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday

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Oskar Merikanto (5 August 1868 – 17 February 1924) was a Finnish musician and composer. He studied for some time at the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany, where his teachers were Carl Reinecke, Theodor Coccius, Robert Papperitz, Willy Rechenberg and Gustav Schreck. Merikanto was notable for his variety of talents – he gave concerts all around Finland, performing on the piano and organ, conducting orchestras, and composing original music. Some of his most beloved compositions are Där björkarna susa, the waltz Kesäilta and the Valse lente Op. 33. His son, Aarre Merikanto, was a noted Finnish composer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Merikanto

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Jan Lehtola (born 1972 in Tampere) is a Finnish organist.

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Lehtola

https://janlehtola.com/

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