Kalevi Kiviniemi
Encyclopedia
Kalevi Kiviniemi is a Finnish concert organist
. He is known internationally for Finnish and French organ music and has given several recitals at Notre Dame de Paris
and recorded on historic organs. He is also a notable organ improviser
.
in Helsinki for the concert diploma with Eero Väätäinen (literature) and Olli Linjama (improvisation). In the early 1990s he started an international career with recital
s in Japan and London. He has toured in Europe, the USA, Russia, Asia, Australia and the Philippines.
Kiviniemi has frequently performed at Notre Dame in Paris. His first performance there in 2000, together with Olivier Latry
, titulaire des grands orgue of Notre-Dame, was televised. His first solo performance at Notre Dame was in 2002. In addition to solo recitals and chamber music recitals, he has appeared with major orchestras such as the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra
.
In 2009 he played a concert of transcription
s at the Konzerthaus Dortmund. In 2010 he played a concert at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in San Diego. In the fall of 2010 he played concerts at the Laurenskerk in Rotterdam, at the Internationales Düsseldorfer Orgelfestival, at the Wuppertaler Orgeltage and at St. Martin, Idstein
.
Kiviniemi has been a jury member at international organ competitions, Nürnberg in 1996, Capri
in 1998, Speyer
in 2001, Korschenbroich
in 2005). He has given master classes, for instance at the Ruhr University Bochum. He was artistic director of the Lahti Organ Week in Finland for ten years, from 1991 to 2001.
organ of the Church of St. Ouen, Rouen
. Kiviniemi was the first to record the complete organ works of Jean Sibelius
, reviewed in 2010:
OrganEra recordings
With the Finnish publisher Fuga he began in 2001 a series of recordings, OrganEra, planned to contain 20 volumes.
Other selected recordings
Awards for recordings
Many of his recordings have won awards, Improvisation was named Star Recording by the magazine The Organ in 1999, and Visions, containing Finnish organ music, received the Janne Prize for the best Finnish solo disc. In 2009 his CD Lakeuden Ristin Urut was chosen as the organ album of the year in the US.
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
. He is known internationally for Finnish and French organ music and has given several recitals at Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...
and recorded on historic organs. He is also a notable organ improviser
Musical improvisation
Musical improvisation is the creative activity of immediate musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians...
.
Professional career
Kalevi Kiviniemi graduated in 1981 as a cantor and organist and continued his studies at the Sibelius AcademySibelius Academy
The Sibelius Academy is a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities...
in Helsinki for the concert diploma with Eero Väätäinen (literature) and Olli Linjama (improvisation). In the early 1990s he started an international career with recital
Recital
A recital is a musical performance. It can highlight a single performer, sometimes accompanied by piano, or a performance of the works of a single composer.The invention of the solo piano recital has been attributed to Franz Liszt....
s in Japan and London. He has toured in Europe, the USA, Russia, Asia, Australia and the Philippines.
Kiviniemi has frequently performed at Notre Dame in Paris. His first performance there in 2000, together with Olivier Latry
Olivier Latry
Olivier Latry is a French organist, improviser and Professor of Organ in the Conservatoire de Paris. Latry was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France...
, titulaire des grands orgue of Notre-Dame, was televised. His first solo performance at Notre Dame was in 2002. In addition to solo recitals and chamber music recitals, he has appeared with major orchestras such as the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra
Moscow Symphony Orchestra
Founded in 1989, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra comprises 80 musicians, including graduates from such institutions as the Moscow Conservatory, Kiev Conservatory, and Saint Petersburg Conservatory. The orchestra is produced by Stas Namin, and conduced by Konstantin Krimets. It has recorded over 100...
.
In 2009 he played a concert of transcription
Transcription (music)
In music, transcription can mean notating a piece or a sound which was previously unnotated, as, for example, an improvised jazz solo. Further examples include ethnomusicological notation of oral traditions of folk music, such as Béla Bartók's and Ralph Vaughan Williams' collections of the national...
s at the Konzerthaus Dortmund. In 2010 he played a concert at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in San Diego. In the fall of 2010 he played concerts at the Laurenskerk in Rotterdam, at the Internationales Düsseldorfer Orgelfestival, at the Wuppertaler Orgeltage and at St. Martin, Idstein
St. Martin, Idstein
St. Martin in Idstein, Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, is the church of the local Roman Catholic parish. The official name is Katholische Pfarrkirche St. Martin. The parish is part of the Diocese of Limburg...
.
Kiviniemi has been a jury member at international organ competitions, Nürnberg in 1996, Capri
Capri
Capri is an Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Southern Italy...
in 1998, Speyer
Speyer
Speyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
in 2001, Korschenbroich
Korschenbroich
Korschenbroich is a town in the Rhein-Kreis Neuss, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Niers, approx. 13 km west of Neuss and 5 km east of Mönchengladbach....
in 2005). He has given master classes, for instance at the Ruhr University Bochum. He was artistic director of the Lahti Organ Week in Finland for ten years, from 1991 to 2001.
Recordings
Kiviniemi's discography numbers more than 140 titles as of 2010, including recordings made on historic organs in the USA, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Italy, France, Switzerland and Germany, such as the Cavaillé-CollAristide Cavaillé-Coll
Aristide Cavaillé-Coll was a French organ builder. He is considered by many to be the greatest organ builder of the 19th century because he combined both science and art to make his instruments...
organ of the Church of St. Ouen, Rouen
Church of St. Ouen, Rouen
The Church of St. Ouen is a large Gothic Roman Catholic church in Rouen, northern France, famous for both its architecture and its large, unaltered Cavaillé-Coll organ, which Charles-Marie Widor described as "a Michelangelo of an organ"...
. Kiviniemi was the first to record the complete organ works of Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
, reviewed in 2010:
'Judicious' is an apt description of Kiviniemi's playing style, as well as his choice of organ and repertoire. Whether it's the mighty Cavaillé-Coll of Saint-Ouen, the Grand Paschen organ of PoriPoriPori is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäenjoki river, which is the largest in Finland. Pori is the most important town in the Satakunta region....
’s Central Church or the noble Kangasala at Lakeuden Risti, one senses his choices are carefully made, the music matched to the instrument and its unique acoustic. This Sibelius recital is no exception, the late-19th-century WalckerWalcker OrgelbauWalcker Orgelbau of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, is a builder of pipe organs. It was founded in Cannstatt, a suburb of Stuttgart in 1780 by Johann Eberhard Walcker...
– three manuals, with 16' and 32' pipes – seems ideally suited to the thrust and scale of the works at hand.
OrganEra recordings
With the Finnish publisher Fuga he began in 2001 a series of recordings, OrganEra, planned to contain 20 volumes.
- Vol. 1 Renaissance-Tänze, works of Francesco BendusiFrancesco BendusiFrancesco Bendusi was an Italian composer of the 16th century. He was active in Venice where Antonio Gardano notably published his Opera nova de Balli di Francesco Bendusi a quatro accomodati da cantare & sonare d'ogni sorte de stromenti in 1553. He died in that city soon after...
, Antonio ValenteAntonio ValenteAntonio Valente was an Italian Renaissance organist and composer. He was blind from childhood and served as organist of Sant'Angelo a Nilo in Naples in 1565–80...
, Tielman SusatoTielman SusatoTielman — or Tylman — Susato was a Renaissance composer, instrumentalist and publisher of music in Antwerp.-Biography:...
, Adriano BanchieriAdriano BanchieriAdriano Banchieri was an Italian composer, music theorist, organist and poet of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He founded the Accademia dei Floridi in Bologna.-Biography:...
, Hans NeusidlerHans NeusidlerHans Neusidler , was a German composer and lutenist of the Renaissance.-Life:...
, and Claude GervaiseClaude GervaiseClaude Gervaise was a French composer, editor and arranger of the Renaissance, who is mainly remembered both for his association with renowned printer Pierre Attaingnant, as well as for his instrumental music.-Life:...
, among others, recorded on the RenaissanceRenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
organ of the Schlosskirche in SchmalkaldenSchmalkalden- Notable people :*Christoph Cellarius, scholar, born 22 November 1638, died 4 June 1707 in Halle*Christian Karl August Ludwig von Massenbach, colonel, born 16 April 1758, died 21 November 1827 at Białokosz...
, 2001 http://www.fuga.fi/detail.php?id=6419369091408 - Vol. 2 Bamboo Organ, works of Michel CorretteMichel CorretteMichel Corrette was a French organist, composer and author of musical method books.-Life:Corrette was born in Rouen, Normandy. His father, Gaspard Corrette, was an organist and composer. Corrette served as organist at the Jesuit College in Paris from about 1737 to 1780. It is also known that he...
, Jean-Baptiste LullyJean-Baptiste LullyJean-Baptiste de Lully was an Italian-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French Baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in...
, Jean-Philippe RameauJean-Philippe RameauJean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...
, Antonio de CabezónAntonio de CabezónAntonio de Cabezón was a Spanish Renaissance composer and organist. Blind from childhood, he quickly rose to prominence as performer and was eventually employed by the royal family...
, Juan Bautista José Cabanilles, Luis de MilánLuis de MilánLuis de Milán was a Spanish Renaissance composer, vihuelist , and writer on music...
, Luys de Narváez, Fortunato ChelleriFortunato ChelleriFortunato Chelleri was a Baroque Kapellmeister and composer.- Biography :...
, Johann Kaspar KerllJohann Kaspar KerllJohann Kaspar Kerll was a German baroque composer and organist.Son of an organist, he showed outstanding musical abilities at an early age, and was taught by Giovanni Valentini, court Kapellmeister at Vienna. Kerll became one of the most acclaimed composers of his time, known both as a gifted...
, Gaetano Piazza, Gioachino Rossini, John BlowJohn BlowJohn Blow was an English Baroque composer and organist, appointed to Westminster Abbey in 1669. His pupils included William Croft, Jeremiah Clarke and Henry Purcell. In 1685 he was named a private musician to James II. His only stage composition, Venus and Adonis John Blow (baptised 23 February...
, and John StanleyJohn Stanley-Leaders:* John I Stanley of the Isle of Man , Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and King of Mann* John II Stanley of the Isle of Man , Knight of the Garter and King of Mann-Politicians:...
, among others, recorded on the bamboo organ of Las Piñas in ManilaManilaManila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, 2003 http://www.fuga.fi/detail.php?id=6419369091613 - Vol. 3 Heroic Song, recorded on the organ of LapuaLapuaLapua is a town and municipality of Finland.It is located next to the Lapua River in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water...
Cathedral, 2003 http://www.kalevikiviniemi.com/index.php?organ3 - Vol. 4 Angel Dream, transcriptions for organ, recorded on the organ of LapuaLapuaLapua is a town and municipality of Finland.It is located next to the Lapua River in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water...
Cathedral, 2003 http://www.fuga.fi/detail.php?id=6419369091644 - Vol. 5 Waltzing Matilda, recorded on the Grand Concert Organ of the Melbourne Town HallMelbourne Town HallMelbourne Town Hall is the central municipal building of the City of Melbourne, Australia, in the State of Victoria. It is located on the northeast corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, in the central business district. It is the seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Melbourne...
, http://www.kalevikiviniemi.com/index.php?organ5 - Vol. 6 Serassi, Italian organ music, works of Niccolo Moretti, Antonio Diana, Baldassare Galuppi, Vincenzo Palafuti, Michelangelo RossiMichelangelo RossiMichelangelo Rossi was an important Italian composer, violinist and organist of the Baroque era....
, Domenico ZipoliDomenico ZipoliDomenico Zipoli was an Italian Baroque composer. He became a Jesuit in order to work in the Reductions of Paraguay where his musical expertise contributed to develop the natural musical talents of the Guaranis...
and Padre Davide da BergamoPadre Davide da BergamoPadre Davide Maria da Bergamo born Felice Moretti , was an Italian monk, organist and composer.-Selected discography:...
, among others, recorded on the Serassi Organ of San Biagio in Caprino BergamascoCaprino BergamascoCaprino Bergamasco is a comune in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 40 km northeast of Milan and about 15 km northwest of Bergamo...
, 2004 http://www.fuga.fi/detail.php?id=6419369091835 - Vol. 7 Sibelius, Jean Sibelius Complete Organ Works, recorded on the WalckerWalcker OrgelbauWalcker Orgelbau of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, is a builder of pipe organs. It was founded in Cannstatt, a suburb of Stuttgart in 1780 by Johann Eberhard Walcker...
of the Stadtkirche in WinterthurWinterthurWinterthur is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. It has the country's sixth largest population with an estimate of more than 100,000 people. In the local dialect and by its inhabitants, it is usually abbreviated to Winti...
, 2004 http://www.fuga.fi/detail.php?id=6419369091828 - Vol. 8 Canonnade, recorded on the Holzhey Organ of the abbey church in NeresheimNeresheimNeresheim is a town in the Ostalbkreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated northeast of Heidenheim, and southeast of Aalen....
, 2004 http://www.kalevikiviniemi.com/index.php?organ8 - Vol. 9 Bombarde, recorded on the organ of the Matthäuskirche in StuttgartStuttgartStuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, 2004 http://www.fuga.fi/detail.php?id=6419369091828 - Vol. 10 Liszt
- Vol. 11 Wurlitzer
- Vol. 12 Jehan Alain, works of Jehan AlainJehan AlainJehan Ariste Alain was a French organist and composer.-Biography:Alain was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the western suburbs of Paris, into a family of musicians. His father, Albert Alain was an enthusiastic organist, composer and organ-builder who had studied with Alexandre Guilmant and Louis...
, recorded on the organ of the Church of the Cross in LahtiLahtiLahti is a city and municipality in Finland.Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about north-east of the capital Helsinki...
, 2006 http://www.fuga.fi/detail.php?id=6419369092191 - Vol. 13 Franck, organ works of César FranckCésar FranckCésar-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
, recorded at the Central PoriPoriPori is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäenjoki river, which is the largest in Finland. Pori is the most important town in the Satakunta region....
Church, 2009 http://www.fuga.fi/detail.php?id=6419369092818 - Vol. 14 Cavaillé-Coll, works of Marcel DupréMarcel DupréMarcel Dupré , was a French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue.-Biography:Marcel Dupré was born in Rouen . Born into a musical family, he was a child prodigy. His father Albert Dupré was organist in Rouen and a friend of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, who built an organ in the family house when...
, Henri Nibelle, César FranckCésar FranckCésar-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
, Alexandre GuilmantAlexandre GuilmantFélix-Alexandre Guilmant was a French organist and composer.- Short biography :Guilmant was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer...
, Charles-Marie WidorCharles-Marie WidorCharles-Marie Jean Albert Widor was a French organist, composer and teacher.-Life:Widor was born in Lyon, to a family of organ builders, and initially studied music there with his father, François-Charles Widor, titular organist of Saint-François-de-Sales from 1838 to 1889...
, and improvisation of Kiviniemi, recorded in church of St. Ouen, RouenChurch of St. Ouen, RouenThe Church of St. Ouen is a large Gothic Roman Catholic church in Rouen, northern France, famous for both its architecture and its large, unaltered Cavaillé-Coll organ, which Charles-Marie Widor described as "a Michelangelo of an organ"...
, 2008 and 2009
Other selected recordings
- Chicago Concert, works of Gabriel PiernéGabriel PiernéHenri Constant Gabriel Pierné was a French composer, conductor, and organist.-Biography:Gabriel Pierné was born in Metz in 1863. His family moved to Paris to escape the Franco-Prussian War. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, gaining first prizes for solfège, piano, organ, counterpoint and fugue...
, Joseph BonnetJoseph BonnetJoseph Bonnet was a French composer and organist.One of the major French pipe organ players, Joseph Bonnet was born in Bordeaux. He first studied with his father, an organist at St. Eulalie. At the age of 14, he became official organist, first at St. Nicholas and almost immediately at St. Michael...
, Marcel DupréMarcel DupréMarcel Dupré , was a French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue.-Biography:Marcel Dupré was born in Rouen . Born into a musical family, he was a child prodigy. His father Albert Dupré was organist in Rouen and a friend of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, who built an organ in the family house when...
, Charles-Marie WidorCharles-Marie WidorCharles-Marie Jean Albert Widor was a French organist, composer and teacher.-Life:Widor was born in Lyon, to a family of organ builders, and initially studied music there with his father, François-Charles Widor, titular organist of Saint-François-de-Sales from 1838 to 1889...
, Camille Saint-SaënsCamille Saint-SaënsCharles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
, Aulis SallinenAulis SallinenAulis Sallinen is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. He writes in a modern, though tonal and not experimental music style. He studied at the Sibelius Academy, where his teachers included Joonas Kokkonen...
, Joonas KokkonenJoonas KokkonenJoonas Kokkonen was a Finnish composer. He was one of the most internationally famous Finnish composers of the 20th century after Sibelius; his opera The Last Temptations has received over 500 performances worldwide, and is considered by many to be Finland's most distinguished national opera.-...
, Aimo Känkänen, Jean SibeliusJean SibeliusJean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
and improvisation of Kiviniemi, 2000 details - Lakeuden Ristin urut (Organ of the Lakeuden Risti church), works of Franz LisztFranz LisztFranz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
(arr. Kiviniemi), César FranckCésar FranckCésar-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
, Alexandre GuilmantAlexandre GuilmantFélix-Alexandre Guilmant was a French organist and composer.- Short biography :Guilmant was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer...
, Marcel DupréMarcel DupréMarcel Dupré , was a French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue.-Biography:Marcel Dupré was born in Rouen . Born into a musical family, he was a child prodigy. His father Albert Dupré was organist in Rouen and a friend of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, who built an organ in the family house when...
, Pierre CochereauPierre CochereauPierre Eugène Charles Cochereau , was a French organist, improviser, composer, and pedagogue.- Biography :Pierre Cochereau was born on July 9, 1924 in Saint-Mandé, near Paris. In 1929, after a few months of violin instruction, he began to take piano lessons with Marius-François Gaillard...
, his own, Oskar MerikantoOskar MerikantoOskar Merikanto was a Finnish musician and composer.He was born to Swedish-speaking parents in Helsinki. His father, originally Frank Mattsson, changed the family name to sound more Finnish....
, recorded in SeinäjokiSeinäjokiSeinäjoki is a city located in Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bruk iron and gunpowder factories founded in 1798. Seinäjoki became a municipality in 1868, market town in 1931 and town in 1960...
in Lakeuden Risti (designed by Alvar AaltoAlvar AaltoHugo Alvar Henrik Aalto was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware...
), on an instrument built by the Kangasala organ factory, 2009
Awards for recordings
Many of his recordings have won awards, Improvisation was named Star Recording by the magazine The Organ in 1999, and Visions, containing Finnish organ music, received the Janne Prize for the best Finnish solo disc. In 2009 his CD Lakeuden Ristin Urut was chosen as the organ album of the year in the US.
Compositions
Kiviniemi has improvised and composed.- Suite francaise
- Caprice héroique, hommage à Aristide Cavaillé-Coll
- Souvenir, hommage à Madame Dupré
- Carillon, hommage à Marcel Dupré
- Fantasia Suomalainen rukous (2008)
Awards
Kalevi Kiviniemi received the Luonnotar Prize at the Sibelius Festival in Lahti in 2003 and the trophy of the Organum Society in 2004 for services to Finnish organ music. In 2009 he was awarded the State Prize for Music in Finland for lifelong achievements in music.External links
- Kalevi Kiviniemi website
- Entries for recordings by Kalevi Kiviniemi on WorldCatWorldCatWorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...