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Nieminen, Kai
Kai Nieminen (born 17 March 1953) studied the guitar at the Conservatory of Central Finland and the Sibelius Academy and musicology at the University of Jyväskylä. He has also studied composition with Stepán Rak and Pekka Kostiainen and attended master classes with George Crumb, Paavo Heininen, Jukka Tiensuu and Theo Lowendie. As a guitarist Kai Nieminen has given recitals and appeared as soloist with several orchestras and acted as a member of the jury of the Fernando Sor Guitar Competition.
Nieminen has composed a number of orchestral works. He is especially known for his concertos, e.g. for the flute (Palomar, 2001), clarinet (Through Shadows I Can Hear Ancient Voices, 2002), violin (‘Il viaggio del cavaliere… (inexistente)’, 2005), piano (Reflections… In the Enchanted Waves of Time, 2005), oboe (Somni de Gaudi, 2008), guitar (‘If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller’, 2009) as well as cello and accordion (Marcovaldo, 2012). His list of works also includes vocal music, a wealth of chamber music and works for solo instruments – especially the guitar, his own instrument. He has written five string quartets, the last of them Quartetto V per archi –Dietro delle Maschere was commissioned by the Q Quartets for a performance in Liverpool in April 2023.
Nieminen has composed three symphonies. The first, ‘La Selva’, which was commissioned by the Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä and premiered on 13 November 2013 under the baton of Patrick Gallois. Symphony No. 2 ‘Nello specchio della notte’ was premiered in 2015 at the Sääksmäki Soi Festival. The third symphony was premiered by the Joensuu Orchestra on 22 October 2020 under the baton of Eero Lehtimäki.
Nieminen does not fill his score to the brim but instead allows the instruments room to breathe. The delicate, fragile and airy texture of his orchestral works is often more in the nature of intimate chamber music allowing the various instruments to express their intrinsic characteristics and timbres. Kai Nieminen is inspired by cultural and temporal planes and linking the past with the present. He regards himself as a tone painter of fantasies from the life around him and finds his sources of inspiration often in literature, but also in the visual arts and nature. However, he has no desire to confine the listener to any programme. The aim of the extra-musical stimuli is at most to fire the listeners’ imagination and to make them savour musical visions with an open mind.
Naxos and Pilfink Records have released Kai Nieminen’s works on CD. Read more on Kai Nieminen’s home page.
40 Years of Time... (from far beyond)
(2005)
for orchestra
2222-2200-10-str
Duration: 5
Chi vivrà vedrà
(1998)
for orchestra
1121-1100-11-str
Duration: 15
Clarinet Concerto
Through Shadows I Can Hear Ancient Voices (2002)
for clarinet and orchestra
2222-2100-timp.perc/cel/str
Duration: 28
Concerto for Guitar and Small Orchestra
If on a Winter's Night a Traveller... (2009)
12(II=c.ing)11-1100-01-str perc: Reco-reco, Finger Cymbals, Vibraphone, Tam-tam, Tubular Bells
Duration: 25
Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra
Somni de Gaudí (2008)
2(II+altfl)1(=ca)2(II=cl.b)2-2200-11-hp-str Perc: Vibraphone, Marimba, Tubular Bells, Tam tam, 2 Suspended Cymbals, Sizzle Cymbal, Tambourine, Bass Drum
Duration: 26
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
Reflections... In the Enchanted Waves... Of Time (2005)
22(II=c.ing)2(II=cl.b)2-2200-11-hp-str
Duration: 35
Dance HobGoblin / Tanssinhaltija
(1998)
for bass clarinet and string orchestra
str
Duration: 8
Gestures of Winter
(Time Around Northern Night Skies)
for string quartet
Duration: 0
Hailing the Beauty of Light and Snow
(In Winterwoods) (1999-2000)
for chamber orchestra
1(=altfl)1(c.ing)01-1000-01-str
Duration: 10
I Can Hear Northern Lights...
for oboe and string quartet (1999)
Duration: 16
Il castello dei destini incrociati
The Castle of Crossed Destinies (2000)
for orchestra
3(III=picc)3(III=c.ing)3(III=cl.b)3(III=c.fag)-4431-12-hp-cel-str Perc. 1: Bass Drum, Wood Block, Suspended Cymbal, Tambourine, Tam-tam, Gong (medium), Sizzle Cymbal Perc. 2: Tubular Bells, Vibraphone, Xylophone, Temple Blocks
Duration: 20
Il viaggio del cavaliere... (inesistente)
Concerto per violino ed orchestra (2005)
2(I+picc,II+altfl)2(II=c.ing)2(II=cl.b)2-2110-11-hp-str Perc: Wood Block, Snare Drum, Suspended Cymbal, Crotales, Bass Drum, Tam-Tam, Vibraphone, Glockenspiel
Duration: 30
In Mirrors of Time... Through Colours of Autumn
(2000)
for orchestra
2221-1100-11-hp-str
Duration: 14
In Woodlands of the Birds
(2002)
for orchestra
2222-2000-11-cel-str
Duration: 17
Invisible Cities
(1998)
for orchestra
2222-4211-12-hp-cel-str
Duration: 21
La Serenissima (Per la memoria per una Storia...)
Concerto per viola sola, arpa e 12 archi (2006)
for viola, harp and 12 strings
hp-str(43221)
Duration: 20
Marcovaldo
Concerto per violoncello, fisarmonica e piccola orchestra (2012)
for violoncello, accordeon and orchestra
2(II=altfl).2(II=c.ing).2(II=cl.b).2-2.1.0.0-1.1-pf-str
Duration: 30
Palomar (nel giardino fantastico)
Concerto per flauto e orchestra (2001)
for flute and orchestra
0222-2000-01-str
Duration: 22
Sinfonia No. 2
Nello Specchio della Notte (2015)
for orchestra
2(II=afl).0.2(II=cl.b).2-2.0.0.0-0.2-str Percussione: Crotales, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Bass drum
Duration: 20
Spellbound by Winter's Night
Talven yön lumoama (2008)
for 12 strings
str(43221)
Duration: 22
Time Around Autumn
(1996)
for 12 winds and 2 percussions
2(II+picc,altfl)2(II+c.ing)2(II=cl.b)1-2210-02
Duration: 12
Time Around Lights, Shadows and Spaces
Helene Schjerfbeck in Memoriam (1999)
for chamber orchestra
1(=altfl)1(=c.ing)1(cl.b)1-0100-02-str
Duration: 12
Time Around Spring
In Memoriam Timo K. Mukka (1997)
for orchestra
2222-2221-11-hp-str
Duration: 20
To Touch Upon Other Times
Concerto for Horn, Harp and Strings (2010)
hn, hp, str
Duration: 23
Vicoli in ombra
Hämyisät kujat / Alleys in Twilight (1995)
for orchestra
2222-2210-11-hp-cel-str
Duration: 10
Winter Afternoons
(2000)
for nine players
1(+altfl)1(+c.ing)1(=cl.b)1-1000-01-hp-violin, violoncello
Duration: 10
Winter Fragments
for string quartet
Duration: 0
Palomar (Flute Concerto) (I Crepuscolo)
sol. Patrick Gallois
Through Shadows I Can Hear Ancient Voices (Clarinet Concerto) (III Don’t Seek and Don’t Believe)
sol. Mikko Raasakka
Vicoli in ombra
Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä, cond. Patrick Gallois
(*Naxos 8.572061)
Unen maasta (for mixed choir)
1. Uni
2. Keiju
3. Auringon lasku
Cantus Novus Wien
Concert of chamber works on 9 August 2016
The Tale of Astolpho on the Moon
Julvers (Notturno II)
Poems of Stopped Time and Silence
Pan & Waves of Sorrow
The Smile of the Flamboyant Wings
Uccelli della notte
Erkki Palola, violin, Tuomas Mali, piano
VIDEOS (YouTube):
String quartet no. 4 “Sogni del Mare” (“Meren unia”, 2020)
Meri-Lapin jousikvartetti
Reflecting Landscapes
In der Winterzeit
Trio La Rue
Near the Edge of Light
Q Quartets
Riflessioni
A Walk to the mysterious Woods (Guitar Sonata)
Patrik Kleemola, guitar
Acquarelli della notte
Fragmentos de la vida del mar
Kai Nieminen, guitar
Night Preludes
Olli Hirvanen, guitar
Night Shadows, for two guitars
Olli Hirvanen, Kai Nieminen
Images of Fear
John Mills, guitar
From Shadows… of Songs of.. the Winds
Flavio Nati, guitar
Hymnos IV (Waterscapes)
Gocho Prakov, clarinet
Hymnos VIII
J0hanna Kärkkäinen, flute
The Smile of the Flamboyant Wings
Eriko Takahashi, piano
Bartlebooth
Eriko Takahashi, piano
*with permission of Naxos. To download the album, visit classicsonline.com. To purchase the CD, visit naxos.com.
Guitar Concerto “If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller…”
La Serenissima
Palomar
Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 2
Time Around Spring
Violin Concerto
Lyrical, lingering music (Kimmo Korhonen)