Nieminen, Kai

(*1953)

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 CrumbPaavo HeininenJukka 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 GalloisSymphony 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.

Lyrical, lingering music (Kimmo Korhonen)