Lunchtime music – inspirations from Bach and Beethoven

Jenni Laurila, organ: W. A. Mozart and G. Merkel

Gustav Merkel (1827-1885) | Variationen Über Ein Thema Von Beethoven, Op. 45

As its name suggests, Merkel's perhaps one of the most famous organ compositions gets its theme from Beethoven, but it is not entirely certain which original work by Beethoven the theme was taken from. Merkel was a composer of the Romantic era, but he was strongly inclined towards classicism.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) | Adagio and Fugue in C Minor, K. 546

The work was originally composed for two pianos, but it is better known as an arrangement for strings. Mozart composed the work in the contrapuntal style of J. S. Bach. Jean Guillou later arranged a wonderful organ version of the work.

Jenni Laurila (b. 2000) is a versatile musician who graduated as a cantor and a Master of Music from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in December 2024. She continues her studies and organ playing in the Sibelius Academy's solo instruments department with Markku Mäkinen as her teacher. Her studies also include improvisation studies under Mauriz Brunelli and harpsichord playing with Elina Mustonen as her teacher. Jenni began her music studies at the age of seven on the transverse flute at the Limingan Music Institute and completed her music institute-level final examination on it in the spring of 2019. Since then, the organ has become her main instrument. Jenni has supplemented her organ studies with master classes by Pétur Sakar, Olivier Latry and Jean-Baptiste Monnot.

The concert is free and lasts approximately 30 minutes.

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