Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Finland: Oskar Merikanto


Finland issued this stamp (Scott #477) on 5 August 1968 to honor the 10oth anniversary of the birth of Oskar Merikanto. Merikanto was born to Swedish parents who changed their surname after moving to Finland, to blend more easily into their adopted homeland. Merikanto was a very famous concertizer on both piano and organ, and composed numerous works for use in churches. The stamp features a portrait of the composer and an array of organ pipes. I haven't found any music in print for organ by Merikanto. Does anyone have any?

1 comment:

Richard Robinson said...

Finnish organist Jan Lehtola has recorded a CD of the complete organ works of Merikanto. I found it on itunes and there are lots of Google references. Jan Lehtola has a webpage. Merikanto organ music is probably out of print. I wonder what church pipe organ he played. Now I'm retired I am going to spend more time with my pipe organ stamps. I like your blog.