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The Danish Danish organist, harpsichordist, composer, arranger, musicologist and music teacher, Finn Viderø (born Poulsen), passed the organists' examination of the Royal Danish Music Conservatory in Copenhagen in 1926. He obtained his Master of Arts degree in musicology from the University of Copenhagen in 1929.
Finn Viderø served as organist and cantor in several churches in and around Copenhagen: Geman French Reformert Kirke in Copenhagen (1928-1941); Jægersborg Kirke in Jægersborg (1942-1947); Trinitatis Kirke in Copenhagen (1947-1971); and Sankt Andreas Kirke in Copenhagen (1971-1977).
For more than a generation Finn Viderø was regarded as primus inter paras among Danish organists and enjoyed intemational esteem. A profound knowledge of organ history, dispositions and registration, and life-long and steady study and practice of organ technique combined, of course, with marked talent - all these elements contributed to the explanation of his unique playing, characterized by rhythmic strength, flexibility and precision, and his ability to make the instrument sound at its best. His organ playing was uncompromising and many believed that Viderø's musical interpretations were as close to the authentic, artistic and historical representation intended by the composer as one could get. He gave more than 800 organ recitals and broadcasts in the Scandinavian countries, England, The Netherlands, Spain, Germmy and the USA, and has given master-classes in organ at Helsinki 1950, Bergen (Norway) and Andover (Massachusetts, USA), Detmold (Germany) 1956, Des Moines (Iowa, USA) and New York 1960, the Intemational Bach Seminar at Varde (Denmrk) 1972, and Bach Seminar at Oslo (Norway) 1971.
Finn Viderø taught music theory (1935-1945) and gave lectures on organ and harpsichord music (1949-1974) at the University of Copenhagen. From 1968 he taught the organ at the Royal Danish Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. In 1959-1960, he was Visiting Professor of Organ and Acting University Organist at Yale University, and in 1967-1968 the Visiting Professor of Organ at North Texas State University. He was guest lecturer at Yale University and held an honorary doctorate from the University of Åbo in Finland. In 1964 he was conferred a Doctor's Degree of Divinity by the Swedish Academy of Åbo, Finland.
Finn Viderø wrote a number of articles on perfomance practice of the music of the l6th and 17th centuries, and has published editions of organ music, hymn tunes, folk songs and choral music, and a highly esteemed Orgelskole (with Oluf Ring, 1933, 2nd edition 1963). He composed music for a fairy play (Guldskoene 1945), two cantatas (Den ømskindede Brudgom 1937, and Kory Hedningers Frelsermand 1938), choral music, songs. piano pieces, and various organ music (Passacaglia 1946, Three Chorale Partitas 1952, fiee preludes, and three collections of chorale preludes 1946, 1966 and 1980). His thorough studies of Gregorian chant have resulted in the publication of his adaptions of Gregorian melodies to Danish texts in Det Danske Antifounale i-ii (197l, 1977). ln 1964 he was awarded the honorary Doctor's degree in Theology at the Academy of Turku (Finland).
Finn Viderø was one of the first Danish organists to become known outside the country, primarily due to his recordings of classic organ works. He recorded works by Baroque composers, including J.S. Bach (1685-1750), Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707), Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706), Antonio de Cabezón (1510-1566), Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621), Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654), Paulus Siefert (1586-1666), Juan Bautista Cabanilles (1644-1712), Louis Marchand (1669-1732), Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748), Georg Böhm (1661-1733); but also Joseph Guy Ropartz (1864-1955), and Carl Nielsen (1865-1931). His recording of Nielsen's Commotio comes from one of the recitals that he gave during 1959-1960. The work was composed in the Spring of 1931, and Finn Viderø was one of the first to play it; indeed, on June 14, 1931, he played the Commotio to Nielsen himself and some of Nielsen's friends at a private recital in the Church of St. Nicolai in Copenhagen
Finn Viderø received a number of prizes. e. g. Grand Prix de l'Academie du Disque Francais 1959, The Hariet Cohen Bach-Medal 1961, The Buxtehude Prize 1964, Ludvig Schytte's Memorial Prize 1970, and the Gramex Prize 1973. He was a lifelong honorry member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fratemity and Pi Kappalambda. |
