Praeludium

Peter Planyavsky (born 9 May 1947) is an Austrian organist and composer.

At the Vienna Academy of Music, he studied organ, composition and improvisation with Anton Heiller, piano with Hilde Seidlhofer, and conducting with Hans Gillesberger. He graduated with diplomas in organ and church music in 1966.

Subsequently, he worked for a year in an organ workshop (intonation and assembly), and in 1968 he was organist in the Upper Austrian Stift Schläg.

From 1969 to 2004, Planyavsky was organist at Vienna's cathedral Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral), and in the years 1983 to 1990 was Dommusikdirektor, director of music with overall responsibility for the church music at the cathedral.

In 1980 he was appointed professor of organ, improvisation and liturgical organ playing at the Vienna Academy of Music.

From 1996 to 2002 he headed the department of church music.

Concert tours and master classes took Planyavsky to many European countries, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong, Korea, Canada and the United States.

In his master classes he has focused on Anton Heiller, Johannes Brahms, Felix Mendelssohn and Baroque music, with an emphasis on improvisation and liturgical organ playing. He has often served as a juror at competitions.

As an organ expert, Planyavsky was instrumental in organ-building projects, notably the construction of the new Rieger organ in the Great Hall of the Wiener Musikverein, which he planned in collaboration with Ludger Lohmann, Martin Haselböck, Gillian Weir, and Olivier Latry.