Orgelkonzert: Gunnar Idenstam

This concert features music that is rarely performed – for the Swedish organist Gunnar Idenstam is regarded as an exceptionally innovative artist in a range of genres beyond classical music. At the start of his exciting programme, he presents stirring themes from films and video games such as »Battlefield 1942«, »Minecraft«, »Black Hawk Down« and »Harry Potter« in two grandiose soundtrack suites. These are followed by a sumptuous adaptation of Carl Orff’s »Carmina Burana«: Soon after its world premiere in 1937, the work became one of the most popular pieces. It is based on Latin and Middle High German texts discovered by the composer in a Würzburg antiquarian bookshop catalogue, about which he later said: »What moved me was exclusively the rousing rhythm as well as the imagery of these poems.« The adaptation for the organ emphasises the powerful effect and the focus on the variety of colours in this grand piece. To conclude, Gunnar Idenstam performs an equally spectacular excerpt from his successful »Metal Angel« suites. The title refers to the metal genre of rock music, but also to the organ with its metal pipes and angel-like shape. The pieces exploit the full range of the instrument to give expression to the idea of such beings in a Gothic fantasy world – about which the composer himself says: »The music always comes to me from a source without words, and the narrative only emerges later. And this one is about angels of all kinds. I leave it to the listeners to decide what the soundscapes evoke within them.«