Orgelkonzert: Christian Schmitt / Christoph Eß

»Like a pilot in the cockpit of his aircraft, Christian Schmitt sits facing a semicircle of keys, buttons and levers.« This is how our principal organist was once described in a feature article. In this concert, he sets his instrument in motion to take the audience on a fascinating musical journey from a successful take-off to a safe landing – and his musical co-pilot is our principal horn player, Christoph Eß. The programme begins with a wonderful Andante by Camille Saint-Saëns, composed around 1853. »Dieu est simple« by Olivier Messiaen is part of his 1969 cycle »Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité«, and here we can also hear his characteristic bird songs, symbolising a statement from a psalm which reads: »If only I had wings like a dove, I would fly away and find rest.« Marcel Dupré’s diverse variations date from 1922: they are based on a popular Provençal tune and culminate in a fast-paced fugue. The enchantingly crafted music based on the comforting hymn »Be content and be still« was written by Jan Koetsier in 1981. In 1993, Knut Nystedt composed »Le verbe éternel«, an impressive organ work featuring numerous shifts in mood, while Messiaen's »Appel interstellaire« from 1971 is a mystical piece that sounds like a cry of longing into the vastness of the universe. The finale of this concert's moving »flight« is Max Reger’s 1899 Fantasia on the chorale »Wie schön leucht’ uns der Morgenstern« – in which all the stops are truly pulled out.