Pannonhalma to Celebrate Easter with an Exceptional Concert

István Mátyás, organist, and Genoveva dos Santos, soprano singer, invite audiences to a sacred musical journey on Easter Monday, April 21, in the Basilica of St. Martin in Pannonhalma. At the first event of the Archabbey organ concert series, the masterpieces of organ music, religious music, and the efforts of outstanding composers in the history to glorify God will be heard in perfect harmony, Magyar Nemzet reports.

The evening will begin with a virtuoso piece by the German baroque composer and organist Johann Kaspar Kerll. The improvisatory nature of Toccata VII will certainly captivate the audience from the very beginning of the concert.

A Bach piece that follows immerses the listener in subtle, emotional motifs, before the Prelude in G major is followed by another Kerll work. The Capriccio sopra il Cucù is an entertaining piece that plays with the sound of the cuckoo with a sophisticated wit. The first part of the concert closes with Bach’s more serious Fugue in G major.

The concert continues with a deeply religious piece by 20th century composer Franz Schmidt. The Prelude and Fugue in D major ‘Hallelujah’ combines the musical language of the time with the formal traditions of the Baroque fugue,

creating a musical interpretation of a joyful song of resurrection and redemption.

The next work, Louis Vierne & Jehan Le Povre Moyne’s Les Angélus, evokes the Angelus prayer. Then, the audience will hear three renditions of the Protestant hymn Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (“Alone to God in the highest be glory”): first, a work by German composer and organist Georg Böhm. He will be followed by an arrangement by his pupil Bach, and then a romantic transcription by Sigfrid Karg-Elert. The section is brought to a perfect close with Alexandre Guilmant’s Choral and Fugue, Op. 80/5, that combines Romantic expression with traditional religious music.

The concert concludes with Charles Villiers Stanford’s Song of Wisdom, Op. 118/6, based on biblical and religious texts that lead the listener to the eternal wisdom of God.

Tickets for the concert are available here.