WKO x Christian Schmitt - Organ Sound

The organ is the queen of instruments, but has rarely been experienced in harmony due to a lack of instruments. Christian Schmitt, a world-renowned concert organist, travels with an organ specially built for him. The musical direction of the concert is in the hands of guest conductor Sébastien Rouland, who has been the General Music Director at the Saarland State Theatre since 2018. The "Adagio for Strings" is world-famous, having been used in many films and regularly played at memorial services. However, few people know the "Toccata festiva" for organ, strings, and trumpet by Samuel Barber, composed in 1960, which is characterized by lyrical expressiveness and stormy sound gestures, ending with a highly virtuosic pedal cadenza by the organist. Francis Poulenc's organ concerto for strings and timpani is a classic of the repertoire, combining baroque forms with late romantic expressiveness and modern sound language. The "Simple Symphony," premiered in 1934 by Benjamin Britten, combines a neo-baroque texture with dance elements and features vivid titles like "Playful Pizzicato" and "Sentimental Saraband." Dvořák's String Quintet Op. 97 is heavily inspired by impressions of the "New World" and contains elements of American musical traditions. The arrangement for string orchestra was created by WKO cellist Georg Oyen and will be performed for the first time in this program.