1. Toccata - Orgel und Chor

In the organizer's words:

Organ & Choir

Simon Johnson Organ
Anna Sophia Theil Soprano
Duisburg Philharmonic Choir
Marcus Strümpe Conductor

Hubert Parry
I was glad
Anton Bruckner
Ecce sacerdos magnus
Zoltán Kodály
Psalm 114
Heinrich Schütz
Rejoice to the Lord, all the world
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Hear my supplication
Louis Vierne
Allegro risoluto & Scherzo
(from: Organ Symphony No. 2 in E minor op. 20)
Herbert Howells
Rhapsody No. 3 in C sharp minor op. 17
Simon Johnson
Blessed is he who stands in the fear of God
William Harris
Adagio espressivo (from: Sonata in A minor)
Herbert Brewer
Marche héroïque

Before Simon Johnson became Head of Music at London's Westminster Cathedral in 2021, he was organist at St Paul's Cathedral, where he played for all kinds of royal occasions, such as Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee and the celebrations for her 90th birthday. The Eule organ in the Philharmonie Mercatorhalle is also very British and majestic, with its four manuals and 72 stops modeled on the late-romantic English town hall organs - in the 1st Toccata of the season, it is powerfully supported by the Duisburg Philharmonic Choir. Choirmaster Marcus Strümpe has included Anton Bruckner in the program, as the late Romantic composer was a virtuoso organist and composer of sacred music who was very familiar with the combination of choir and organ. In Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's "Hör mein Bitten", the organ and choir are joined by a soprano: the frequent alternation between solo voice and choir is reminiscent of the tradition of the "Anthem" from the Anglican liturgy. With William Harris and Herbert Howells, two prominent representatives of Anglican church music are also on the program, while Louis Vierne, for many years chief organist at Notre-Dame de Paris, stands for the rich organ scene in France. His organ symphonies, a genre he invented himself, are characterized by an exuberant Romantic sonority.