Organ Concert by Andreas Jud

Andreas Jud’s closing concert will feature Romantic organ works from France and Germany.

The program opens with an Offertoire by Louis Lefébure-Wély. Lefébure-Wély served at Saint-Sulpice, making him a direct predecessor of Widor; musically, he also belongs to an earlier generation. His music is often liturgical in nature, yet still very effective and filled with beautiful melodies.

Camille Saint-Saëns is another composer featured in this program whose music tends to be somewhat overshadowed by other organ composers of that era. The *Trois Rhapsodies sur des Cantiques Bretons* performed here are early works, yet they are highly imaginative and rich in sonority. Saint-Saëns liked them so much that he later arranged two of them for full orchestra.

Max Reger’s grand fantasia on the chorale “Hallelujah! Praise to God” brings us full circle back to the first concert, which began with Reger. The chorale on which the Fantasia is based is largely unknown today, but it is presented so prominently and so brilliantly harmonized that one still gets the feeling of recognizing the melody. A rousing fugue leads to the final verse and brings the work to a spectacular conclusion.