For All my Friends and Colleagues in Linz

The Christmas Organ Concert 2005

This page is about the Christmas Organ Concert that I gave last 15 December 2005 in the Hl. Familienkirche in Linz, Austria. Many colleagues from the RICAM attended (attendance was about 50 people, among whom some 5 small kids), and also some other friends of mine.

The organ in the Familienkirche is one of the larger organs in Linz. It was built in 1929 by the Linz-based firm of Gebr. Mauracher and has 45 stops (1 transmission) on three manuals and pedal. It also has gadgets like a General-Crescendo, two free combinations, dynamic presets, and so on. The action is pneumatic, but the delay in playing is generally reasonable, except on the third manual.

Those who couldn't be there can still listen to the concert (in MP3-format) using the links below. Also present on the recording are little Lily W. and Isabella H., producing some typical children's sayings and perfecting the Christmas atmosphere.

The programme (Christiaan van de Woestijne, organ):

ComposerLivedWork
Franz Schmidt1874-1939"Halleluja-Prelude"
J.S. Bach1685-1750"Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" (nr. I on my story - see programme, link below)
Olivier Messiaen1908-1992"Les Bergers" (nrs. II, III and IV of my story)
Olivier Messiaen1908-1992"Le Verbe" (fragment) (nr. V of my story)
J.S. Bach1685-1750"Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" (nr. VI on my story)
Olivier Messiaen1908-1992"Les Enfants de Dieu" (nrs. VII and VIII of my story)
CvdWstill alive!"O come, all ye faithful" (world premiere! written in the days before the concert) (nr. IX of my story)
Jan Zwart1877-1937Two variations on "Stille Nacht" (I forgot to switch off some of the gadgets at first)
Jan Zwart1877-1937"Er ruischt langs de Wolken"
Jan Zwart1877-1937Two variations on "O, Sanctissima"
Jan Zwart1877-1937Pastorale and Fugato on "Van uit den hemel daalde ik neer"
J.S. Bach1685-1750"Christum wir sollen loben schon"
J.S. Bach1685-1750Setting and Canon on "In dulci jubilo"
CvdWstill alive!Improvisation on "O come, O come, Immanuel"
CvdW-Improvisation on "Ding dong! merrily on high"
CvdW-Improvisation on "Es ist ein Ros entsprungen" (I'm particularly satisfied with this one - apparently,
little Lily was less so, or maybe she just bumped her head against something)
CvdW-Improvised variations (var. 1, var. 2, var. 3, var. 4) and finale on "Macht hoch die Tür"

On special request, I can also send you an MP3 of the applause afterwards :-) ...

I'm much obliged to:
- the Pfarramt and organists of the Familienkirche, for allowing the use of the church and the organ
- Herr Franz Kapplinger in particular, for spending three freezing hours in the organ tuning the reeds for me (brrr...)
- Gottlieb, Nina, and Klaus, for helping with the electronic equipment, and for your enthousiasm


I hope to get some pictures of the church to put here. Anyway, here is the programme. And here are the slides to my talk "What is an organ?!" that I gave during the concert.


To Christiaan's Music page.

Last changed on 17 December 2005 by Christiaan van de Woestijne.