Matinee: Organ & Harp

Alexander Borodin (1833–1887) 
Polovtsian Dances from Price Igor (1869–87) 
arrangement for organ by Shin-Young Lee

Franz Liszt (1811–1886) 
Un sospiro from Trois Études de concert (1848) 
arrangement for organ and harp by Marco-Enrico Bossi

Georg-Friedrich Händel (1685–1759) 
Passacaglia from Suite No. 7 in G minor, HWV 432 (1720) 
arrangement for organ by Shin-Young Lee

Organ Concerto op. 4 No. 6 in B-flat major, HWV 294 (1736) 
arrangement for harp and organ with a cadenza by Marcel Grandjany

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) 
Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix from Samson et Dalila, op. 47 (1868–77) 
arrangement for organ by Shin-Young Lee

Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) 
Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor (1901–04/11) 
arrangement for organ and harp by Joachim Dorfmüller

Louis Vierne (1870–1937)
Carillon de Westminster from Pièces de Fantaisie pour Grand Orgue, op. 54 (1926/27) 

When this musician sits down at the organ, it sounds as though a complete symphony orchestra is playing – including sophisticated solos on flutes, trombones and other wind instruments. This is because Shin-Young Lee loves programmes in which she can combine original repertoire with organ transcriptions of famous orchestral works. Alongside Marie-Pierre Langlamet, harpist of the Berliner Philharmoniker, the internationally renowned organist presents a spectacular programme at the Musikfest Berlin ranging from Liszt’s virtuoso concert etude Un sospiro (creating the impression of three hands at the keyboard) to Louis Vierne’s showpiece Carillon de Westminster.

Alexander Borodin aimed to capture the “entire colour palette of the Orient” in his Polovtsian Dances. This was the famous ballet music extracted from Act II of the composer’s opera Prince Igor which took international concert halls by storm ever since its first performance by the Ballets Russes in 1909. The Korean organist Shin-Young Lee will be presenting her own breathtaking virtuoso version of this classic orchestral piece before joining Marie-Pierre Langlamet in a performance of Liszt’s no less challenging concert study Un sospiro featuring numerous hair-raising technical features such as the swift crossing of hands.

Two pieces by Georg Friedrich Händel then take us into the opulent music of the Baroque era: the famous Passacaglia from the Keyboard Suite in G minor in an arrangement by Shin-Young Lee is followed by the Concerto for Harp in B flat major for which the French harpist Marcel Grandjany added a sonorous cadenza in 1930.

Shin-Young Lee’s version of Camille Saint-Saëns’ mezzo soprano aria Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix from his Biblical opera Samson et Dalila provides a clear demonstration of why the organ has gone down in music history as the “queen of instruments”. After the well-known Adagietto from Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in the version for organ and harp, the concert is concluded by Louis Vierne’s Carillon de Westminster from his Pièces de Fantaisie, op. 54, a brilliant adaptation of the chimes of Westminster which builds up to a magnificent tonal climax.