Purcell
Trumpet Tune

Martini
Toccata in D major

J. S. Bach
Schafe können sicher weiden, BWV 208

Schneider
Vivaldissimo – I. Allegro

Bovet
Suite pour Souvigny – XI. Noël de Moulins

Takemitsu
Paths

Jongen
Sonata Eroïca, Op. 94

Dupré
Variations sur un Noël, Op. 20

Rachmaninoff
Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14

Petr Eben
Windows – IV. Golden Window

Liszt – Ádám Tabajdi
Liebestraum, No. 3

Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue

Ádám Tabajdi – organ
Tamás Pálfalvi, Richárd Kresz – trumpet

The main protagonists of the concert are the organ and the trumpet, played by two outstanding artists: Ádám Tabajdi, who studied in Paris and Budapest and whose inventive programmes expand into new territories, is one of the most exciting representatives of the young generation, while Tamás Pálfalvi, who completed his studies in New York on a Bard College scholarship before earning a master’s degree from the Liszt Academy in May 2016, has seen his international career embark on a steep trajectory in the past decade.

© Misi Kondella

The pair will be joined on stage for a couple of pieces by Richárd Kresz, who plays an active role in Hungarian musical life both as a soloist and – alongside Tamás Pálfalvi – a member of the In Medias Brass quintet.

The evening presents a colourful array of works from 12 composers, with each of the pieces to be performed radiating a joyous, uplifting mood in keeping with the period of preparation for Christmas. It is perhaps the sound of the organ that is best suited to these outpourings of emotion, but the trumpet is sure to add a little extra sparkle all of its own.

© Dominik Odenkirchen

The Czech composer Petr Eben (1929–2007), for instance, was inspired by Marc Chagall’s vibrant stained-glass windows in writing his series for organ and trumpet, from which we will hear a closing movement that evokes golden hues. Marcel Dupré (1886–1971) transformed a traditional French Christmas carol into an exciting set of variations, which he composed aboard railway carriages during his American tour of the 1920s.

Still active to this day, Swiss composer, educator and organist Guy Bovet (1942) also chose a French carol – this time from Moulins, the historically significant capital of the Duchy of Bourbonnais – which he imagined for the organ of the priory church of Souvigny, constructed in the 1780s.

Also from the second half of the 20th century is the concerto by the German Enjott Schneider (1950) that pays tribute to the boundless joy of Vivaldi’s music. The Japanese Toru Takemitsu (1930–1996) celebrates another highly influential composer, this time one who lived in the 20th century, with one of his final works: Paths is a six-minute trumpet monologue written to commemorate the death of the Polish Witold Lutosławski.

Like Dupré’s series of variations, the single-movement masterpiece by the Belgian Joseph Jongen (1873–1953) that showcases an exciting spectrum of sounds, as well as the familiar orchestral work, George Gershwin’s (1898–1937) witty and melodic Rhapsody in Blue, a piece famed for its pulsating rhythms, were composed in the 1920s and 30s. The latter will be heard in an unusual arrangement, just as the reworkings of evergreen classics by Ferenc Liszt (1811–1886) and Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) will present the original works in a new light.

The programme will also be lit up by the music of three 17th and 18th century masters – Henry Purcell (1659–1695), Giovanni Battista Martini (1706–1784) and Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). The aria from Bach’s Hunting Cantata is ideally suited to the advent mood with its idyllic, tranquil aura.