Gunnar Idenstam, organ

Cankarjev dom Music Gunnar Idenstam, organ

Programme:
Jean-Baptiste Lully (arr. G. Idenstam) , Louré pour les Pecheurs, from the tragédie en musique Alceste, LWV 50
2eme Air des Espagnols, from the comédie-ballet Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, LWV 43
La Fete Infernale 1er Air, from the tragédie en musique Alceste, LWV 50
Johann S. Bach, Fantasy (arr. G. Idenstam) and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542
Anton Bruckner, Adagio from Symphony No. 8 in C minor (arr. G. Idenstam)
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Gunnar Idenstam, Metal Angel, suite

An astonishing virtuoso and improviser, composer and folk musician, winner of the 'Grand Prix de Chartres', the most prestigious international competition in organ improvisation (1984), Gunnar Idenstam aims to expand his audiences’ appreciation of the organ and to transcend the limitations of genre.
Creating a singular, parallel music world, Idenstam juxtaposes sacredness and profanity, academicism and simplicity, building bridges between the French cathedral music traditions, symphonic rock, and Swedish folk music. His fascinating arrangements of great orchestral masterpieces for the organ succeed in recreating the atmospheres and tonal colours of orchestral dimensions. The multifaceted Swedish organist keeps building an iconoclastic repertoire in the conviction that “everything is organ music”.

The rumbling deep bass, the insistent, merciless knock-out rhythms, the fragmentized melodic material and a magisterial accumulation of power is overwhelming. Göran Forsling

The strong, the black, the dangerous. The Archangel’s black equivalent. Pulling my soul. Pulling our souls. He cheats. He is smart. He wants to conquer the Earth. He wants the destruction of Earth. Apocalypse. He punches like a giant hammer. Triumphant.
Gunnar Idenstam on his collection Metal Angel

His improvisations occupy a universe of their own – part hard apocalyptic rock, part elfin folklore, part nave-shaking French symphony” (Gramophone), but “in such a convincing way, that you cannot talk about the crossover music of classical and pop, but more about a kind of music that… unfolds in its own beauty. Nord West Zeitung