Bach Modern

Artist

Monica Melcova, organ

Program

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Präeludium in E-flat major, BWV 552 (1739)

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)

Alleluias sereins d’une âme qui désire le ciel, from L’Ascension (1934)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Von Gott will ich nicht lassen, BWV 658 (1740-1748)

Olivier Messiaen

Les eaux de la grâce, from Les Corps glorieux (1939)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Nun danket alle Gott, BWV 657 (1740-1748)

Olivier Messiaen

Puer natus est nobis, from Le Livre du Saint Sacrement (1984)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Trio super Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr, BWV 664 (1740-1748)

Olivier Messiaen

Les bergers, from La Nativité du Signeur (1935-1936)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Fugue in E-flat major, BWV 552 (1739)

Concert with no interval

The Glorious Musicians

Monica Melcova brings together Bach and Messiaen, two of the most important composers in the history of the organ, both of them separated by more than two centuries. The approach of the program is unusual and intelligent: it opens with a prelude by Bach and ends with the fugue conceived for that prelude (both taken from the Clavierübung III, that is, the Lutheran Mass for organ) and in the center she has placed pieces by Messiaen with Bachian choirs as interludes. Everything has been said about the organistic Bach. But abaout Messiaen, less than necessary. As the resident organist of La Trinité de Paris for more than sixty years, his work for the instrument is a fundamental pillar of his catalogue, from the earliest collections (L’Ascension, 1934; La Nativité, 1935, Les corps glorieux, 1939) to the Book of the Holy Sacrament (1984), a monumental synthesis of his art.