Fantastic organ recital by Oskar Gottlieb Blarr, whom I know from way back when one of the things I did for a living, at a certain point in my life, was being a hired gun support vocalist for choirs and ensembles, particularly for Neue Musik. Good times!
The front and tail sections, Bach: three choral preludes from the Little Organ Book sandwiched between the enormous prelude and fugue C minor BWV 546 as a kick-off and the closing chorale from the cantata BWV 147 as an encore.
In between, terrific stuff: « Verset pour la fête de la Dédicace » by Olivier Messiaen; the first three parts from Norbert Laufer’s »Glockenspiele für Melanchthon« (for which, curiously, Blarr applied everything but glockenspiel-evoking stops); and the finale from Alexandre Guilmant’s Organ Sonata No.1 in D minor.
Between Laufer and Guilmant, moreover, Blarr played two of his own compositions: his at times whimsical, at times serious “Something Like a Blues” from 2008 and, as a premiere, the brand new “Mein Jesus” as the first part of an organ symphony in the making themed on depictions of Jesus, this part inspired by Alexej von Jawlensky’s painting “Savior Face: Guardian” from 1920.
Sommerliche Orgelkonzerte: Oskar Gottlieb Blarr
Neanderkirche, Düsseldorf, Germany
August 8, 2026