Organ concert in Hallgrimskirkja in Reykjavik, Iceland on the 21st of July, 2018

I had a 30-hour-stopover in Reykjavik (Iceland) and this gave me an opportunity to walk down the memory lane and reminisce my ancient holiday in Reykjavik. I decided also this time go and see one of the landmarks of Reykjavik, Hallgrímskirkja (a church). To my great joy I noticed when arriving, that in about half an hour there would be an organ concert in the church as a part of the international organ summer of Hallgrímskirkja. I had also on my previous visit been in an organ concert in this church, so I decided to buy a ticket this time, too, and even though there was no singing involved, I decided to write a short story about the concert.

The organ of Hallgrímskirkja is very famous and of high quality. It has 72 voices and 5275 pipes. The computer equipment of the organ was renewed in 2012 to meet modern requirements. Every summer Icelandic and famous international organists perform on this organ festival.

In this concert the organist was French composer Thierry Escaich, who has been the organist of Saint-Ėtienne-du-Mont since 1997. He also teaches improvisation in the Paris Convervatory.  

The concert began with “Pièce Heroȉque” from Cėsar Franck’s “Trois Pièces”. It was a rather dramatic piece, but at least I found it rather interesting in its colourfulness. The next piece was also from Franck (Choral II). It started as a sorrowful melody but ended with delightful tunes of hope. Extremely beautiful!

But the absolute highlight of the concert was the last piece. The organizers had given Escaich the notes of an old hymn just before the concert and he used it as the basis for his improvisation. First he played note by note the tune of the hymn and then he began the improvisation. And what an improvisation! I was absolutely ecstatic about how beautiful music he was able to create from such a simple tune. He twisted and twirled the tune using all the capacity of the organs. The whole performance was absolutely stellar and showed the true skills of improvisation Escaich has. The audience – quite justly – showed their appreciation with huge round of applause.  

So, if you even happen to be in Reykjavik in the summer, be sure to visit Hallgrímskirkja. With some good luck you may end up there just when a concert is about to start and if not, the view from the church tower over Reykjavik is really good.