Before becoming Head of Music at Westminster Cathedral in London in 2021, Simon Johnson was organist at St. Paul's Cathedral, where he performed at a variety of royal events, including the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and the celebrations for her 90th birthday. The Eule organ in the Philharmonie Mercatorhalle, with its four manuals and 72 stops, is also very British and majestic. Its four manuals and 72 stops are modeled on the late-Romantic English town hall organs—in the first Toccata of the season, the Duisburg Philharmonic Choir will provide powerful support. Choir director Marcus Strümpe has included Anton Bruckner, among others, on the program, as the late-Romantic composer, as a virtuoso organist and composer of sacred music, was well versed in the combination of choir and organ. In Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's "Hear My Prayer," a soprano joins the organ and choir: the frequent alternations between solo voice and choir are reminiscent of the "anthem" tradition of the Anglican liturgy. William Harris and Herbert Howells, two prominent representatives of Anglican church music, are also on the program, while Louis Vierne, long-time chief organist at Notre-Dame de Paris, represents the rich organ scene in France. An exuberant romantic richness of sound characterizes his organ symphonies, a genre he himself invented.

Herbert Brewer

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Nov 1, 2025

Organ & Choir · Duisburger Philharmoniker

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