Mulet and Widor frame a festive service in the Herz-Jesu Church.

The organ takes centre stage in a festive service at Herz-Jesu Church in Bad Kissingen, Germany, where two celebrated works of the French organ repertoire will frame Joseph Haydn’s Missa in tempore belli (“Paukenmesse”).

Burkhard Ascherl, organist and musical director, opens the programme with Henri Mulet’s dazzling Carillon “Tu es petra”, a virtuosic work inspired by the biblical words “You are Peter.” The service concludes with the triumphant Finale from Charles-Marie Widor’s Symphony No. 6, one of the defining masterpieces of the French symphonic organ tradition.

Between these organ works, the Residenzorchester Meiningen, the Kantorei Herz-Jesu Bad Kissingen, and an ensemble of distinguished soloists perform Haydn’s Paukenmesse. Composed during the turbulent years of the Napoleonic Wars, the mass is renowned for the dramatic timpani passages that gave the work its enduring nickname.

Tickets available here.

Photo: Sara Pavlovic