Organ recital: Thibault Fajoles

Tuesday, August 18, 2026, 8:30 PM

Estimated Run Time: 1 hour

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris

Between shadow and light, this concert offers a meditation on life, death, and the afterlife, subjects that have preoccupied composers since the earliest centuries. It will be introduced by a transcription of the overture to Wagner's opera The Flying Dutchman, evoking the curse of a ship condemned to wander the seas in search of redemption. This will be followed by Duruflé's Prélude, Adagio et Choral varié sur le thème du Veni Creator, based on a 9th-century hymn that conveys the spirit of anticipation that permeates Christian life. Duruflé's language, combining Gregorian modality and impressionism inherited from Debussy and Ravel, serves here as a profound evocation of hope in the Holy Spirit. Two visions of death will then be contrasted. On the one hand, Alexandre Guilmant's Marche funèbre et Chant séraphique, a solemn vision with military overtones. On the other, Camille Saint-Saëns' fantastical and burlesque perspective in Danse macabre. Finally, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, in Guillou's Hyperion ou la Rhétorique du Feu, fire is a pretext for representing resurrection as a liberating and poetic force.

Photo by ©Jason Kuppra

Program

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Overture from Der fliegende Holländer

Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)
Prélude, Adagio et Choral varié sur le thème du « Veni Creator » op. 4

Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911)
Marche Funèbre et Chant Séraphique op. 17

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Danse macabre op. 40

Jean Guillou (1930-2019)
Les feux du silence et Agnis-ignis (excerpts from Hypérion, ou la Rhétorique de Feu op. 45)

Cast

Thibault Fajoles, grand organ