Organ recital: Thibault Fajoles

Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 8:30 PM

Estimated Run Time: 1 hour

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). These words of the prophet Isaiah sum up the spirit of this concert dedicated to Advent, the period of preparation for the feast of the Nativity of Jesus. This luminous spiritual journey towards Christmas opens with the first movement of Marcel Dupré's Passion Symphony, whose tumultuous writing illustrates the anticipation of Christ's coming, quoting the hymn “Jesu Redemptor.”
In his Choral No. 1, César Franck transforms a form inherited from Bach into a dramatic symphonic fresco, leading to an almost Wagnerian liberating and triumphant climax. The Pastorale, meanwhile, evokes Christmas, the culmination of Advent, in a bucolic and rural atmosphere.
Evoking the expectation of divine judgment, Max Reger's Fantasia on the chorale “Wachet auf” concludes with the deliverance of the soul by Christ, marking the end of this period, which leads us back to Christmas.

Photo by ©Jason Kuppra

Program

Marcel Dupré (1886-1971)
Le monde dans l'attente du Sauveur, excerpt from Symphonie-Passion op. 23

César Franck (1822-1890)
Choral n° 1 en mi majeur FWV 38, excerpt from Trois chorals FWV 38-40
Pastorale en mi majeur op. 19 FWV 31, excerpt from Six pièces pour grand orgue FWV 28-33

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV 659, excerpt from Leipzig Chorals
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV 645, excerpt from Chorals Schübler

Max Reger (1873-1916)
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, excerpt from Drei Choralfantasien op.52

Cast

Thibault Fajoles, grand organ

Download the program