Organ Matinee with Ulf Norberg

The popular organ matinée series, featuring Sweden’s foremost organists, has grown steadily in recent years. The organ in Konserthuset Stockholm, with its magnificent façade, is one of the most recognisable in Europe – and with 6,100 pipes, also one of the largest.

The season’s first organ matinée features Konserthuset’s own organist, Ulf Norberg. He is also responsible for programming the entire series and is passionate about presenting the rich organ repertoire to a broad audience. Ulf Norberg also serves as organist at Hedvig Eleonora Church in Östermalm.

In this programme, he highlights British organist and composer Jennifer Bates (1944–2020), known in part for her recordings of the complete organ works of Messiaen, César Franck and Felix Mendelssohn. Her Homage to 1685 pays tribute to two giants of the Baroque era – Handel and Domenico Scarlatti – both born in that very year.

Also included is Ravel’s tribute to another Baroque master: François Couperin. Originally written for piano, the work is structured as a suite, with each movement dedicated to the memory of a friend who fell during the First World War.