From darkness to light – a sound journey on the Eule organ in Trier’s Constantine Basilica
With her new album, Angela Metzger presents a program that focuses on the metaphor of light and darkness. Works by Louis Vierne, Philipp Maintz, Herbert Howells and Max Reger unfold a panorama of sound colors and forms of expression – from dazzling virtuosity to colorful chorale arrangements to monumental power.
The recording was made on the three-part Eule organ with freely suspended towers in the Constantine Basilica in Trier, an instrument that adapts its design to the monumental space and at the same time unfolds orchestral colorfulness. Vierne celebrates the light in his “Hymne au soleil” and in the “Feux follets”, Maintz opens up new perspectives with two chorale preludes – both here as premiere recordings -, Howells combines consolation with tonal depth in his “Psalm Preludes”, and Reger leads from darkness to light with a powerful chorale arrangement.
Angela Metzger is one of the most distinguished organists of her generation. She has performed as a soloist with renowned orchestras and festivals, won awards at international competitions, was a prizewinner at the ARD Music Competition and received the Bavarian Arts Promotion Prize and the Bayernwerk AG Culture Prize. She has been teaching organ at the Bayreuth University of Protestant Church Music since 2023.
This album combines space, instrument and repertoire to create a listening experience that brings the old metaphor “through night to light” to life in a new way.
