Program
Konan og drekinn
by Hildigunnur Runarsdottier (b. 1964)
- A woman
clothed with the Sun
-
The
Salvation and the Power
-
Michael’s
Angels
Chorale, op. 3,
No. 1 in B-dur and Andante, op. 3, No. 5 in a-moll by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
(1805-1874).Festal March (1993) and Adoration (1951) by Florence B. Price (1887-1953).
Fiesta by Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927).
This church,
designed with a basalt theme, is the tallest building in Reykjavik. The Klais Concert Organ dominates the entry
to the building. Quoting the brochure,
the organ has 4 keyboards and pedals, 72 voices and 5275 pipes. It is 15 meters high, weighs about 25 tons,
and the largest pipes are about 10 meters tall.
The brochure makes the further claim that the organ has an international
reputation as a magnificent concert instrument.
Hallgrimskirkja. The columns are supposed to represent basalt lava flows. One can ride an elevator to the top of the tower and get a 360-degree view of Reykjavik.
The pipe organ dominates the backwall of the nave (i.e. the main entrance).
Closeup view of the keyboard.
During summer
various organ concerts are held at the church, including one every
Thursday. We caught this one after our
city tour. We were surprised that there
were over 100 people in attendance.
Today’s concert
was an all-woman affair. The soloist is
the organist at the Akureyri Church. There
is a short description of each work in the program. Of note is Florence B. Price, who was African
American. She lived during a period when
a black person wasn’t welcome everywhere in the country, and moved around until
she settled in Chicago.
We sat very
close to the organist, and could see how she worked the different parts of the
instrument. At some point someone had to
help with some switches.
They served
coffee afterwards, which makes this very much like a church function. We took the elevator to the top of the tower
and had a great view of the city.
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