A customised prelude
The first church concert “With drums and trumpets” ended with a standing ovation
The opening fanfare for Klosters Music’s new church concert series was played by Basel trumpet player Immanuel Richter from the pulpit before Foundation Board President Heinz Brand welcomed the audience to the packed St. Jacob’s Church. The magnificent Christmas tree and the nativity scene added a post-Christmas atmosphere on 4 January, while “Klosters Music” lanterns in front of the church showed the way to the entrance. With this new series, the festival also wishes to offer attractive concerts during the year and bring the Goll organ to life on its own, but also in harmony with other instruments or with a choir. With the Concerto in D major for three trumpets (Immanuel Richter, Huw Morgan, Jon Fluri Buchli), timpani (Alex Wäber) and organ (Tobias Lindner) by Georg Philipp Telemann the artists had chosen a particularly festive start to the concert. Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto in C major for two trumpets, timpani and organ was also played brilliantly. The “Marcia für die Arche” for three trumpets and timpani by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was played by the musicians on natural trumpets in the chancel – a special listening experience at close quarters.
For Giovanni Gabrieli’s Sonata for three trumpets and organ, the trumpet players again changed their position and spread out in the gallery in order to create the spatial sound typical of Renaissance music. The solo works for organ – the Fugue in G major BW 577 played with light-footedness by Tobias Richter and the Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV 543, which is full of suspense – were also enthusiastically received by the audience. After the festive opening chorus “Jauchzet, frohlocket” from the “Christmas Oratorio” and other movements from well-known Bach cantatas, the musicians moved to the front again at the end for Händel’s “Music for the Royal Fireworks”. The coordination between trumpets, timpani and organ across the entire nave was excellent. The low reverberation in St Jakob’s Church creates perfect conditions for such unusual music-making. At the end, there were standing ovations and many happy faces. Most of the visitors took the opportunity to wish each other a Happy New Year over an aperitif in the parish hall and to let this extraordinary musical prelude linger in their minds.
January 2025