For Francis Poulenc, the organ was an instrument that made it possible to create completely new worlds of sound. His Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani brought audiences to their feet right from its premiere in 1939: a powerful and bombastic work that nonetheless breathes with delicacy. It’s brought to us by British organ virtuoso Wayne Marshall who then takes on thematic material from Franz Schmidt’s opera «Fredegundis» in an adaptation for solo organ. Franz Schubert’s Fifth Symphony is on the programme for the second half of the evening. He composed it at the age of just 19 – a virtuosic evocation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and at the same time an attempt by Schubert to find his own musical language.