Saint-Saëns’ Orgelsymfonie onder leiding van Aurel Dawidiuk

Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony

With his overwhelming Third Symphony , nicknamed the 'Organ Symphony' due to the imposing organ part, Frenchman Camille Saint-Saëns composed one of the most important French symphonies, a genre that was long regarded as 'un-French'. 'German music is like cathedrals, ours like gardens,' the French writer Victor Hugo is said to have remarked. While German-speaking composers specialized in serious music seeking to express the sublime and the universal, the French hold 'clarté' (light clarity) and refinement in high regard. Germans want to understand, French to seduce, so the cliché goes. In his Organ Symphony , Saint-Saëns does both; this music is cathedral and garden at the same time.

Aurel Dawidiuk

Aurel Dawidiuk is making a name for himself as a pianist, organist, and conductor. He was the first associate conductor in the history of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; according to Klaus Mäkelä, Dawidiuk makes the orchestra sing and gives it a completely unique character. From the 2026-2027 season onwards, the 25-year-old German is chief conductor of the Bochumer Symphoniker. Dawidiuk's understanding of the organ and his nose for broad lines and structures make him the ideal conductor for Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony .