56th Merseburg Organ Festival
„Musicland Hungary – from Saint Elizabeth to the Book of Revelation“
The 56th Merseburg Organ Days invite you from 12th to 20th September 2026 to a festival week that is as subtly curated as it is sonically opulent. The Merseburg Cathedral becomes the centre of a musical journey that leads deep into the sacred, national, and artistic traditions of Hungary – and at the same time demonstrates how alive and present they are to this day.
Even at the start it becomes clear that this festival is more than just a series of top-class concerts. A family concert with the Angelika Girls' Choir Budapest, at the organ of Zsolt Máté Mészáros accompanied and by Malte Arkona curated, the Organ Days consciously open up to a broad audience. The evening features the opening concert with works by Pál Esterházy, Franz Liszt, Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály and contemporary Hungarian choral music. The next highlight awaits the audience on Sunday, 13th September, with Franz Liszt's monumental „Legends of Saint Elizabeth“. Under the direction of theIntendant of the Merseburg Organ Days, Michael Beauty, Renowned soloists, the Children's and Youth Choir of the Gewandhaus Leipzig as well as the Merseburg court music mit.
The following week combines grand evening concerts with a deliberately open festival format. Daily Lunchtime Concerts are particularly aimed at young listeners and introduce them to the world of organ sounds in an age-appropriate manner. In the evenings, Liszt, Bartók, and Kodály, in their various facets, are at the centre of the concerts. With Hungarian artistic personalities such as Zsolt Máté Mészáros, Kamilla Lévai, László Fassang, Istvan Ella and Enikő Ginzery the festival has a distinctly international profile.
Towards the end, the Merseburg Organ Days span great musical arcs once more: with Kodály's „Psalmus hungaricus“, Liszt's„Hungarian Coronation Mass“, a „Hungarian Music Night“ and finally Franz Schmidt's colossal oratorio „The Book of Seven Seals“.
Merseburg can look forward to a festival that impressively combines musical excellence, clever dramaturgy, and international appeal.
Further information about the Merseburg Organ Days can be found here
Events
Opening concert for families – Angelica Children's Choir with Zsuzsanna Graf, Zsolt Máté Mészáros & Malte Arkona
Solemn Service of the Cathedral Chapter of the United Cathedral Foundations of Merseburg and Naumburg and the Collegiate Chapter of Zeitz
Concert by the Cathedral Chapter „The Legend of Saint Elizabeth“
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Ladegast organ
Merseburg is known far beyond the borders of the state.
Cathedral because of the organ created by Friedrich Ladegast between 1853 and 1855. Its baroque façade conceals 5687 pipes. This makes the Ladegast organ in Merseburg one of the largest and most beautiful-sounding romantic organs in the whole of Germany.
Further information about the organ can be found here.
Music in the Cathedral
The "Queen of Instruments" - the magnificent Ladegast organ in Merseburg Cathedral - can be heard in numerous concerts.
As part of the Orgelklang 12 (Organ Sound 12) organ concerts are held regularly on selected Saturdays at 12 noon, which visitors to Merseburg Cathedral can experience during their visit. With a valid cathedral admission ticket, you can listen to 40 minutes of organ music and spiritual words.
Unique concert experiences are guaranteed by the Merseburger DomMusikwhose programme ranges from organ concerts on the Ladegast organs to symphonies and chamber concerts in the cloister.
