55th Merseburg Organ Festival

Sunday, 14 September 2025

10:00 a.m. | Cathedral Festive service with the cathedral chapter on the 13th Sunday after Trinitatis Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantata "You who call yourselves of Christ" BWV 164

• Soloists: Katherina Müller (soprano), Henriette Gödde (alto), Florian Sievers (tenor), Klaus Mertens (bass)
• Ensemble: Merseburg court music
• Conductor and organ: Cathedral organist Michael Schönheit

External event

14:00 hrs | Baroque church Burgliebenau I Six sonatas for violin and harpsichord
Sonatas BWV 1014 (B minor), BWV 1016 (E major), BWV 1017 (C minor), BWV 1019 (G major)

Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of Baroque music with the "Six Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, BWV 1014-1019". These unique musical creations, which were composed between 1717 and 1723 during Bach's time in Köthen, mark a milestone in music history. Here, the harpsichord no longer appears as an accompanying instrument, but becomes an equal partner to the violin. Sebastian Breuninger, first concertmaster of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and Michael Schönheit, Gewandhaus organist in Leipzig and artistic director of the Merseburg Organ Festival, bring these timeless works to life in the baroque church in Burgliebenau.

• Violin: Sebastian Breuninger
• Harpsichord: Michael Beauty

19:00 hrs | Cathedral FOCUS PASSION I "Bach's Christ in the St Matthew Passion, the court notary Johann Christoph Samuel Lipsius, came from Merseburg" Johann Sebastian Bach "St Matthew Passion" BWV 240 (Leipzig version 1840 by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy)

The longest and most dramatic of the 3 Passions is performed in the early Romantic version, which F. Mendelssohn Bartholdy created for a Leipzig performance in 1841. It will be performed during the Merseburg Organ Festival by the Merseburg Cathedral Choir with the Halle State Orchestra under the direction of Cathedral Cantor Stefan Mücksch.

Bach's direct connection to Merseburg is documented by the participation of the Merseburg court notary Johann Christoph Samuel Lipsius as the bass in the role of Jesus in the first performance in 1727.

• Soloists: Katherina Müller (soprano), Henriette Gödde (alto), Florian Sievers (tenor), Klaus Mertens (bass)
• Ensembles: Merseburg Cathedral Choir, Chamber Choir of the Saalfeld Castle Chapel, Halle State Orchestra
• Director: Cathedral cantor Stefan Mücksch

Further information at www.merseburger-orgeltage.de