56th Merseburg Organ Festival
„Musicland Hungary – from Saint Elizabeth to The Seven Seals“
In September, the focus in Merseburg turns to Hungary: The 56. Merseburg Organ Days laden from 12th to 20th September 2026 under the motto „Music Land Hungary – From Saint Elizabeth to the Seven Seals“ to a festival week that is as cleverly curated as it is sonically opulent. The Merseburg Cathedral will be the centre of a musical journey that leads deep into Hungary's spiritual, national, and artistic tradition – and at the same time shows how alive and relevant this is to this day.
Right from the start, it's clear that this festival is more than just a series of high-calibre concerts. A family concert with the Angelika Girls' Choir
Budapest, at the organ of Istvan Ella accompanied and by Malta
Arkona curated, the Organ Days deliberately open to a broad audience. In the
evening, the opening concert follows with works by Pál Esterházy, Franz Liszt,
Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály and contemporary Hungarian choral music.
The next highlight the audience can expect is on Sunday, 13 September 2026, with Franz Liszt's monumental „Legends of Saint Elizabeth“.Under the direction of the Intendant of the Merseburg Organ Days, Beauty, Renowned soloists, the Children's and Youth Choir of the Leipzig Gewandhaus as well as the Merseburg court music
mit.
The following week combines major evening concerts with a deliberately open festival format. Daily Lunchtime Concerts are aimed particularly at young listeners and provide an age-appropriate introduction to the world of the organ's sound. In the evenings, Liszt, Bartók and Kodály are the focus of the concerts in their various facets. With Hungarian artistic personalities such as Zsolt Máté Mészáros, Kamilla Lévai, László Fassang and Enikő Ginzery the festival has a distinctive international profile.
To round things off, the Merseburg Organ Days once again feature grand musical arcs: with Kodály's „Psalmus hungaricus“, Liszt's„Hungarian Coronation Mass“, a „Hungarian Music Night“ and finally Franz Schmidt's monumental 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.
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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.
