My guest this evening is organist Eduard Antal, titular organist at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Bucharest. Welcome to the Radio România Muzical studio.

Good evening, thank you for having me and thank you very much for the invitation.

With great pleasure.

I visited your artist website and came across a quote from you. Let me quote: "Once you resonate with this instrument, it's very hard to stop." How did you come to resonate with this instrument called the organ?

I believe anyone begins to resonate with this instrument the moment they hear it for the first time. When I wrote that statement, I was thinking of my first experience discovering the organ-it happened in a small church, where someone was playing. The silence that filled the church was suddenly broken by the sound of the organ, and that vibration I felt in my body was the spark that initially caught my attention. That spark later grew into a deep love for the instrument.

The routine of an organist is quite different from that of any other instrumentalist. I imagine the organist goes to the instrument, rather than bringing it home, as most instrumentalists do. Is it difficult to play the organ?

Some might say it's complicated-I like to say it's beautiful. It's an instrument that never gets boring; you discover something new every day, nuances and elements you never expected. It offers a vast repertoire. You can be both a composer and an instrumentalist, experimenting with different timbres. Technically it's demanding, but it's much more than just an instrument-it's a creative partner.

Is there an adjustment period when you play a new organ, say in a different location? A violinist has his own instrument-his "friend"-but what happens when you enter a new church and face a different organ?

I also like to use that term-"befriending" the instrument. It's absolutely necessary to have a discovery phase. The registers are different, the acoustics of each church are unique. Then there are the technical aspects-key sizes, pedalboard shapes (concave, convex, radial), spacing-all of which mean you have to create a new internal map every time.

I know organists wear special shoes, right?

Yes, these shoes are essential because we play with our feet as well. And since organists are often out of sight, people don't realize what goes on in an organ concert. We need specially designed shoes with a particular heel to help us play intervals on the pedalboard, to move between white and black keys with ease. So yes, we do rely on special footwear.

Besides being an organist, you're also the manager of an organ festival, Cantus Ecclesiae, which kicks off on June 1st and has now reached its fifth edition. How has the event evolved?

Yes, the fifth edition begins on June 1st. The festival has grown in ways I never imagined. If you had asked me five years ago what the festival would look like today, I wouldn't have had an answer-maybe I wouldn't have seen a future at all. But it grew beautifully. We enjoyedthe presence of some very important international artists and we still have discussions and promises, commitments to other important organists. But all the events that we have managed to organize over time, their diversity, the target audience we address, whether we were talking about children, students, the general public, whether there were guided tours of the instruments, conferences, themed concerts, maybe a Cine-concert, educational events for children-have helped us, the organizers to understand, maybe better get to know this instrument, our audience, to understand the context of current society and helped us adapt to everyday reality. We've aimed to stay fresh and relevant, never outdated, always striving to be interesting and engaging for our audience.

In the press release, you say: "In a fragmented society, organ music can build bridges between generations, between sacred and secular spaces, between tradition and innovation." How do you build these bridges? What was the thinking behind this fifth edition?

The organ's vibrations are what unify the audience, helping everyone resonate together. This edition's vision is centered on unity-bringing people together in the same pews, listening to the same music, the same instrument. Of course, each will have a personal reaction, their own interpretation. But we'll involve them actively, even in choosing the repertoire. This year we have the à la carte section, allowing audience members to select works from a list of about 40 titles. Giving them this responsibility, this role in curating the concert, helps bring us all closer.

Compared to last year, what's new in this fifth edition?

First, the à la carte section. Then we're adopting a concept from Hungary-Budapest's orchestra organizes something called "Organ Night" every June. On June 7, we'll host our own Organ Night. Hungarian organists will perform in partner countries and vice versa, with specially composed works for these events. We'll also have a charity concert called Children for Children, where students from the Dinu Lipatti High School in Bucharest will perform piano and organ works to support the Inocenții Foundation, which helps financially disadvantaged children.

Where will the events take place?

We'll use five venues this year. Sundays are for St. Joseph's Cathedral. On Tuesdays, we're at Sacré-Coeur Church. Wednesdays we return to the Cathedral for the à la carte program. Thursdays we'll be at Labirint Adventist Church, which has a newly inaugurated instrument from March, and we're thrilled to include it and hopefully build a long-term collaboration. On Saturday, we'll hold the charity concert at the Lutheran Church. Friday's event will be at the National University of Music in Bucharest-a gala for the winners of the Ada Ulubeanu Organ Competition. And then Sunday we return to the Cathedral to continue the two-week festival.

Tell us about this edition's guests.

We have guests from the USA, France, Poland, Sweden, and, of course, many Romanian artists.

I also noticed choral performances in the lineup.

Yes, this year we're featuring two choirs. On June 3rd, we'll welcome the Radio Boys' Choir. On June 10th, we'll host the Recercare Choir from the National University of Music in Bucharest.

What about their repertoire?

The Radio Boys' Choir will perform a selection of various works, while the Recercare Choir will present Fauré's full Requiem.

As for you, Eduard Antal, what's next after the Cantus Ecclesiae Festival?

Next comes the Organs of Romania tour. My wife and I will travel the country, performing in many venues. This year's theme is l'amour-a kind of new honeymoon for us, but a musical, organist one. We've arranged a series of works for four hands and four feet, covering both classical repertoire and pop music, film scores, and musicals. It will be exciting for us, since these are our own arrangements, and hopefully for our audiences too.

Which edition is this for the Organs of Romania festival?

This will be the 7th edition. It's slightly larger than Cantus Ecclesiae, but I feel they are connected and heading in the same direction.

I wish you success as an artist and as a festival organizer. May the festival bring joy to many music lovers. We'll close by listening to you perform. You told me before the show that this piece inspired you to start the festival that begins on June 1. Tell us more.

We'll hear some variations on Veni Creator Spiritus. This Gregorian chant was adapted for organ by Maurice Duruflé. Hearing this piece for the first time was a turning point for me-it made me realize how Gregorian themes influence organ literature. That's the foundation of our festival: reflecting Gregorian music in organ repertoire. At all our concerts, we include a dialogical structure, with a vocal soloist intoning the Gregorian theme followed by a work composed on that theme.

We should remind listeners that this is a 2023 recording from your album Parafraze. Are you planning another album in the future?

Yes, I'm currently working on another CD, titled Catedral. It will include works that depict the architecture of a cathedral-not just the physical structure, but the musical architecture as well.