Gereon Krahforst

GereonKrahforstCropWebsite:
http://www.gereonkrahforst.org

Gereon Krahforst was born in 1973 in Bonn, Germany. He studied composition, church music, piano, and music theory at the university for music in Cologne, musicology at the University of Cologne and received his diploma and masters degree in organ in Frankfurt. He has studied privately with Markus Karas, John Birley (before the university studies), and then with Clemens Ganz, and Daniel Roth. During and after those studies, he participated in masterclasses with Marie-Claire Alain, Thierry Escaich, Peter Planyavsky, Jon Laukvik (ancient music), Guy Bovet, Wolfgang Seifen, Tomasz A. Nowak, Franz Lehrndorfer and many others. Other significant mentors are Petr Eben and professional friendships with Jean Guillou, Marie-Louise Langlais and Stephen Tharp.

At the age of 26, he was appointed director of music and organist at the Minster basilica in Moenchengladbach, Germany, and at age 27, he worked as director of music at the Cathedral of Minden, Germany. At the age of 29, he was appointed cathedral organist at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Paderborn and lecturer (Gregorian Chant) at the theological seminary of Paderborn. In 2004, he was appointed lecturer and instructor of organ at the University of Music in Hannover. In 2011, he moved to Spain where he was organist at the Incarnation Church of the world-famous town Marbella at the Costa del Sol in Andalucia, playing the nationally significant “Órgano del Sol Mayor”; since August 2012, he has been cathedral organist and associate director of music at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

Videos:
Improvises a free piece in the style of Robert Schumann – Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis
Gereon Krahforst – Improvisation on the Paderborn’s Libori Hymn tune – Klais Organ in the Cathedral of Cologne

Franz Lehrndorfer

Franz Lehrndorfer (10 August 1928 – 10 January 2013) was a German organist and composer. A specialist in organ improvisation, he was for decades both the organist of the Munich cathedral Frauenkirche and the head of the department of Catholic Church Music at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München.
You can hear him on Spotify.

Recordings:

Die Heitere Orgel: Improvisationen Uber Kinderlieder [The Merry Organ: Improvisations On Children’s Songs]


Theme & Variations, Vol. 1: Improvisations on Children’s Songs


Theme & Variations, Vol. 2: Franz Lehrndorfer Improvises on the New Organ in the Dome at Munich

He also includes improvisations on recordings of repertoire:

Celestial Christmas 5: Franz Lehrndorfer Plays Seasonal Music on the New Organ in the Dome at Munich
Includes a free improvisation on In dulci jubilo.


The Concert
Includes a free improvisation on Sagt an, wer ist doch diese.

Traditional songs

Popular songs are frequent themes for concert improvisations, usually giving rise to a set of theme and variations, though occasionally being used in other forms. As the melody is usually very familiar to the audience (i.e. popular), it is generally easier for the people to follow and understand the development of the theme when well presented.

Example songs:

Recordings:

Franz Lehrndorfer
Theme & Variations, Vol. 1: Improvisations on Children’s Songs

Videos:
Olivier Latry – Improvisation on The Simpsons Theme – Toronto
Pierre Pincemaille – Theme and Variations on a popular tune – St Martin de Dudelange – Luxembourg
Olivier Latry, Vincent Dubois, Paolo Oreni and Michael Bottenhorn – Happy Birthday – St. Joseph, Bonn Beuel