Exactly one week before Christmas Eve, Basque virtuoso Loreto Aramendi will take us into the world of French organ music. This incredible artist serves as the principal organist at the Basilica of Santa María del Coro in San Sebastián, where she plays and takes care of an instrument dating back to 1863. Its builder was Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, considered the most outstanding organ builder at the time (it’s worth noting that in 2016, San Sebastián shared the title of European Capital of Culture with Wrocław).

French works will prevail in the programme, but the concert will open with Dietrich Buxtehude’s spectacular Toccata in F major. The echoes of November spooks and spectres will be heard in Camille Saint-Saëns’s organ setting of Danse macabre. Louis Vierne’s Westminster Carillon is a sonic reminder of London, a city that always makes every effort to enhance the Christmas atmosphere. Crossing the English Channel, we will plunge into the caroling tradition of France. Eighteenth-century artist Michel Corette is remembered as the composer of arrangements of Christmas tunes. Félix-Alexandre Guilmant was the author of variations on a Polish carol in the musical language of the Romantic era. César Franck, a more prominent presence in the canon, wrote an arrangement of a Breton carol.

Olivier Messiaen, a master of 20th-century composition, was renowned for his Catholic inspirations in his works. The programme features an excerpt from his cycle of nine meditations, The Nativity of the Lord. The concert, rich in musical symbols of hope, will conclude with a piece intended to close the Mass, based on the theme of Adeste Fideles, written by Pierre Cochereau, representing a generation closer to us. And all this at a time when we begin to wish each other a Merry Christmas!