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Petr Eben

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Concerto for Organ and Orchestra “Symphonia Gregoriana” (1954) Concerto for Organ and Orchestra
Bamberger Symphoniker · Bayerische Staatsphilharmonie Gunther Rost, organ · Gabriel Feltz, conductor

Petr Eben (1929–2007) is considered to be one of the Czech Republic’s leading contemporary composers. He studied piano and composition at the Music Academy in Prague. Due to his Jewish background, he was imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp for a short period in 1945. From 1955 to 1990, he taught at the Charles University in Prague; from 1990 on, he was also a professor of composition at the Academy of Arts in Prague and President of the “Prague Spring” music festival.
Many of his works rely on Gregorian chant and folk melodies. Petr Eben wrote nearly 200 compositions in various genres, including masses and other liturgical music, oratorios, cantatas, choruses, songs, stage and orchestral works, chamber music and music for solo instruments. His primary love, however, was always reserved for the organ.
He wrote his Organ Concerto No. 1 in 1954, when he was 24 years old. Subtitled “Symphonia Gregoriana”, this work is a symphony with a concertante organ part based on Gregorian chant.
Gunther Rost, born in 1974 in Würzburg, studied with Günther Kaunzinger and Marie-Claire Alain. He has won over a dozen international prizes, including at the Leipzig Bach Competition, the Freiberg Silbermann Competition and the Dallas International Organ Competition. He is a professor for organ at the Graz University of Music and Performing Arts. Gunther Rost has occupied himself with Petr Eben’s organ repertoire for much of his life and also released a CD of Eben’s solo works for organ.