Arabic version: كالفن بومان يستعد لماراثونه الثالث لعزف باخ على الأرغن لمدة 16 ساعة
According to The Guardian, Australian composer and organist Calvin Bowman will perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s complete catalogue of organ music over 16 consecutive hours at Queensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane. The free concert, part of Brisbane festival, is set to begin at 6am on Sunday.
The performance will be Bowman’s third full Bach organ marathon, following appearances at Melbourne festival in 2009 and Mona Foma in Launceston in 2022. He will play QPAC’s organ, an instrument made in the 1980s that he says offers sounds ranging from “beautiful little flutes” to the “full-throated roar” of organo pleno.
Bowman said the undertaking requires intense physical coordination as both hands and both feet perform separate musical parts. He described the concentration required as being “at the limit of our brain’s capacity,” and called the challenge “insane.” After his 2009 performance, he said he needed a week to recover and could barely move because his muscles had seized up. For the Brisbane event, a masseur will assist his upper and lower back during brief breaks from the afternoon onward.
He will open with the six trio sonatas, which he considers the most difficult works, and finish with the Orgelbüchlein, or Little Organ Book, a set of short chorale preludes based on hymns. Bach’s organ catalogue contains about 150 pieces, from works lasting less than a minute to pieces of about 15 minutes. Visitors will be able to attend for as much or as little of the 16-hour program as they choose.
