GUNNAR IDENSTAM (b. 1961): Metal Angel, Suites Nos. 1-3.

Description: Heavy Metal on the massive organ of Monaco Cathedral played by a bona fide virtuoso organist-composer! Who could ask for anything more? Written between 2013 and 2019, these pieces exploit the full range of the modern organ to provide a musical equivalent of those "Gothic" fantasy illustrations, meticulously detailed with airbrush or computer that one frequently sees adorning the covers of science fiction novels or posters in the dormitories of pallid, heavily pierced and tattooed young people who seldom venture into the sunlight. Idenstam’s distinctive musical language blends the physical energy of symphonic rock and metal and the modal cast of Scandinavian folk-music with an approach to the organ in the French cathedral tradition (especially the toccatas) of such composers as Dupré, Vierne and Widor. The works are varied in expression and in some cases surprisingly melodic; a common factor is the insistently rhythmic bass line, but unlikely as it might seem, they are "real" organ music, virtuosic and excitingly energetic, tonal, and instantly accessible. Gunnar Idenstam (organ of Monaco Cathedral).