Maciej Śledziecki and Marion Wörle show just how exciting the world of the pipe organ is today as the ensemble gamut inc. The retro-futuristic duo uses self-programmed software to dock onto the MIDI consoles of church organs, control their stops in a manually impossible way and perform sound synthesis with surprising results. Their annual AGGREGATE festival in Berlin is a meeting place for the international “New Organ Movement” scene: electronic musicians, composers and organists from different backgrounds present various positions on the so-called hyper organ.

With “AGGREGATE – New Works for Automated Pipe Organs”, WERGO presents a selection from the 2021 and 2022 festival editions. The new works, fragments, improvisations, adaptations of existing pieces (such as the adaptations of Conlon Nancarrow’s “Studies for Player Piano” for organ), interactions between organ and electronics as well as algorithmic playing instructions for performers thus show an intermediate state and at the same time provide a breathtaking outlook on new possibilities for the organ. The leading roles are played by the organs of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, the Auenkirche and the Chapel of Reconciliation.