Sonata Eroica

This recording, made in December 2020, is a unique witness to the organ of the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Inaugurated in 1930, this instrument designed by the maker Joseph Stevens after a drawing by Victor Horta, will have resonated for about thirty years before falling into a deep silence lasting about fifty years. Initiated in 1988, the restoration of the instrument represented a long and complex process. Finally, it was in 2017 that this monumental instrument was inaugurated. Today, the threat of silence hangs over the organ again, a collateral victim of the water spilled on the roof fire of the Palais des Beaux-Arts on January 18, 2021. While the recording of this album was intended to provide a breath of fresh air in a period of musical activity deprived of the invigorating presence of the public, the program for the inauguration of the Stevens organ in 1930 now resonates even more intensely. Under the fingers of Cindy Castillo, Joseph Jongen's Sonata eroïca has a symbolic value, inviting us to hope and to enjoy a timeless hymn of victory.