Limelight has hailed Dr Joseph Nolan as one of the world’s finest organists. In August, he performed at the Hamburger Orgelsommer (Organ City Hamburg Festival), one of the world’s great organ festivals, in Hamburg, Germany. He describes the experience of performing in St Michaelis church, which has six organs.

Joseph Nolan

Joseph Nolan. Photo supplied.

Travelling on an ICE train from Hamburg to Cologne, provides plenty of time for reflection. Having spent a week in Hamburg, culminating in giving a concert for the Hamburger Orgelsommer, one of the world’s great organ festivals, I will do my best to tell the story of this unique experience for Limelight and its readers. I was invited to perform at the most famous church in Hamburg, St Michaelis. A building of immense beauty, it is considered the most important Baroque church in Northern Germany.

Both Mendelssohn and Reger have close connections to St Michaelis, Hamburg. Mendelssohn lived near the church and Reger (2023 is his 150th-anniversary year) often used to play his own compositions on its former Walcher organ.

Today, there are six organs at St Michaelis. The Steinmeyer organ is the central instrument at the back...