The 27th edition of the International Organ Festival Organum Histriae has come to an end. The festival was realised through seven thematic concerts held at six locations across Istria County, maintaining strong international characteristics in 2026, with a particular emphasis on female musicians from Croatia.
Programmes were performed on historic organs throughout Istria and on one modern mechanical organ, with the portative organ being presented for the first time. From May to the end of September, Istria thus became the epicentre of organ music, with seven thematically distinct concerts attracting a diverse audience.
The festival edition began in the Pula Cathedral, whose cathedral organs began restoration in early June. The opening concert had a charitable character, dedicated to collecting donations for the organ. The restoration project was initiated by the Organum Histriae Association in cooperation with the Cathedral Parish Office and the Diocese of Poreč and Pula, with restoration work lasting just over a month.
On the occasion of the Feast of Pentecost, a concert titled Veni Creator Spiritus was held, featuring Dora Draclin on oboe and Katarina Lamotte on organ. The concert programme was marked by the motif of the bird, combining the 800th anniversary of the creation of St Francis of Assisi's 'Canticle of the Creatures' and the 40th anniversary of the death of Maurice Duruflé. The concert also marked the tenth anniversary of the death of Anđelo Klobučar.
The second concert was held in the Parish Church of Our Lady of the Sea, whose inauguration in 1898 was attended by Emperor Franz Joseph. The programme 'Sancta et Sanctissima' offered a selection of music dedicated to women, and one of the earlier variants of the portative was presented. One musician simultaneously sang and played the portative, while Petercol dedicated a large part of the concert to narrating the history of the instrument and repertoire. The spoken part was accompanied by projections on a canvas, allowing the audience to see medieval depictions of the portative on frescoes and the beginnings of notation. After the concert, visitors could observe the instrument up close, and numerous secondary school students attended.
The last concert of the May part of the festival, titled 'Silent mountains', was held in Motovun in the Parish Church of St Stephen. The duo Alphorn & organ presents the alpine horn and hirtenhorn alongside the organ, with the hirtenhorn being an original instrument that inspired Leopold Mozart. Carlo Torlontano and Francesco Di Lernia promote this ensemble worldwide, and the programme featured the Callido organ from 1797. The central part of the programme consisted of Leopold Mozart's 'Sinfonia Pastorella' and Anton Zimmermann's 'Sinfonia Pastoritia', while the organist treated the audience to sounds of German and Italian baroque through works by Johann Kaspar Kerll.
