Organ duo
Iris and Carsten Lenz

The extraordinary organ concert
with 4 hands and 4 feet

An intensive study of the Hesse-Nassau organ music of the 19th century was followed by the publishing of the book entitled “The change of the organ disposition with Daniel and Gustav Rassmann against the background of the Hesse-Nassau organ literature”. She is presently a choir director and organist in the Rhine-Main area.

He has madeover 20 LP and CD recordings in recent years and has also published musical scores . In addition, he also performed as an organist in numerous radio and TV productions, and has written several compositions of his own for organ (including compositions for four hands); some of his choral arrangements were published in a collection of choral preludes for the new hymnal (Strube Verlag).

In addition to a large number of appearances as a organ soloist, he has also performed major concerts for organ with orchestra (Händel, Haydn, Poulenc, Rheinberger g-minor, Gárdonyi).

Those gathered in the Stephanus Church heard an organ concert of a unique nature. Silently and somewhat spellbound, the music lovers attending the concert sat on the gallery and listened attentively to the profound classical but also lilting sounds of the two professional church musicians. At that moment when Carsten Lenz brilliantly performed his variations on a theme of Beethoven, one person in the audience could no longer withhold a euphoric “terrific”. Nobody had certainly ever heard “Freude schöner Götterfunken” in such an interpretation. With some explanatory comments he achieved a perceivable relaxation among the audience, so that…. the ovations steadily increased in magnitude…. (Mitteldeutsche Zeitung,16.8.2002)

The historic Schnitger-Scholze-organ St. Katharinenkirche Lenzen

… The organists Iris and Carsten Lenz were most successful in creating enthusiasm among their listeners. The various perceptions of life are reflected in the music:
the chirping and twittering of birds, calmness and gentleness, romantic aura, the reproductions of a wedding and even a thunderstorm…. carefully selected music pieces from the past 200 years as well as a brilliant performance by Carsten Lenz of his own variations, combined with the musical accomplishment of both organists, released widespread sentiments among the audience who demonstrated their appreciation by refraining from all restrictions when rendering their applause !… (Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, 10.9.2002 to the dedication concert of the famous Reubke-Röver-Organ at Hausneindorf)

Zürcher Oberländer, (Switzerland), 11.7.2003

English translation:

Music with four hands and four feet
A joyful organ concert with Iris and Carsten Lenz in Gossau

On Wednesday evening in the reformed church in Gossau, a fascinating and a unique organ concert took place with Iris and Carsten Lenz. The two young Germans are a dream couple not only in life but also on the instrument. They perform together, with four hands and four feet, throughout all the centuries of music history.

It was a real pleasure to watch Mr. and Mrs. Lenz playing on the organ with four hands and four feet. On Wednesday evening, they performed before a large audience in the reformed church in Gossau.

Their hands sometimes played on the same manuals, sometimes on different ones; then there was performance in parallel, followed by an intermeshing of all four hands. During a contemporary ragtime “Max Cat Rag” by Robin Dinda they performed a passage written for four feet only, a composition demanding full physical application from both musicians.

Organ performance on the large screen
The couple had a video camera installed which transmitted the musical performance from up above in the gallery to a large screen in front of the pulpit. In that way, the large audience in the church could follow every single detail as the musicians´ fingers performed on the keys.

The 33-year old Carsten Lenz and his 34-year old wife Iris demonstrated their indepth scope of style which covered an extensive range of music of summer-joyful works including the baroque and romantic periods as well as contemporary compositions. Of course, well-known works such as Handel´s “Messias”-theme “Hallelujah” or the choral “Nun danket alle Gott” (Now Thank We All Our God), as well as the unknown original composition for organ for four hands such as Franz Berwald´s “Rural Wedding Feast” were not omitted in the program.

Beethoven variations as a highlight of the concert
Carsten Lenz' performance of one of his own compositions was definitely one of the highlights of this unique evening of music. This composition was variations on the famous theme “Song Of Joy” from Beethoven´s Ninth Symphony. With these arrangements, Lenz placed no restrictions on his virtuosity and fantasy. Some variations were in the Bach and Mozart style while others sounded like a waltz or even imitated a full bagpipe orchestra.

Humorous and competent statements alike
It was also very pleasant to listen to Carsten Lenz as he accompanied the individual pieces of music with competent and humorous statements and comments. No wonder that the audience thanked Mr. and Mrs. Lenz for their highly allround professional performance with a prolonged applause while adamantly insisting on an encore a moody version of “The Granada Connection” by the female English composer Joyce Alldred where Iris Lenz also used two cymbals for the performance. The organist explained later: “this piece of music was actually written for cinema organs and percussion instruments are included in such”.

2006 historic Bosch organ in Santanyi (Mallorca)

2007 Cathedral in Tulle (France)

2007 baroque organ in Ste. Menehould (France)

2009 Reuter organ First Presbyterian Church Philadelphia (USA)

2009 Muller+Abel organ Zion Lutheran
Church New York City
(Brooklyn, USA)