 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
http://alambix.uquebec.ca/musique/orgues/allemagne/leipzigtk.html#English
http://www.gedi.cn/en/leipzig/thomaskirche.html
http://www.halle.de/index.asp?MenuID=912
Today we got up early, had a great
breakfast at the Hotel in Frauenstein
and then drove back to Dresden. Boy,
it sure is green and hilly around here,
very nice scenery. I managed to fill the
rental car with the right kind of gas,
and dropped it off to the train station
where we rented it. Then we took a
short high-speed train to Leipsig
(seems to be a university town). We
found a reasonable hotel not far from
the train station and then Adam and I
split up for the day. I don’t know what
he did, but I had an awesome day!!!
First, I went to St. Thomaskirche (St.
Thomas Church) where Bach was the
organist for most of his life. Across the
street is the house he lived in, with his
23 children. I managed to get tickets
to go back there tonight for an organ
recital at the Bach gift shop. We will
hear organ music tonight, played on
the same organ Bach played in the
same church where Bach played. I
went to the Bach Museum and the
Musical Instrument Museums, both
were located in the church. Second, I
walked about a mile away, to the
Mendelssohn Museum and after that
walked even further to the Robert and
Clara Schumann House. All were open
with exhibits and original music
manuscripts. It is interesting that both
the Mendelssohn and the Schumann
Houses are now music studios. The
Mendelssohn House is regular music
studio and the Schumann House is a
kindermusik studio for young children.
I found this Internet cafe right by the
hotel... speaking of which I need to
meet Adam there right now...
Today I got up early and went back to St.
Thomaskirche for a 9:30 am service. I
believe it is a German Reform Church.
Both Leipsig and Halle seem to be the
center of Protestantism here in Germany, in
fact I think that the Dom in Dresden is the
very church Martin Luther nailed his
treatise to the door of. I will have to check
on that. Religious study seems to prevail
around these parts.
Anyhow, the service at church (Lutheran)
was quite liturgical; there was a cantor and
lots of music by Handel and Bach. They
played the large Baroque organ at the
service. There was a soprano soloist
performing Handel and Bach with the
organ, also a trumpeter with the organ.
Lots of music and the service was over an
hour and a half long... before communion.
The "postlude,” a Bach Prelude and Fugue,
was played during the close of the service
and then there was a pause for people to
leave before communion began. I took the
opportunity to leave, since I needed to
meet Adam back at the hotel.
Well, I ended up going to two concerts tonight, one at 5pm, at St
Nicolai Church and the other one at 7:30 pm, at the St Thomas
Church. Both were churches Bach worked at. At the first concert
I heard mostly Bach music and a fabulous piece by Mendelssohn
played on an organ built in the 1800s. The Bach was amazing...
the Mendelssohn was EXTRAORDINARY!!!! Mendelssohn
actually was instrumental (no pun intended) in getting Bach’s
music revived years after his death. Mendelssohn also did organ
pieces based on Bach’s hymn tunes. It was interesting one of the
pieces played was written by Bach using the tune “O God Our
Help In Ages Past”. Then, later on in the concert, they played a
Mendelssohn piece based on the same hymn tune...really neat!
At the second concert (Adam went with me) I heard a few pieces
by other composers and then heard the rest by Bach. It was
played on the Bach organ, a reconstruction of the original one he
played... great clarity in tone... and the organist was incredible.
He played one partita based on the chorale “Ah Holy Jesus” and
then proceeded to play at least seven variations of the same
hymn tune... Bach must have had fun writing that! It was so
incredible to hear.
Tomorrow I will go back to the St Thomas church for services at
9:30am and we will spend the afternoon in Halle. Tomorrow night
I will try to find the church where the Silbermann concert is
Leipsig... then an overnight train to Innsbruck.
We checked out of the hotel and headed to the station, where we caught a
train to Halle. There was some sort of kid’s festival going on outside of the
station, which meant tons of people. But finally we made it to the city center,
where we saw the Handel statue and the church where Bach and Handel both
played. The Handel Museum was incredible (best part of the trip so far) and
we took lots of pictures there. It was quite an interesting display. It seems that
Halle considers Handel to be the hometown boy of renown, while Leipsig
claims Bach. The Handel Museum allowed photos while the Bach museum did
not. Both were born the same year, both in Halle, but while Bach never
strayed far from Leipsig, Handel spent much of his life in Italy and England.
Handel was wealthy and famous during his lifetime Bach was not. Both were
truly gifted.
After the museum, we headed back to Leipsig. We have a 10pm train, it’s a
sleeper and we will wake up in Innsbruck, Austria.
of the antique instrument collection
at the
Handel House
