Leipzig, Germany: absorbing the "Bachmosphere"

We Arrived in Leipzig just as its Bach Festval 2015 was about to begin.  How lucky are we? For three days we're able to immerse ourselves in the sights and sounds of this city of many of the great composers whose works have made our lives richer.  Much of the attention here has gone to Bach as the city prepares for the annual festival that fills all hotel rooms  in the area. Hearing some of the performers rehearse on the large central square and in St. Thomas Church (Thomaskirche) where Bach presided as cantor and composer (and where he is buried) was priceless and inspiring.

Thomaskirche (St. Thomas Church)

Thomaskirche interior with Bach's grave (top of three steps) leading to the altar. 

One of Bach's organs in Thomaskirche

Some chorale folks just happened to walk into Thomaskirche as this organ was being played, unaccompanied, for a rehearsal. It stopped us in our tracks, to be in Bach's church, just steps from his grave and to be hearing his works performed on one of his organs.  Who needs to be anywhere else??

Bach Festival, 2015

The opening concert of the festival was held in St. Nicholas Church which was not only significant in Bach's life but also in the peaceful movement that led to the collapse of East Germany.  Prayers for Peace are still held each Monday as they've been since 1982, in this Gothic and neoclassical gem. The concert was sold out but one of our singers from Voices West (Wilt Cooper) pressed on and was able to buy one, rare ticket and see the concert in person! An enviable achievement!   Many of us felt lucky enough just to watch it on a big screen in the filled central square on a lovely, mild evening under the historic clock tower.

Historic City Hall and Clocktower

Bach in the beer garden

The festivals's opening concert shown on a big screen in Leipzig's Market  Square, under the City Hall clocktower.

Just like being at the Holiday Twin in Fort Collins!  Well... maybe not.  The square was filled with people, wine, beer and food, yet fullest attention was on the performance.

Live, on the big screen

The Boychoir of Thomaskirche.  Some in our group heard them rehearsing live in the church, a thrilling and rare experience.

Despite his looming influence, Bach is only one of the great composers who, at some point in their music careers, called Leipzig home.  It's been home to Mendelssohn, Wagner, Brahms, Robert and Clara Weik Schumann, Teleman, Greig, Mahler among others. It was also Goethe's home.  The legacy of these and many others are maintained through museums, monuments, a"Music Trail" which highlights places of significance in the music culture of Leipzig, yearly "fests," the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theater and ongoing public concerts throughout the year.

 

Our guide escorted us through Thomaskirche, the cafes, courtyards, and cobbled alleyways through which many of music's historic "greats" traveled, ate, performed, taught and learned.  Jumping ahead several centuries, she told us about the Leipzig anti-communism demonstrations and prayer gatherings  that ultimately helped bring about the fall of communism in East Germany.  Some in our group spent time at the Bach Museum, across from Thomaskirche which several felt was one of the best museums they've ever been in.  It was the home of the Bose family who were very close to the Bach family and were godparents to some of Bach's children.  Looking at the brightly painted buildings, it's hard to believe that just in 1990 It was a city that hadn't been fully repaired after WWII and was mostly grey due to stipulations by the government in power that it remain that way. Color, culture and life now abound. 

Norma Lucas is sidetracked by an artful window of a chocolate cafe next to the Bach Museum

Courtyard leading to the Bach Museum, across from Thomaskirche. 

Intrigue (above)!  What is the story behind this piece that was being moved over

to one of the Festival venues from the Bach Archive?

Soprano Marian Railsback listens intently to our Leipzig guide inside St. Nicholas Church. Marian, who graced each concert with her soaring soprano solo, found a church of likely importance in her  family tree while visiting Gorlitz.  She stood at the Lutheran Church that was etched on a paperweight her great grandmother brought to the US when she immigrated from Germany.  

left,  Clark Mozer, perhaps taking notes, perhaps sketching, after sharing lunch with friends in the Thomaskirche Square.



(below) Local musicians added to the pleasure of dining al fresco.

A sculpture depicting freedoms squelched under years of East German government.

The Leipzig Opera House on Augustusplatz, a Square that contains large monuments, historic buildings (including the University), the New Gewandhaus (home of the orchestra) and, on certain days, is the location of a large Market selling flowers, cheeses, crafts, sausages (best of the wurst!), bakery items and more. This square also is where many trolley lines merge, so it's quite busy.

Augustusplatz with the University and new chapel on the left

The university of Leipzig Recently opened its new buildings. Its new chapel was re-built on the site of the Church of St. Paul, a monestary built in the 1500s.  That ancient, historic church was used by the University until 1968 when it was blown up at the command of the GDR (German Democratic Republic) which controlled East Germany. 

The University of Leipzig and its new chapel: Looking to the future

flower markets at every turn...

Tenor John Spencer, on the way to Augustusplatz, getting nourished for a long day of exploration, photography, history and then singing...He loved that ice cream!

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