20 May 2010

This was an incredible day! Both church history and music history brought to life.

We first traveled to Wittenberg, Martin and Katie Luther’s home for 36 years. We started at the Castle Church, which was originally part Elector Frederick’s new university. The rest of the university is no longer around, but the church stands tall in the town.

Our Wittenberg guide was excellent, a young (compared to us, at least) woman whose English was immaculate, her knowledge and understanding complete, and her sense of humor keen. We first had a thorough introduction to the Castle Church, ending at the door on which Luther nailed his 95 Theses. OK, not the actual doors; they burned in a fire in the 19^th century and have been replace with metal doors engraved with the Theses.

Continuing the tour, we walked through much of the old city, including the central square and rathaus. Luther preferred to preach at St Mary’s church which we visited near the center of the city. In fact, our guide told us he didn’t preach at the Castle Church, only St Mary’s.

After lunch at Brauhaus Wittenberg. (their dark beer was very good, as was the soup and salad) we met the group at Lutherhalle, Martin and Katie’s home in Wittenberg. It now houses the world’s largest Luther collection. Another very interesting and informative stop. Even Dwayne Brandt, our resident Luther expert, said he learned something new. The “Table Talks” table is original and well worn.

We then drove back to Leipzig for the rest of the day. We stopped downtown for a walking tour of the old city, this time with more Bach sites than Luther sites. Our first stop was the ThomasKirke where Johann Sebastian Bach was the Cantor for the last 27 years of his life. Luther had preached there in 1539. But Bach was the main attraction here. And I was thrilled.

I had received permission from the Cantor to play the “Bach organ” at St Thomas. After a little difficulty connecting with the person who was to give me access to the organ, Karen and I climbed the stairs to the side gallery where a new organ was installed in 2000. This is the “Bach organ,” designed as a close copy of the organ of Bach’s time. (The other organ in the church is a late 19^th century Romantic style organ.) I set the music on the rack, pulled the stops for a full plenum registration, and played the Fantasie in D, BWV570. The organ filled the church with a wonderful sound.

We then continued our tour of the church and the town. We visited the central square, St Nicholas Church (Bach’s other church), the old Rathaus, and some of the old merchant’s houses, now serving as shopping and business centers. The tour ended at Auerbach’s Keller, a favorite hang-out of Goethe, where we had dinner.

Our dinner was a bit rushed and before the rest of the group, so Karen and I could get to the Gewandhaus for an all-Bach orchestral program by the Gewanthausorchester led by Ricardo Chailly. They played the Sinfonia to Cantata 174, three keyboard concertos, and the Third Orchestral Suite. It was a wonderful musical ending to a music day.

Our final adventure of the day was finding the right trolley to return to the hotel. We made it OK.