Hamburgers and Luberkers

Hamburg and Lübeck

Today was a mixture of some very sobering thoughts as well as some very interesting history. I visited three churches. St. Jakobi, St. Peters and St. Catherines. Bach visited all of these and played the organs in all of them. He was offered the job of organist at the great Schnitger orgel in Jakobi. This was all very interesting to me. I also went to the Nikolikirche. This was originally built in the 1100s. Then burnt (along with most of hamburg) in the 1840s. It was rebuilt and in 1880, it was the tallest building in the world. Then WWII happened. The Germans destroyed Warsaw and Coventry. The allies later bombed the tar out a good chunk of Germany. Dresden, Hamburg, Lubeck, etc. etc. etc. Perhaps the saddest part of this was the willful bombing of residential areas to "demoralize" the Germans. While it was necessary to turn public opinion away from Hitler, displacing 900,000 people in Hamburg, wounding 250k others, and killing who knows how many hardly seems like the right thing todo. In the process they used the tower of Nikolikirche as a landmark to guide their bombing efforts. When the bombardment ceased, a very good chunk of the city was leveled and and all but the grand tower of Nikolikirche was destroyed. It was decided not to rebuild the church. Instead, it has stood for the past 67 years as a solemn reminder of what humans will do to one another. It is now a museum and memorial to the destruction of civilians in war. The innocent bystanders caught in the eye of a Norden Bombsight who payed the ultimate (and often unnecessary) price in WWII.

From there, I trucked down to the old harbor and walked around. I went to the international maritime museum. It was closed. Why? No clue. Ill go back tomorrow morning, I think.. 

Anyways, now Im going to Lubeck. It is an hour train ride from Hamburg. I figured I might as well go see it. I just don't have time to visit the churches in the day, but, I think it will still be interesting to go see Peter's, Mary's, Catherine's churches and the Cathedral. at least two of these (that I know of) had Schnitger organs that Bach, Buxtehude, Bruhns and Bohm would have known. So… here's to train riding!!!

ok, another update. Now Im on a train from Hamburg to Haarlem, via Osnabruck, Hilversum, and amsterdam. Yesterday evening I made a whirlwind tour of Lubeck. Fascinating city. Absolutely loved it. Small town feel, but like, churches galore. It was fun. I tried to find Buxtehude's grave, but to no avail...

Today I woke up late and went to the International Maritime Musuem in Hamburg. Really really interesting. I think I could spent two full days there, but, I only had two hours. Then, back to St. Jakobi for a brief service. And then, my lucky day struck. 

Now, keep in mind that the organ in St. Jakobi has over 90% original pipes from Schnitger or before (including a couple stops that are unaltered and originally built in 1512). It is also the largest Baroque organ in North Germany. It was an instrument played by Bach (a fact the church staff will let you know at every opportunity) and is, hands down, one of the most famous Baroque organs in the world. It has served as the tonal inspiration for many instruments. Southern's big organ is modeled, in part, after this instrument. I honestly thought my chances of playing it were like negative 300%. I've emailed this (his name is Rudolph) guy like… 4 times.

My lucky day, the guy was (with the help of the old lady running the gift stand. Her name was Ingrid) quite willing to let me play it. I only had about 15 minutes. It was fantastic, but, not as good as Martini (Schnitger's other great, big organ that is still with us). It has the 32' principle in the pedal that is absolutely marvelous. The only thing wrong with the organ is the room. St. Jakobi is actually a very small room with decently live acoustics. You have to be very careful choosing registration and can only use like one mixture at a time. I wish i could have fussed over registration a bit more. II played the Toccata in C and then the Fugue in C (Allein Gott). Anyways, definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Hands down. Now… if i could only play the Bavo Organ… :)

At the start of the trip I decided I wanted to play 20 organs, especially four specific instruments. St. Bavo, Martinikerk, Norden and St. Jakobi. I've played 22 historic organs and three of those four instruments. All in all, a very successful trip!!!!

Thus far, my favorite organs, by sound, are in decreasing order: Martini, Norden, St. Jakobi, Bavokerk, Leeuwarden, Uithuizen. Followed by the choir organ in Oude Kerk, then the great organ in Oude Kerk then St. Petri in Melle. The rest are hard to rank. The one I liked the least was the Rieger in Vienna :)

In terms of aesthetics and how the organ looks? Hands down, Bavokerk Haarlem is the most beautiful organ you will see. The case and facade fit perfectly in the room. It will blow you away. The next most beautiful instruments have to be Martini and Norden.