Leipzig, September 2012

The visit to Leipzig was my own Johann Sebastian Bach groupie pilgrimage.  I think Bach was such a powerful influence on European music and culture that I wanted to go to his primary home.  It was one of the smartest things I did on this trip. The city is a beautiful one.  Like Dresden, the War damage was terrible, and it resulted in another 19th century city being pieced back together and a very old city looking sleek and modern.

But I was excited just to go directly to Thomaskirche - the church and attached school where Bach worked and taught, and the Bach Museum across the street.
  The church exterior is not remarkable.  However, the interior is simple but beautiful.  I do not exaggerate when I say that from the moment you enter the door, there is a calmness, and divorce  from the outer world that is palpable.  Because Bach died in 1750 at 65 yrs of age, you can imagine that the pipe organ he played on was in need of replacement.  Shortly after I enter the church that morning, a genuine pro organist began rehearsing his program for a scheduled afternoon performance.  One of the odd and dirty little secrets of the church world is that churches seem to yearn for the fanciest and most expensive pipe organs available.  Yet, church organists are rarely - if ever - the equal of the pipe organs they have access to.  Therefore, it is always a real pleasure to hear both a pro organist and a grand instrument.
I cannot imagine how much they spent on this instrument, but it was so much that they ran out of money and had to beg more from the EU and also hold a fund raiser to complete it.  Whatever they spent was entirely worth it.  I believe it is the v. sweetest sound and the most balanced sound I have ever heard from such an instrument.  It is common to praise giant cathedrals with powerful organs because of the "decay" time.  That is the sound that reverberates through the hall after playing has stopped.  But in this medium sized church, the sound is so wonderful, that I am sure I will never hear the like of it unless I return there.
Bach is always there it seems.  He and his wife are buried under the approach to the altar.  Originally, he was buried near the church, but no one was certain exactly where.  Then some construction was occurring and it became necessary to follow the directions on an old paper which said he and his wife were buried 30 some steps from a certain store in a certain direction.  They dug there and found his belt buckle, his wife's wedding ring (which was stolen then in '44) and some other items that identified them both.  The hard items went to the Museum and the softer went to the church altar.

I was back in the afternoon when a motet was sung there and the intro. was the Bach works I had heard that a.m.  It was one of the highlights of my trip.  Much like the Wien opera, the Thomaskirche has a fine set of speakers on the exterior and people can stand out under the trees and listen to the performance in the church.  BTW, Bach has his own stained glass window (above) and excellent statue.
I also walked over to the (composer's) Robert and Clara Schumann house.  It was pleasant and a kind of way of converting people like them from historical abstractions into real people.  Their pad is shown above, but they only occupied part of the second floor.
Leipzig is a wonderful place.  You cannot imagine the amount of classical music going on every day there.  I think it must be the most civilized city on earth.