This morning we got up in good time and visited the St. Annen Museum, a former abbey. We saw lots of medieval statues and altarpieces, plus a wonderful painting by Hans Memling: a passion triptych from 1491, a pre-reformation Bible in Low German, printed in Lübeck in 1494, and rooms decorated in historic style.
The most interesting thing (to me) was a planetarium and astronomical clock that was originally housed in St. Mary's. We know that Buxtehude composed a cycle of 7 keyboard works inspired by this astronomical clock- one for each planet that was known at that time. Sadly the work itself is no longer extant. But it was really cool to see that clock and imagine Buxtehude standing in front of it, dreaming up the notes to go along with each planet!
On the way out we perused the offerings in the small bookshop, and I discovered 2 treasures: a companion guide to the Buxtehude exhibit we saw there in 2007, and a history of the Abendmusiken called 'Theater Music in the Church'. So I had a good time looking those over this afternoon!
After lunch I wanted to look around St. Mary's one more time, so I headed there by myself. As I mentioned before, this is not really the church Buxtehude would have known, because of the bombing that took place on the eve on Palm Sunday in 1942. Many treasures were destroyed that night, including the organ Buxtehude played. The church bells fell and were embedded in the floor, and have been left there as a reminder:
A plaque marking Buxtehude's final resting place, placed there 54 years ago.
The most interesting thing (to me) was a planetarium and astronomical clock that was originally housed in St. Mary's. We know that Buxtehude composed a cycle of 7 keyboard works inspired by this astronomical clock- one for each planet that was known at that time. Sadly the work itself is no longer extant. But it was really cool to see that clock and imagine Buxtehude standing in front of it, dreaming up the notes to go along with each planet!
On the way out we perused the offerings in the small bookshop, and I discovered 2 treasures: a companion guide to the Buxtehude exhibit we saw there in 2007, and a history of the Abendmusiken called 'Theater Music in the Church'. So I had a good time looking those over this afternoon!
After lunch I wanted to look around St. Mary's one more time, so I headed there by myself. As I mentioned before, this is not really the church Buxtehude would have known, because of the bombing that took place on the eve on Palm Sunday in 1942. Many treasures were destroyed that night, including the organ Buxtehude played. The church bells fell and were embedded in the floor, and have been left there as a reminder:
Another charming view of Lübeck, captured for posterity!
St. Peter's and St. Mary's.
Tomorrow we're taking the train to Haarlem, NL; a trip of about 7.5 hours. While I will be sad to leave Lübeck, I'm looking forward to revisiting the country where I lived for 7 years (between 1992 and 1999) and seeing old friends! En Nederlands spreken, natuurlijk!
PS- I nearly forgot: Jim and I are celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary today! Can't ask for a better celebration- being with my favorite guy in my favorite place!
PS- I nearly forgot: Jim and I are celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary today! Can't ask for a better celebration- being with my favorite guy in my favorite place!
Great blog and photos! The following bit, saying that you saw "..a pre-reformation Bible in Low German, printed in Lübeck in 1494..", is interesting. I did research and learned that the Catholic Church had authorized some 6 or 7 translations of the Bible into the vernacular before the Reformation. The Church wasn't opposed to this - it wasn't trying to keep people "ignorant" - but it DID insist that translations be accurate. Protestants to this day inaccurately say that Luther was the first to make the Bible available in the language of the people.
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