A Walking tour of Luebeck

Stellwagen organ in Jakobikirche

Yesterday's organ concert in the Jakobikirche was a treat... for me at least! Poor Jim was struggling to stay awake. Let's face it- being awake continuously for 30 hours is not any state to be in to fully enjoy any musical experience. I guess the excitement kept me from having the same problem.

We heard one work by Buxtehude- one of my faves, actually- the Praeludium in g minor BuxWV 148, along with a very fine chorale setting by Nikolaus Bruhns on 'Nun komm der Heiden Heiland'. Sadly (for us at least) the bulk of the concert was taken up by an original composition by the organist himself. This lasted for about 30 minutes, and I swear I heard a collective sigh of relief when it was over. It was all right in its way, but I flew 5000 miles to hear 17th century music, darn it! I tried to remind myself that people probably rolled their eyes at Buxtehude's compositions in his time, and they probably said to each other "Always with the modern stuff! Why can't he play Tunder?!" :-) 

When his piece was over, the organist played two pieces by Bach. One of them was something I hadn't heard in many years, and have always loved: Toccata in C, BWV 566. It is my belief (not sure if this is true) that it was an early work by Bach, because I certainly heard echoes of other composers that Bach admired, like Buxtehude and Boehm.

The interior of the Jakobikirche is very ornate: with an amazing altarpiece, frescoes, paintings, etc. It reminds one of how the Marienkirche would have looked if it hadn't been bombed in 1942. 

After the concert we got an early dinner at the cafe next to the Jakobikirche, but at that point we were to tired for anything more than a snack. But what a snack! We're so lucky to be here during 'Spargel' season: white asparagus! You see it on menus everywhere, and cream of Spargel soup is a special favorite. Heaven in a bowl, if you ask me. So we each had a bowl of that with a salad and some good rye bread. Then we toddled home and collapsed into bed at 8 PM. 

We had a good sleep (it's divinely quiet in this neighborhood) and got up and got some breakfast from a local bakery: sunflower seed bread and a chocolate croissant to share! Part of the joy of 'living like a local' is just enjoying local customs like getting fresh bread in the morning. 

Then we took a walk around 'the island', i.e. the old city center of Luebeck. 

 

Our little house is at about 4 o'clock on this map. At a leisurely pace, I estimate you can walk around the whole island in about an hour and a quarter. We ended up at the Petrikirche, which has an observation deck in the tower. We took some pictures:

That's one of Luebeck's most iconic buildings: the Holstentor. Back in the day, the city was completely walled in to protect it from invaders. So the only way in was through city gates, and this was one of them. These days, it houses a museum dedicated to Luebeck history, and we hope to go there tomorrow.

A row of beautifully restored buildings. Almost everywhere you look, something of historic, picturesque beauty is there to meet your eyes.
<later>
So, we just got back from St. Mary's, where we heard the final concert of the "Buxtehude-tage 2011", directed by DB's latest successor at the organ of St. Mary's: Johannes Unger. The concert was very well put together: works by 4 North German organist-composers were presented- one vocal work each, preceded by an organ piece. We started with one of the rambunctious preludes by Nikolaus Bruhns (who we also heard yesterday). He was a pupil of Buxtehude's, and you can hear the influence of his teacher (in fact, after we heard the cantata by Bruhns I leaned over to Jim and whispered "Didn't that sound like a lost work by Buxtehude?") But also clearly to be heard is the voice of a young composer determined to make his own way. What a tragedy that Bruhns died so young (32)- his youthful works are wonderful: what would his mature music have sounded like?!
After Bruhns, Matthias Weckman and Georg Boehm had their turn, and then we heard from the man of the hour: the great DB himself. Organist Arvid Gast gave us a spirited reading of Buxtehude's Praeludium in E major, which boasts one of the most effervescent fugues ever written. Herr Gast is a very fine organist- I remember enjoying his performances at the Bux Festival in 2007 very much. After that we heard a nearly flawless performance of a favorite cantata: "Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr". Not just my favorite- it must have been one of Buxtehude's favorites too, because he treated it (and a handful of others) very differently than the rest of his output. It was carefully copied onto heavy paper (the same type used in the record books of St. Mary's) and bound together in a volume. He clearly meant it to stand the test of time.
Afterward I remarked to Jim that there's something very meaningful about hearing this music in the space it was conceived for. We can only hope that Buxtehude had musicians to work with that were as good as the ones we heard tonight!

Before we left the church, we stopped by Buxtehude's grave to pay our respects. There's a plaque marking the spot where he was buried in May of 1707. The actual grave marker was destroyed in the bombing of 1943. Tonight there was a lovely flower arrangement marking the spot, since today marks the anniversary of his death.