5-29 These Are the Best Days of Our Lives

Location: Motel One, Leipzig

Listening to: Billie Holiday - God Bless the Child

Wow, it’s really been a while.  I’ve tried to start writing this post multiple times and failed miserably.  I’ll try as best I can to remember it all.  After our concert in Rottenburg and the Castle Hohenzollern, we just drove for the rest of the day back to Leipzig.  The next morning, we left for Bernburg.  We climbed another tower, but this time we were greeted by a creepy animatronic jester who explained his own history - in German.  I still don’t really know why he’s there, or why that castle seemed to be mostly about him, but the other museum was very interesting.  The basement was a monument to medieval torture (and there are some pretty gruesome pictures to prove it), and the ground level was an archeological museum devoted to stone- and bronze-age prehistory in that area.  There were some pretty interesting artifacts, including several that showed evidence for trade with the mediterranean region by the early bronze age.  For supper, a dozen or so of us had the chance to sit out under the umbrella and eat with our bus driver.  Even though he looks like the lovechild of Voldemort and Mr. Clean, he turned out to be an incredibly nice guy and we had a great time getting to know him a little more.  We sang very well in our concert, though we had a fairly small audience, and came back to Leipzig.

The next day, we went to Köthen.  This is a very important Bach city - essentially, he was employed by a prince who absolutely loved music, so this was the one place where he primarily worked on secular music (or at least music outside the liturgy).  We had a great tour guide, and I think this was honestly one of the best experiences we’ve had on tour.  We were able to see chapels where Bach participated in weddings, baptisms, and attended as a congregant rather than an official musician.

Before our concert, I gave the devotion.  Anyone who’s ever sung in a choir has heard someone say music can communicate emotions and ideas for which language just isn’t enough, and may have even though so themselves, so I decided to put this notion to a test.  I said a few words about the importance of communities to their individual members - congregations, ancient villages, and college touring choirs.  All of them come or came together to achieve something far greater than the sum of their parts - something synergistic - and those able to express love to others beyond their community are able to do so because they first love one another.  After elaborating on this briefly, we sang the “Abendlied” (quoted in a previous post).  We did this first to ask our Lord to stay with us as the evening and concert fell upon us, but also as a request and reminder to each other.  Organizations like ours are subject to substantial losses and acquisitions on an annual basis, and this is one reason our connection to alumni - and future members - is so strong.  They haven’t been gone that long, and each of us has the chance to see a significant piece of the legacy we leave behind.  It was a breathtaking but energizing experience - somber regarding our pending departure but celebratory of the times we’ve shared together.

After the concert, we had a chance to see a few of the artifacts held in the Lutheran church there, namely a communion registration sheet with Bach’s signature and the chalice with which he communed.  The chalice is still in active use today, and apparently the pastor has no interest in putting it in a museum any time soon.  After we returned to Leipzig, a bunch of us went out and I ended up finding Marton Borsanyi, the keyboardist for the Leipzig Baroque Orchestra.  We talked for probably a few hours - he’s an awesome person.  I’m really excited to hang out with him in Berlin on Monday.

I guess that brings us to yesterday.  We had the chance to tour the Bach Archive here in Leipzig and see a bunch of invaluable Bach artifacts - it was really cool for the music nerds, especially those of us who took the Bach seminar this Spring.  We sang a concert/service at the Tomaskirche, then had the rest of the evening off.  It was...epic.  Definitely one of the most fun (and mostly memorable) nights in my short lifetime.

Today, we were in Leipzig again all day.  I love this city - it’s not huge but you’re never bored and its history is so interesting.  I can literally see the sidewalks of the Peaceful Revolution that helped to end the Cold War from my window (we’re right across from the Nikolaikirche).  The choir we’re subbing in for this weekend is in their 798th year.  They premiered the cantata we performed today over 250 years ago.  Anyway, we had a couple of brief rehearsals and then performed the cantata service.  I’m sure this was the last time we’ll have a chance to sing a few of these songs, and it was a very emotional performance from the devotion beforehand to the final chorale of the cantata.  I have to admit I was terrified during the Hallelujah because I could barely hear anyone from the choir from where I stood, back next to the organ.  All in all, I think it went well, and I think we’re ready for our final chance to sing together tomorrow morning.

I’m sorry I haven’t been communicating much - the internet at our hotel is sporadic at best and unbelievably frustrating most of the time.  Hopefully I’ll be able to find something a little more reliable tomorrow.  Till then!