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On Thursday 19th April 2007, I woke up at around about 6am, hauled myself from my bed with an excruciating amount of difficulty, and left the house around 6:30 to be driven to Heathrow. I was slightly anxious about flying, as this was the first time I had ever flown. After queuing all the way to Heathrow, Dad dropped me off and I went through security (rather too easily I thought) and roamed around the duty-free shops. In the end I only bought a hot chocolate, and I sat by the gate with my hand-luggage. Still slightly nervous, I panicked slightly when I saw a heavily-turbaned and even more heavily-bearded Asian man sitting opposite me….as it turned out, he seemed friendly enough anyhow….The gate opened, the boarding pass was checked, and I trembled down the walkway into the British Airways Airbus-319, flying to Basel. As the plane took off, my anxiety was suddenly quelled, as I experienced one of the most uplifting feelings in my entire life…..the clear blue sky and warm 8o’clock sun, and down below, London (I could see both city and suburbs) contrasted by the green and pleasant English countryside. During the flight, we flew over some magnificent French hills, near the German border.
I arrived in Basel at 10:50am (continental time), and took the bus for the 50 minute journey from Basel (Switzerland), through a bit of France, through Alsace and into Germany, finishing in the centre of Freiburg im Breisgau; here I was picked up at the Busbahnhof by the mother of my German Exchange partner, and taken to their apartment in the Falkensteinstrasse, a 5 minute walk from the centre of the city. Here I spent the 4 nights I stayed. After an exceptional spaghetti Bolognese for lunch, I walked into the town, where I first bought a pair of sunglasses, as it was 26 Celsius and there was a clear, cloudless sky. I then proceeded to meet my contact, Kirsten Galm, at the Universitätskirche, where he is organist, and where I was to do an evening concert on the evening of Saturday 21st.
The 3-manual organ here is a 1950s Fischer & Krämer, restored by Späth (of Freiburg) in 2004. And what a fantastic organ it was, especially enhanced by the lush 5-6 second acoustic. My programme at the Uni-Kirche on the evening of the 21st was as follows:
BACH Prelude and Fugue in G majorBWV 541
BEETHOVEN Allegro non piu molto (Fünf Flötenuhrstücke)
HOPE Para Ela (2005)
IRELAND Villanella
LANGLAIS Mors et resurrection, Hymne d’actions de grace (Trois paraphrases gregoriennes)
GARDONYI Mozart Changes (1995)
VIERNE Scherzo et Final (Symphonie 2)
The concert was attended by around 50 people, despite Kirsten’s disappointment that the opera at the Freiburger Konzerthaus that night had deprived us of the 500 that apparently normally attend. But I’m getting ahead of myself. As I said, I met Kirsten at the Uni-kirche at 2pm on the day I arrived, and once he had given me a key to the church to use for the duration of my visit, he left me to practice until 6pm. After I had finished, I made my way to the Münsterplatz, where the mighty 12th century cathedral stands tall in the middle of the city marketplace and square. At 6:30pm, this cobbled square was quiet apart from the chink of the worker's hammer (the cathedral spire was being restored) and the odd cyclist. Here I treated myself to a Bratwurst and a very tall glass of refreshing German beer. As I sat outside that café under the Alpine sunset, A-levels didn’t seem to matter……
At 8:30am the next morning, I met Kirsten and the organist of the cathedral, Dr. Klemens Schnorr, in the great cathedral itself, faced with the challenge of having just 3 hours to re-acquaint myself with the organ (I had played it in a non-concert atmosphere a year before), and to practise and register the 8th Sonata of Rheinberger (the only piece in the 30minute lunchtime recital at 11:30am, also on the 21st). Three hours to practice this piece on the organ, the main section of which is by Rieger in 1965. I say the main section, because in addition to this 4-manual Rieger, there is a 2-manual 1965 Marcussen on the wall of the nave, 2-manual 1965 Späth in the west gallery, and a 2-manual 1990 Fischer & Krämer in the choir, all operated from one master console. This totals 136 speaking stops over 4-manuals and pedals.
The audience at this recital was colossal – 1700 programmes were printed, and they all went, and around 100 people had to go without. The applause made the hairs on the back of one’s neck stand to attention as it wallowed around in the 8-second acoustic. Fantastic. It puts Britain to shame. After the recital, Kirsten took me to lunch at a quiet café next to a babbling tributary of the river Dreisam (the river that runs through the city) and I had a delicious dish of Käsespätzle (cheese and ham in noodles). The rest of the day was spent practising at the Uni-Kirche for the concert later that evening.
Then the time came on Sunday at 2pm for me to catch the bus back to Basel, and then the 6pm flight back to Heathrow. As I flew back, my heart sank as a) the English clouds returned as we crossed back over the Channel, and as b) I realised I had school the next day. All good things come to an end, and this is definitely in the top 5 things I’ve done so far. Never mind, I hope to go back next year. Hopefully for longer.
Jonathan Hope
