Leipzig: The town of Bach, Mendelssohn and Schumann

Thursday April 30th 2009:

The next morning we arose early and took a train to Leipzig, home of Bach, Mendelssohn and Schumann. We arrived early afternoon and made our way to the hotel. After depositing our bags, Professor Andy told us a brief history about Leipzig. This east-German city had a rich history of art, WWII destruction and soviet rule. It was significantly smaller than Berlin, and had a really cute, pedestrian friendly town feel. Dr. Waggoner remarked about how much the town had been rebuilt since even just eight years ago. After a “currywurst” from the stand (literally bratwurst smothered in Ketchup and curry powder) we walked on over to the famous “Bach Church”. This church is where Bach worked, composed, and was ultimately buried. As you walk from the cobblestone streets into the church, it is as if you stepped back into time. The church is quite light, with white walls and wooden beams instead of the stone in many of the cathedrals. Soon after we walked in the room was filled with beautiful music. We looked up and realized that there was a Cantata rehearsal up on the music level. A boys choir was accompanied by a small orchestra and an organ, the atmosphere was just too perfect. Speechless, all we could do was sit down and take it in.


After the church and a group picture with the Bach statue, we walked over to “Mendelssohn Haus” a museum in Felix Mendelssohn’s house. Mendelssohn composed during the “Romantic Era” as many musicologists call it. Although Mendelssohn composed several hundred years after Bach, he was a classicist at heart and after discovering some of Bach’s music, became completely enthralled with it. Bach was less than well known at that time, in fact his genius and innovation was completely buried within the rubble of history. Mendelssohn rescued much of Bach’s original manuscripts from the fish market, and thanks to Felix we now know Bach’s name, and his landmark creation of tonal music and counterpoint. He also conducted Bach’s “St. Matthew’s passion” almost 100 years after its last performance. This resurrected work is a cornerstone of western music, and perhaps one of the best pieces ever written.

Apart from Mendelssohn’s resurrection of Bach, he also made some great personal contributions to western music. Much of his music has an intense emotional or programmatic quality (an ideal of the era), while still not venturing too far out of recognizable form. His “songs without words” and “Scottish Symphony” are some of my personal favorites of his. Interestingly enough, his grandfather Moses Mendelssohn was a well-known Jewish philosopher who thought that the Jews should integrate more into society. Mendelssohn himself had mixed feelings about his Jewish heritage and later added the last name “Bartholdy” to distance himself from his grandfather. His house was large (being from a prominent family at that time), and filled with relics from his childhood, his manuscripts and family furniture.



After looking around the house we enjoyed the sun in the garden for a minute, we headed to a café in which both Schumann and Mendelssohn were said to have frequented. It was a lovely café, and we enjoyed our teas, coffees and decadent deserts. After the café we turned the corner and went to the “Biergarten” which is literally a small street with restaurants and outdoor seats blended together. We stopped at one of them for another group meal. One thing I loved about Germany was no one seemed to look at me cross-eyed when I handed them my dietary card. The waitress talked with the chef and I was able to order almost anything off the main menu. I had a very filling meal of curry, rice and chicken, with a lovely glass of wine and a bowl of strawberries for desert. Taking a mental step back from the table, I saw that my European dreams had come true. I was sitting with musicians I had gotten to know over the semester, and our theory professor seemed to be engaged in the conversations, genuinely enjoying our company. We were all relaxed, enjoying great food in the middle of a pedestrian cobblestone street in Leipzig, the home of Bach, Mendelssohn and Schumann. I realized I had learned to relax, enjoy life, and most importantly-the importance of relationships and connecting with people

Ich bin ein Berliner

Wednesday April 29th 2009:

I woke up the following morning, and took another run in the Park. After breakfast Julia, Steph and I decided to check out the “Topography of Terror” Museum. This “Museum” was really a photo exhibition right beside a construction site for the future museum, which in some ways really fit the theme of destruction. This exhibition laid out the rise of the Nazis, how they took power and the details of their destruction throughout Europe. It was an interesting, but difficult exhibition to see, and the cold wind was blowing and the clouds were threatening rain.

After the exhibition, we headed to another concert hall in Berlin, because we were supposed to see a rehearsal. However when we arrived, we found out that the rehearsal had actually ended early. Having the rest of the afternoon to ourselves, some of us decided to go to a used music store just one stop from our hostel. We looked through Henley editions, and music of all sorts, from classical to clarinets polka quartets.

After the store, I went back to the hostel and decided to rest a little before dinner. We again ate at the Vegetarian café, and then went with the group to another string quartet concert. This one was in very ornate style concert hall, and was performed by the principles of the Leipzig orchestra. They were obviously good musicians, but lacked the intuitive quality of the other group. At times they even seemed slightly out of tune, and were continually harsh in tone quality. It was tough at times for me to maintain interest in the group’s performance. What was funny was that our professor much preferred this group, but I suspect its because he had had “a few beers” before this concert.

As we packed up that evening, I began reflecting on my experience in Berlin. And I found that I had grown quite found of it. The people seemed very nice, and laid back. The music was wonderful both in the concert hall and on the streets. In fact it wasn’t uncommon to hear beautiful Bach fugues resonating from the accordion players in the subway. There was a particular player I enjoyed listening to at one of the stops on the U6 line, who would play Bach’s organ fugues, and even a rendition of the Marcello Oboe Concerto!!

Berlin was culturally very interesting. It seems to have an interesting juxtaposition of national guilt, remembrance, history and modernity. However despite the history of conflict and war, the city is still rebuilding, but in a positive manner. Its citizens remember the past, but look ahead to form a brighter future. They embrace youth, art and culture. As Kennedy fondly said in his pledge of West German support “Ich Bin ein Berliner”, he meant it to mean “I am a Berliner” but instead he put an article in front of Berliner, and called himself a Jelly doughnut.

Musical Adventures in Berlin

Tuesday April 28th 2009:

I slept in a little Tuesday morning, and after eating a tranquil breakfast decided to go with the group who would shop first, then head to the woodwind store. An easy morning seemed ideal. However after about an hour, I had found all the stuff I had forgotten in France and quickly grew tired of the mall scene. Since it was a beautiful day and I could no longer stand to be inside, I exited the seemingly endless building of global commercialism and went across the street to Balzac. I met up with the group after they had gotten their shopping fill and three of us Steph (flute player), Julia (Clarinetist) and I decided to follow Robert’s directions (the oboe student we met at the double reed convention) and try and find this Ludwig Franck and his amazing English Horns.

We took the tram literally to the end of the line, exited, and found the street. The shop was literally a cute house with a sign that read “Ludwig Franck”. We approached and as we tried to decipher which doorbell to ring. The door opened and we were met by a guy in a workman’s apron. I told him we were there to try instruments and he immediately warmed up, saying, “I heard laughing outside so I figured I would just open the door.” He first showed me his oboes, one made of the dark granadilla (a common material for oboes) and the other a light color. He gave me the lighter one first “hot off the press” he told me proudly. It was very lightweight, but had a big sound. I asked about the material of this instrument and he said smiling, “What do you think?” I guessed rosewood or violet wood, but the color seemed too light even for those materials. “Actually” he said, “It’s made out of maple”. I had never heard of an oboe made out of maple, and Ludwig explained to me that he knew a guy in Dresden who patented a water protectant for maple, which made it possible for him to make bassoons out of that material. “So than I thought, why not try it on oboes? And it worked! It is lightweight, but has a big sound!” he said proudly. It did indeed, although it was hard to get a good feel for the color of these instruments, since I was still playing on the European reed that I purchased at the double reed convention. As Steph and I took turns trying the oboes, we continued to chat. He asked us where we were from and how we ended up in his oboe shop on the outskirts of Berlin. We explained that we were American musicians studying abroad in Strasbourg, and came to find his shop after meeting Robert at the convention. “Oh Robert” he said smiling “yes nice person.” He than asked me if I had heard of Peter Smith of the Philadelphia Orchestra. I had actually met him randomly at an oboe repair shop in Philadelphia my freshman year of college. He was a quiet, but very nice man and let me try his oboe. I remember liking the dark tone color and butter like fluidity of his instrument. As it turns out, Ludwig Franck was the maker of his oboe, small world.

He than brought out an English horn, and began to soak up a few reeds so that I could try the instrument and add a European English horn reed to my collection. Although I had never played on a European EH reed, his instrument still seemed to live up to its reputation. It sang beautifully, with a velvety chocolate tone that still seemed to have the ability to transcend soloistically over an orchestra. I tested the upper register with the solo from Dvorak’s “New World Symphony.” As the beautiful “coming home” melody slowly rose higher and higher, the a flat, b flat and C, which can be difficult and thin on the best of instruments, were as fat as ripe strawberries and seemed to just sore. I was in double reed heaven. Ludwig gave a small smile as he saw my amazement and pleasure. He than said, “These instruments work well with American reeds too, Pedro Diaz (principle English horn of the Metropolitan Opera) liked them so much that he bought three of my English horns. He then decided that he really only needed two, (to rotate, minimize wear and tear, and in case one is in disrepair) so he is selling one. You might be able to buy his English horn, its only 1.5 years old and a used price would be less expensive for you.”

It was incredible to see the craftsmanship in all of these instruments. He said that he is a small shop, and therefore only makes a small amount of instruments each year (under a thousand oboes and English horns combined). He told me that I was the first American oboe student he’d met studying abroad and who had visited his shop! He gave me some information, and after exchanging contact information we happily skipped back to the underground, excitedly talking about our visit the entire way back.

When we returned back to the hostel and had just enough time to change and meet the group in the lobby. We went to a small brasserie in Postdamerplatz, and had our first group dinner of the seminar. It was really fun to be at an authentic German Restaurant and chat with the group and professor Andy and Carrie. I had a wonderful lamb with potatoes and vegetables, and sipped my wine, while enjoying a lovely warm night with good company.

After dinner we went back to the concert hall (where the Berlin Philharmonic and the Suisse Romande played) to see a string quartet. This quartet played a Mozart quartet, a Britten quartet, and ended with a Beethoven quartet. They played beautifully, and each player seemed to be intuitively reading each other’s minds and rising gracefully out of each other’s playing. My favorite was the Britten Quartet, which apparently is hardly ever played. It had a beautiful atmospheric quality and although there were lots of harmonics, the melodic quality was still beautifully maintained.

Berlin on Foot:

Monday April 27th 2009:

We awoke relatively early, ate breakfast and then headed to the old part of town for our group walking tour of Berlin. Our tour guide was originally from Tusan, AZ, but now lives in Berlin with her husband and son. It was a fun, informative and beautiful four-hour tour of this dynamic city.

We walked around East Berlin, seeing sights such as the TV tower, the old church, the new Synagogue, some remnants of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Nuremberg gate etc. Berlin’s tumultuous past has sculpted and shaped the city, in ways that only war and hardship can. Although much of the city was destroyed by the war, much is also either been rebuilt or changed for the better. I found it to be a beautiful and diverse city, filled with friendly people and monuments of remembrance. What is left of the famous Berlin wall stands near the checkpoint Charlie museum (the American checkpoint in and out of East Berlin) in front of a construction site protected by a metal fence. Our guide told us of amazing escape stories of people trying to get out of soviet rule. Nazi sites such as Hitler’s bunker (which is now a creepy parking lot), large and intimidating administrative buildings stand as a reminder of the dark past and the destructiveness of desperation, war and power. The palace and grandiose Under den Linden, the Jewish memorial, and the old buildings of east Berlin and the modern “Times square” style postdamer platz were some of the highlights and vastly different parts of the city. It was a fatiguing tour, but incredibly informative, interesting and dynamic. The weather was beautiful and it was wonderful to get a general sense of the city and learn about some of its history.

After the walking tour, we were slightly fatigued but still anxious to see more of the city. We took a moment to rest our legs, and then headed to the Jewish museum. This museum was interesting, but very large and slightly overwhelming. If you know anyone who has any sort of interest in Jewish history, culture, and exile than this is their museum. You walk into a large modern style building with three different axes, the axis of terror, exile, and history. Each hallway is quite simple-white painted walls with darker painted windows displaying personal objects or documents. At the end of the axis of the holocaust is a tall angular unheated room, lit only by the sunlight that leaks through the cracks in the ceiling. This room is supposed to give you the feeling of isolation and disconnection from the world, and it effectively did. The end of the hallway of the axis of exile opened up into a sort of garden. This “garden” was made up of tall cement pillars with plants on top, and very uneven footing, intended to give visitors a feeling of disorientation and uneasiness, like many of those who were exiled from their home land. The axis of history lead to an entire new building with interactive exhibits showing the history of the Jewish people from ancient times to modernity.

We hadn’t seen absolutely everything there was to see, but after making our way through most of the history portion, our energy levels were falling and my stomach was very empty. After some cohering, our group left and a few of us visited the newly discovered Bio-Grocery Store. It was full of organic and gluten free food. I picked up a few items and even a gluten free beer for .90 cents! After the grocery store, we decided to head to the vegetarian café and have a lovely hearty, and inexpensive meal. Twas delicious. We headed back to the hostel to drop a few things off, and immediately headed out again to see a few of Berlin’s sights by night. We walked along the river and headed to the parliament building. Our tour guide told us that it would be far less crowded either early in the morning or late at night. After WWII this building was rebuilt like the original, except for the modern glass dome on top. Through this dome one could see meetings taking place and a beautiful view of the city. This was meant not only as a juxtaposition of historical and modern styles, but also as Germany’s new “transparent” government. We enjoyed the view, each others company, then physical fatigue set in after such an eventful day, that we walked back to the hostel and slept deeply.

Music, double reeds and Zach Effron

Sunday April 26th 2009:

Since we were quite fatigued from the journey, we woke up leisurely. I decided that this was a good opportunity to run, the sun was shining and the day was new and fresh. I was careful to notice where I was going, so as to not get lost and have to gesture with someone for directions (since my German vocabulary consists of musical terms and counting to three.) on my route, I found a beautiful small park with trees, a creek and a small waterfall. I ran past a field to see a group of people doing tai chi, it was a very peaceful scene and “a moment of zen” as Kevin so fondly calls such things. After my run and shower, we ate breakfast at the hostel and decided to explore the city.

Our first stop was the instrument museum, which contained beautiful old pianos, violins, woodwind instruments and other lovely relics for all kinds of music lovers. However, the most exciting part of this visit wasn’t the exhibition, but the convention we happen to walk into. After we bought our tickets, I heard the sound of an oboe playing. Stephanie and I decided to investigate, (Stephanie is a flute major but plays oboe). We walked about ten feet and found a table with someone making reeds and displaying reed cases. Since I was interested in bringing back a European reed, I asked her if was selling the reeds she was making. Steph and I each bought a reed, and excitedly skipped into the museum. We didn’t get very far however, and s soon as we walked about another ten feet, we immediately noticed many tables set up displaying bassoons and oboes, a double reed players dream. We walked to the Loree table, a French brand but very popular in America, to look at their oboes. The lady operating the table was very nice and let us try the oboes! (Good thing we bought reeds.) She had royal models, which are more expensive and heavier, but have a thicker bore and a beautiful sound. My favorite was the gold plated royal with an amethyst stone on the bell, a bit excessive but had a beautiful tone.

Although, the oboes were beautiful, it was difficult to completely grasp their feel and sounds, due to the difference in reeds. After playing on the reed I had just purchased, I found it to be much harder to control, it didn’t vibrate as freely as I am used to nor have as great of response. European’s only scrape the top half of their reeds, and have less of a rigid shape to their tips. Their tips are much thicker in general, and the bottom half is wrapped in Teflon tape either because this type of scraping makes the reeds leak air through their sides, or to isolate the vibrations to the scraped tip. Like most oboe players, I always make my own reeds, in order to have better control of the feel and the sound. It was a surreal experience to sound as if I were again a fifth grade oboe player, with the tone quality of a duck-foghorn hybrid. However I soon got a better handle on it, and thoroughly enjoyed the oboes.

While steph and I were playing the oboes, we met another student from Berlin who was also trying the lourees. He told us that there would be a double reed concert in about 15 minutes, and they would end with Handel’s “ Royal fireworks” transcribed for double reeds. The concert was very fun and different. First there was a modern piece for heclaphone (a less common instrument in the oboe family) and organ, then a polka tune for bass oboe and organ. The finale was by far the best. There were a group of bassoons on the right balcony, a group of oboists on the left, and another mix of oboes, oboe d’amores, English horns, bassoons and a solo piccolo oboe on the floor in front of us. I have never seen so many double reed players in one place, and was thoroughly impressed by their intonation. The entire piece was incredibly regal, but the finale topped it off, as a guy playing bagpipes joined in the double reed symphony, marching down the stairs. Our friend Robert (the other oboe student) was playing on the left balcony and invited steph and I to try his oboe, made by a local oboe and bassoon maker in Berlin. As we were trying his oboe, (which was dark and “German” sounding) he gave us directions to the shop of Ludwig Franck, and told us that he had the best English horns. We thanked him and giddily walked out of the museum.

As we crossed the street, still talking about his unique visit, we heard some distant excited screams coming from Potsdamer platz-the modern downtown of Berlin. We decided to investigate, and as soon as we entered the courtyard under the big metallic dome, we were met with crowds of screaming teenage girls. We noticed that these crowds of teens were crowded around a red carpet with a giant poster of Zach Effron hanging over the movie theater. Zach Effron, the heart-throbbing star of “High School Musical” was premiering his new movie “Seventeen Again.” My group of friends and I were slightly puzzled and very amused by this pop culture phenomena taking place right before our eyes. We laughed and took pictures of the crowd screaming and waving posters, trying to get Zach to come to that side of the rink and sign autographs. We scratched our heads as girls cried and dramatically pretended to faint from the seemingly utter beauty of this movie star. As we walked away from this strange scene we laughed about how we were more excited about the museum and the double reed concert than about Zach Effron and his movie premier.

We then grabbed lunch and got some coffee at Balzac, which was lovely and refreshing. We walked around the city a little more, than headed back in the direction of our hostel. Almost directly across the street from where we were staying, I found a vegetarian café and decided to investigate. After some dietary inquiry, the owner shoed me the dishes that I could eat, and I was able to get a plate of two hot dishes and rice, topped off with some refreshing salad. It was only 4 euro, and a lovely healthy and filling delicious blend of exotic spices and vegetables. This café became a regular dinner spot for my friends and me during our stay in Berlin.

That night, we went back to the same concert hall, and saw the Suisse Romande Orchestra. They started the program with a contemporary Swiss piece, then played and ended with Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. The Berlioz is quite famous and was fun to listen to. The English horn solo in the 3^rd movement, the crazy high E flat clarinet solo in the fifth movement, and the excitement of reliving my memories of playing that piece were highlights of the concert. Berlioz was a French composer of the romantic era, and was probably the first composer to compose a programmatic symphony (a symphony that tells a story.) This work depicts a story of a man who falls in love with a girl named Henrietta. Out of desperation he takes opium and is plunged into a dream world. He first dreams peacefully, depicted by the oboe/English horn pastoral duet, and the fourth movement titled “March to the Scaffold” throws him into a nightmare. He dreams that he is sentenced to death and he is lead to the scaffold. The fifth movement he walks into a witches Sabbath. During this movement, Berlioz utilizes the high E flat clarinet as the head witch, woodwind trills and an orchestral fugue as the witches round dance. The violins also play for a bit with the wooden side of their bow, giving the piece a creepy, bug-like feeling. Slightly fatigued, we headed back to our hostel after the concert. After skypeing Kevin, I fell sound asleep.

Music Traveling Seminar:

Part I: Ich bin ein Berliner: 4 days in Berlin

Our train departed at 6:53 am. We all met at the train station at 6:40, groggy and sleepy-eyed form the past weeks finals, papers, and spending time with our friends who would be back in the USA once we returned to Strasbourg. It was a little rough considering we had a relatively busy week, and the night before was our farewell dinner. The dinner was at a nice Alsatian restaurant in town, and we took pictures, drank some wine, and nostalgically reminisced about our semester together. Since the music program continues a bit longer than the rest of the programs, many of us tried to soak up one last night with our friends. I turned in relatively early (midnight or so) but some of us didn’t even go to bed, instead prowling the streets of Strasbourg and arriving at the bakery for a hot, fresh “pain au chocolate” immediately before heading to the train station.

We noticed early on that our friend and fellow musician Alex wasn’t present, we boarded the train, thinking that he would pop in just at the last second as usual, however it wasn’t the case. He had mistakenly gone to bed for a couple of hours and failed to wake up in time. Fortunately he was able to catch a train and still make it to Berlin in time for the concert that evening. This week the “Where is Alex?” question has been a running joke among us. We slept most of the way, and arrived in Berlin about 2:00. While exiting the train, Julia, a clarinetist found a painted metal goose under her suitcase, most likely a garden accessory. She immediately took to this object and after asking if it belonged to anyone on the train, she grabbed this rusted goose, covered in daisies, and named it gonzo. It has since been the tour flag, the message deliverer and our traveling seminar companion.

We took the u-bahn back to our hostel, the “Hotel Transit” which is really a place in transit. We encountered all kinds of characters, including a group of singing retirees, an older German lady who spoke five languages and now lives in Sudan, a group of deaf teenagers and families with little kids. After settling in and unpacking, grabbing a quick bite to eat, we changed and got back on the u-bahn headed towards the Berlin Philharmonic.

The concert hall was beautiful, and consisted of a small stage, with the audience surrounding it, creating an acoustically perfect 3D sound experience. As soon as they played their first chord, I could understand why they are considered one of the best orchestras in the world. They played with perfect precision and very musically. What most surprised me however is that I didn’t feel as if I were listening to an orchestra, but rather a large chamber ensemble. Each player seemed to be feeling and listening to every other musician, and almost anticipate and feel what the conductor was doing. Although he oboists were very bright sounding, they were musical and seemed to fit the feeling and timbre of the orchestra. We were seated behind the percussion section, and it was interesting to see the conductor’s movements and expressions. My favorite piece they played was the Wagner “Siegfried”, they really brought out the heart wrenching melodies and seemed to innately understand the Wagnerian suspensions, rather than over play them and bore the listener with his lack of cadences. After intermission they played a new piece “Requiem” by a modern composer named Zimmerman. It was over an hour long, and contained a very large orchestra, four choirs and electronic recordings. The beginning of the piece was mostly recordings of speeches with orchestral sounds popping up here and there. It then slowly rose in tension, adding more and more of the orchestra and choirs, as the speeches became constant, but almost inaudible. It was very dissonant, and almost disturbing. There was no constant melody, as the composer was going for more of an effect. Interestingly enough, this piece really seemed to appall and offend some people. Throughout the piece, people would sporadically get up and leave, and we estimate that about 30-50 people in total angrily stomped out. This piece was a bit “out there” but it didn’t occur to me why they would be so offended. However when I looked at my program, I realized that most of the speeches (which were in German) were a conglomeration of fascist leaders (including Hitler), the Beatles, songs from the 60’s, and other political speeches. The choral interludes were almost frightening, consisting of sudden very loud clusters having no apparent chordal relation to anything in the orchestra. The final movement was called “Dona Nobis Pacem” (bring us peace) and instead of a sweet, dolce peaceful melody, commonly used for this type of movement, it was instead a harsh loud demand. It seemed more like a cry from hell, a less than subtle warning of the consequences of war and fascism. For me, the piece was kind of frightening, but long and repetitive. It was enlightening to listen to, but not something I would seek out. Our theory professor, Dr. Waggoner is a composer and loved it, but he is fond of strange, modern compositions.