Hello everyone,
I am most sure Andrew will follow up on his running commentary shortly. This is just to let everyone know that the tour concluded on a high note, with several of the choir being either enroute, mid-air or hitting the ground back home as this is being typed at Changi airport, Singapore.
I hope this little cyber-notice board has been useful to those back home.
Keep an eye out for the tour DVD and CD to be produced within the next few weeks.
kind regards
Rod
Friday 5 February 2010
Tuesday 2 February 2010
January 28 Thursday Salzburg - Linz – Vienna
This morning we checked out of our Salzburg Hotel, and in heavy snow loaded the coaches ready for another on time departure. With one or two minor exceptions, we have been very good at loading and departing on time each day, unusual given there are 86 of us (including drivers and tour guides). As we left the magical City of Salzburg for the last time on this tour, we were all rather sad to leave given the beauty of this place. Following the River Salzach we had our last glimpses of the mighty fortress towering above the baroque domes and capulas that give Salzburg its distinctive post card skyline and were quickly heading towards the majestic Austrian Alps. A short way out of Salzburg we passed the Convent Church which was the setting for the famous Wedding Scene of Maria and Captain Von Trapp in THAT movie.
WE were bound for Linz, and the famous Abbey and Church of St. Florian, the early Roman Martyr who is now Patron Saint of Firemen amongst other things! The Abbey was built on the spot near to where the Saint had been executed, and according to legend when he was tortured and drowned, the Mill Stone to which he was attached miraculously floated. That same stone, so the legend goes, was then used as the corner stone of the first Abbey.
Over the last thousand years or so the complex has expanded and now stands as a magnificent baroque palace, with thousands of rooms and vast cloisters, a large graveyard complete with impressive War Memorials, and of course the famous Collegiate Church. Prior to visiting the church, we were treated to an informative tour of some of the important areas of the Abbey, beginning with the massive stone cloisters which surrounded a huge landscaped courtyard, covered in several feet of deep, pristine snow which led to the Abbey catacombs below the church. Here were the coffins of bishops, princes, monks and notable figures in the life of the Abbey. Chief amongst them was the great Austrian composer Anton Bruckner, whose body lies directly beneath the Church’s famous organ in an impressive bronze sarcophagus directly in front of a huge collection of some 6000 skulls and leg bones of bodies which were formerly buried in the Abbey cemetery.
We then visited the Abbey’s famed library, which houses one of Europe’s most significant collections of early manuscripts and pre-fifteenth century volumes. Housed in a magnificent room, with books lining the walls twenty feet up on all sides, the library features ornate wood paneling and magnificent coloured frescos on the ceiling surrounded by lavish baroque plasterwork and marble statuary.
The Abbey also contains an important collection of Religious artwork, with a gallery of large oil paintings from the 15th century, originally the part of huge decorated altars. Another gallery featured sculptures and carvings of St Florian by European Masters, and yet another of superb Stained Glass, with the earliest pieces quite staggeringly over 700 years old.
The highlight of the St Florian visit was however the stunning Abbey Church, and its towering, highly decorated organ, named in honour of Anton Bruckner who was Abbey organist there for many years. Featuring several huge ranks of over 7000 gold and silver pipes, four manuals, and over 100 stops the massive organ is famed throughout the world as a masterpiece of organ building, and we were treated to a private half hour recital on the famous instrument by the resident organist,
We were then given the rare honour of standing on the chancel steps in front of the high altar
In freezing conditions, where we performed a number of Bruckner’s motets, originally written for the famed boy’s and men’s choir of the Abbey Church which continues to sing on Sundays there to this day. The vast, ornate interior with its towering marble statues, detailed gold work and superb wood carvings and frescos has an intimidatingly-resonant acoustic, which provided the perfect setting for our music, apart from the three below zero temperature of the building!
Upon arrival in Vienna we immediately embarked on a quick coach tour of the ‘City of Dreams’ – and as we travelled along the great ‘Ring trasse’ – perhaps one of the world’s most impressive boulevards – we were all impressed by the magnificent buildings that are a reminder of the Imperial grandeur of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The amazing neo-gothic Rathaus, with its huge ice rink out front, the beautiful palaces and formal gardens, the museums, arches, churches and elegant residential buildings certainly make Vienna a major attraction. If you like big buildings and symetery, this is certainly a place to visit. By the time we checked into the hotel it was getting late, so we enjoyed dinner in the hotel restaurant, and then headed out for the nearest bar… given our location near the West Wien Bahnhof, (a bit like the equivalent of Southern Cross Station!), the surrounds were not as elegant as those of the Old City, but somehow the dodgy atmosphere of a big European City Red Light District just added to the charm of it all, and we all drank merrily at the ‘local’ until it was time to head a few blocks back to the hotel, where warm beds in our cramped little rooms were awaiting!
Andrew Wailes
WE were bound for Linz, and the famous Abbey and Church of St. Florian, the early Roman Martyr who is now Patron Saint of Firemen amongst other things! The Abbey was built on the spot near to where the Saint had been executed, and according to legend when he was tortured and drowned, the Mill Stone to which he was attached miraculously floated. That same stone, so the legend goes, was then used as the corner stone of the first Abbey.
Over the last thousand years or so the complex has expanded and now stands as a magnificent baroque palace, with thousands of rooms and vast cloisters, a large graveyard complete with impressive War Memorials, and of course the famous Collegiate Church. Prior to visiting the church, we were treated to an informative tour of some of the important areas of the Abbey, beginning with the massive stone cloisters which surrounded a huge landscaped courtyard, covered in several feet of deep, pristine snow which led to the Abbey catacombs below the church. Here were the coffins of bishops, princes, monks and notable figures in the life of the Abbey. Chief amongst them was the great Austrian composer Anton Bruckner, whose body lies directly beneath the Church’s famous organ in an impressive bronze sarcophagus directly in front of a huge collection of some 6000 skulls and leg bones of bodies which were formerly buried in the Abbey cemetery.
We then visited the Abbey’s famed library, which houses one of Europe’s most significant collections of early manuscripts and pre-fifteenth century volumes. Housed in a magnificent room, with books lining the walls twenty feet up on all sides, the library features ornate wood paneling and magnificent coloured frescos on the ceiling surrounded by lavish baroque plasterwork and marble statuary.
The Abbey also contains an important collection of Religious artwork, with a gallery of large oil paintings from the 15th century, originally the part of huge decorated altars. Another gallery featured sculptures and carvings of St Florian by European Masters, and yet another of superb Stained Glass, with the earliest pieces quite staggeringly over 700 years old.
The highlight of the St Florian visit was however the stunning Abbey Church, and its towering, highly decorated organ, named in honour of Anton Bruckner who was Abbey organist there for many years. Featuring several huge ranks of over 7000 gold and silver pipes, four manuals, and over 100 stops the massive organ is famed throughout the world as a masterpiece of organ building, and we were treated to a private half hour recital on the famous instrument by the resident organist,
We were then given the rare honour of standing on the chancel steps in front of the high altar
In freezing conditions, where we performed a number of Bruckner’s motets, originally written for the famed boy’s and men’s choir of the Abbey Church which continues to sing on Sundays there to this day. The vast, ornate interior with its towering marble statues, detailed gold work and superb wood carvings and frescos has an intimidatingly-resonant acoustic, which provided the perfect setting for our music, apart from the three below zero temperature of the building!
Upon arrival in Vienna we immediately embarked on a quick coach tour of the ‘City of Dreams’ – and as we travelled along the great ‘Ring trasse’ – perhaps one of the world’s most impressive boulevards – we were all impressed by the magnificent buildings that are a reminder of the Imperial grandeur of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The amazing neo-gothic Rathaus, with its huge ice rink out front, the beautiful palaces and formal gardens, the museums, arches, churches and elegant residential buildings certainly make Vienna a major attraction. If you like big buildings and symetery, this is certainly a place to visit. By the time we checked into the hotel it was getting late, so we enjoyed dinner in the hotel restaurant, and then headed out for the nearest bar… given our location near the West Wien Bahnhof, (a bit like the equivalent of Southern Cross Station!), the surrounds were not as elegant as those of the Old City, but somehow the dodgy atmosphere of a big European City Red Light District just added to the charm of it all, and we all drank merrily at the ‘local’ until it was time to head a few blocks back to the hotel, where warm beds in our cramped little rooms were awaiting!
Andrew Wailes
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
