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Celebrating the pipe organ, the King of Instruments |
Linz Neuer Dom (New Cathedral)
The view of the monastery as we approach.
the gallery organ in Saint Florian.
Mondsee Basilica and the Guggenbichler organ case from 1674 which houses the 1993 Kern organ.
Pipedreams Tour 2009
Day 5 - May 10
Linz – St. Florian – Mondsee – Salzburg
- Today’s Venues, Instruments & Players
Stift St. Florian (Chrismann 1774+ Mauracher 1873 + Zika 1951, IV-P/103)
–Klaus Sonnleitner, organist
Mondsee (Kern 1999, III-P/40)
–Gottfried Holzer-Graf, organist
Sunday - After breakfast on another splendidly sunny day, we headed off once more for Linz’s New Cathedral for service, featuring the Collegium Vocale Linz (a community choir of students and adults) and more organ playing by our friend Wolfgang Kreuzhuber (who played most of the service up front on a modest Pirchner choir organ, but performed the final hymn and sortie on the big Marcussen in back).
Then back to St. Florian (this monastery dates from the early 9th century), first for lunch in the Stiftskeller and a tour of the monastery (another of those ‘most impressive’ places, where Bruckner was organist and is buried in a crypt below the organ loft). Klaus Sonnleitner, a member of the monastic community, a most genial and talented musician, showed off this famous instrument (though none but the facade pipes were present when Bruckner played it…when money is available, as here, pipe organs go through lots of changes; this one, though something of a mongrel, is nonetheless impressive in every way, except perhaps its reed stops, which are only average). The church’s ceiling frescos include three large graphic panels depicting the death of St. Florian who was first beaten, then flayed, then bound and drowned. So much for the trials of the faithful.
Onward, through more rolling country scenery to Mondsee Basilica (the monastery was founded in 748, the oldest German translation of the Bible was created here, and the wedding scene from “The Sound of Music” was filmed in this picturesque setting!!). The monastery exists no longer, but its buildings are a fashionable hotel, and the adjacent village is an inevitable tourist gathering place…and in this Alpine foothill setting, who wouldn’t want to gather! Behind an extravagant antique case lives a contemporary instrument by Alsacian builder Kern, in a style that tries to combine Austrian, Alsacian and French elements. Gottfried Holzer-Graf, dressed in traditional country jacket, demonstrated with varied repertoire. Then the considerable drive on to Salzburg and dinner at our Best Western Hotel Imlauer (herb cream soup, roasted perch with lemon butter and vegetables, fruit salad), about eight blocks form the Mozarteum. After dinner, many decided to walk into the old part of the city (just across the river), as the old fortress and other buildings take on a special magic in the evening light. And it continues…