“In the evening the dove returnedAnd carried an olive leaf in its beak.O beautiful time! O evening hour!We now make our peace with GodFor Jesus’s sufferings are ended.” From St. Matthew Passion no. 64 (an excerpt) In this short text of the recitative “Am Abend, da es kühle war” from J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, …
Have you ever had a beautiful dream and somehow lost it somewhere. Schubert’s Nacht und Träume is about bringing back this fair dream from above to us. If it is a beautiful dream, be courageous to dream again, and never let it go. Some dreams are messages from heaven about our purposes on earth. Only …
Time continues to play its organ diligently,Its little song sings to you every day,Mixed with sounds that are not cheerful,That no one wants to hear. The sounds continue. And as the years go byIt becomes a full singing society.It makes you go through the roof.You’d like to be somewhere else. Well, all right. You do …
At Easter 2022, I left my previous occupation as a church musician and started new life as a self-employed musician. Shortly before the Easter, I still have many vacation days available, so I travelled to Freiburg, Dresden, Postdam and Berlin for spinett shopping plus visiting my favourite concerts (Schubert’s Winterreise, Bach’s family). I remembered it …
Ring, ring …“Hello?”“Hi, good morning, your organ is ready, I am calling to organize the delivery date with you.” I could not believe my ears, I could not believe what I’ve heard, I could not believe this day is actually coming and in the foreseeable future. I still vividly remember a month ago, how my …
“No one who was there will ever be able to forget the poignant effect of the St. Thomas Boys Choir singing Bach’s St John Passion on Good Friday in 1945, the first year of peace, performed in the beautiful old St Thomas Church, which had been largely spared from the war, but the windows were …
I spent the first week of 2024 with corona at home. I have had plenty of time to pray, video call with friends and family, reflect on the 2023. I was reluctant to make plan for 2024, because my plan for 2023 has failed thoroughly. Then one friend called, I help her a little bit …
Today I accompanied 3 funerals on the organ. It was a very special day to accompany funeral on 19.12. Around 90% of the funerals that I played, bereaved families wish to have Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Von guten Mächten” (By Gracious Power) at the funeral. This poem is originally written for his fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer-Weller, in …
“So that they go home with a joyful heart.”Ton Koopman Since I attended his masterclass. “A joyful heart” as souvenir to the audience has become what I aim for every time I play organ. Joy is not something shallow like simply saying “don’t worry, be happy”, nor the optimism build on the air. Joy is …
Beautiful interruption in life, unplanned yet happened naturally, I can call it coincidence or a gift. I preferred to call it a gift. When I received a gift, I should express my gratitude. This blog post is my gratitude to a gift I received on Monday. Bad WimpfenOn Monday I attended an organ introductory session …