2022年7月22日
The answer is difficult, because it probably depends on who you talk to. It's a region of south Germany which today has actually no political significance (see this map...).... it's more of a cultural/language region. It's complicated, so here is a link https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franken_(Region)
Why am I talking about Franken? well.........👉
Of course I should have really taken the train. That's what the German government wants us to do. And that's why you can go anywhere in the country for 9€. The only trouble is that the local rail networks don't seem to have enough carriages for the sheer Ansturm (storm) of passengers, let alone enough extra staff to clean the toilets. Well, that's my experience so far anyway. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. Indeed I can now go back and forth to Frankfurt as much as I like all month for the price of a day return. Not bad. いいです。。
But my destination last Saturday was Ansbach. Where? Oh, it is in Franken some 25 km south west of Nuremburg. You may have heard of the famous music festival there...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachwoche_Ansbach , which is much more edifying reading that of the history of the town a generation ago. But Germany has moved on and has faced its past much more honestly than most countries.
Now how else would I get to the church of St. Gumbertus (to be seated in my pew by 12 noon) if not by driving there? A Musikalisches Mittagsandacht - roughly translated into English as "A meditation with music at midday". I am not even going to attempt a Japanese translation (hello Jonathan?)
I was pretty surprised by the town of Ansbach. I had been driving through the depths of Bavaria for ages - endless lush countryside dotted with little villages , cornfields and woods as far as the eye could see. Then suddenly, like an island in a sea, you come across this beautiful town. The quintessential old German town - huge churches and a Margraves Palace in the middle. Amazing. And there was I, in one of those huge old churches, sitting in my pew by 12 noon. My back to the organ of course - but that is often the way at organ recitals.
Simon started with JS Bach's C Major Preludium and Fuge BWV 547. Imagine controlling a monster like this.......
Such a contrast to the sound of an English cathedral organ. I heard bright, spicy sounds. And in the pieces by de Grigny, our man (*Irish idiom) had chosen some quite naughty (skurril ) stops too. Well, that was my impression. Maybe it was just the crumhorns. Given that the instrument underwent a €1.5 ml. restoration I'll have to assume the organ builders knew what they were doing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Gumbertus,_Ansbach#Organ
Here's what you get when you play the instrument...brass knobs reminiscent of a bedstead if you ask me - and so heavy to pull out. And if you use that coupler (the "knob" on its own, which couples the keyboards together), you need real finger muscle power....
Organists discuss......
It's all very 18thc......here is the church...with a strange chapel on the left, the Schwanenritterkapelle (Swan Knights Chapel), housing "elaborate epitaphs and death shields of members of the Order of the Swan, a lay foundation of Margrave Albrecht Achilles." (Wiki). Hmm....I'm a bit sceptical about these obscure religious orders.......
Anyway, it's a fabulous building. Here is the "Musician's staircase..." to be managed sober or otherwise......😅
No stained glass here to distract you from the sermon - this is after all Lutheran territory....
Now Mendelssohn composed his "Variations sérieuses" as part of a project to raise funds for a memorial to JS Bach in Bonn. Although originally written for piano, he produced an edition for organ, although here a virtuoso technique is needed. Congratulations Simon, you may well point out the organ here, but you did the playing! http://www.simonharden.com/?page_id=44
The recital ended at lunchtime - very sensible. Gave us time to sit outside over some fränkische food and drink and catch up on all the news. Then a stroll through the Hofgarten....
with its herb and vegetable section.....these are.....onions....玉ねぎ...
And yes, this is a cabbage. But a very special one. Wirsing. Oh dear, what shall we call this in Japanese? 日本語で何と言いますか (?).
In my children's picture book it says キャベツ "kyabetsu"..well, that's probably a safe bet........a "loan" word....
In one corner there was a very pointy tree........I have given this picture the title: "Tree and organist 2022" 😅......木+🎹 (well, that was an easy translation)
The Olianders .....
and as for this dragonfly, I'm sure I saw her recently at a Jugendstil exhibition in Wiesbaden.
Jugenstil?
Yes - before going to Franken I was in Wiesbaden to see the "Water in Art Nouveau" https://museum-wiesbaden.de/wasser-im-jugendstil
(Thanks Ruth for the tip).
Think Arts and Crafts/William Morris/Art Nouveau/Viennese Secession here. These are the terms associated with this artistic movement which swept through Europe at the turn of the century (1900). And "wave" yes. We all know Hokusai's "Great Wave off Kanagawa" (surely you don`t need a picture here?🌊). Potted history: Japan opens up in the 1850's: Manet, Monet; Van Gogh and all those guys get very excited by these Ukiyo-e woodblock prints - including Claude Debussy it seems. And the flourishing Jugendstil movement takes it all on board.
What a treasure trove in this museum in Wiesbaden is! The entrance hall itself is like a mini Aachen cathedral...
Here are some impressions...first, some of the work which so inspired western artists - the famous motive of the carp fish, beloved in Japanese culture. Here from Utagawa Hiroshige, who died in Edo in 1850....
later to be seen on Jugendstil vases....
and a classic woodblock print, also from Hiroshige....(more waves...there are lots of them off the coast of Japan........)
To this vase......made in Germany around 1903
With the discovery of electricity, lightshades took on a new meaning...... (think of those old Paris Metro entrances).
And here the metal is like liquid......The"Osiris" reading light by Friedrich Adler, 1901 (Nuremburg)...
Fantastic mirrors.....Now if I had one of these in the bathroom, shaving would be an experience.....
and paintings....some of which reminded me of the English Pre-Raphaelite movement.....here is "Ophélie" by Paul Quinsac c.1900..
....and "Largo" by Friedrich Hofmann, c. 1898.....
And music......you could watch a film of Daniel Barenboim conducting the East West Divan Orchestra at the Salzburg Festival from 2019.....(playing what else but Claude Debussy`s - La Mer)...wonderful!
Here is the front cover of the original score......
So you think all this stuff was only in the museum? No! the ducks like it as well. As I discovered when walking back to Wiesbaden station.....
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PICTURES FROM AN EXHIBITION (5)
Recently a friend of mine was taking a rest after a walk. The quiet spot he had chosen was a graveyard in Chichibu, Japan. But the peace was soon disturbed by a load of monkeys who came out of the trees and proceeded to eat the flowers and fruits left on the gravestones! Scott labelled this photo "caught in the act", which I thought was a brilliant title...
photo: Scott Shaw
This reminded me of one of Kyousei's (1831-1889) charming animal paintings - all done in brush and ink, with a touch of colour in the face..........a cheeky monkey eating fruit....
THE END
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終わり