Sabbatical with Pastor Curtis: St. Nicholas and St. Thomas

Yesterday's hint was that we were not taking a train anywhere. We actually stayed right here in Leipzig and saw the museums of two great musicians who called their home Leipzig. One was the composer and grand organist, Johann Sebastian Bach and the other Felix Mendelssohn. Felix's name given at his baptism into the Reformed Protestant Church, and done in his parents apartment in Berlin is Jacob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The history of how he got his name is very interesting in itself. Born February 3, 1809, he became a fabulous musician at a very early age. His sister Fanny was also a great composer in her own right and played the piano brilliantly. All four of the Mendelssohn children studied piano at an early age. At the age of 13 he began to write chamber works for violin and at 15 wrote his first symphony for a full ochestra. Interestingly enough, Mendelssohn conducted some of Bach's music in his day. Unfortunately, Felix died at a the very young age of 38 due to being overworked according to a number of historians. His sister Fanny died within months of her brother at the age of 41.

Surprisingly, as a boy and young man Mendelssohn was was well traveled throughout Europe and learned music styles from other areas. When he came home from his trips he would actually create pictures of the places he had been to through pencil sketches and water color paints. A couple of his sketches are included in the attached pictures below There's so much more to share about the life of this great musician, but I need to move on.

Many other famous composers were connected to the lives of Mendelssohn and Bach here in Leipzig. The number of famous political leaders, entertainers and others from around the world these two worked with and met is phenominal.

Mendelssohn was a Lutheran, but was not as outspoken as his predecessor J. S. Bach who was known for being a devout Lutheran. Both have numerous tunes and Mendelssohn has written some lyrics found which are included in our Lutheran Service Book. It is well known that Bach embraced the teachings of the Lutheran Church and cherished his German Luther Bible. He would pen notes into the margin and personally read and study the Word. In fact, his personal Bible is housed under glass in the rare book section at the library at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.

Here are some interesting facts about Bach you may not have known. He was born into a family of musicians. Both of his parents had died by the age of 10 and his brother took him in. His brother, an organist taught Bach how to play the organ. Four of Johann's sons became popular musicians in their own right. He married his second cousin Maria. At the end of his life he developed cataracts, had surgery to correct it and lost his eyesight and eventually his life due to complications from eye surgery.

Every week he would compose a new musical cantata to perform on Sunday. I'm thinking that the members of the church didn't go to hear the preacher as much as they went to hear Bach play his weekly masterpeices. While in Leipzig, Bach was hired on by St. Nicholas's Church to play organ. This church is also the oldest church in the city. But the church where he served as the head musician referred to as the Thomaskantor is St. Thomas Church. Interestingly enough, even though Luther, Bach and Mendelssohn were not contemporaries, each of them had been connected to St. Thomas. Luther preached there, Bach served as head organist and Mendelssohn had performed there as well. Mendelssohn had resurrected Bach's music during his own life putting Bach back on the classical music map. Three of the stained glass windows in the church contians one of these famous figures -- Luther, Bach and Mendelssohn. Bach remains were eventually buried in St. Thomas. A statue of Bach is found in the court yard beside the church and another of Mendelssohn is found in the church yard. There is also a Mendelssohn entrance on one side of the church. Both of these beautiful churches can be seen in the pictures below.

There was and still is a tradition in the Lutheran churches in Germany since back in Bach's day when it came to playing the Prelude and the Postlude at a worship service. In our tradition today at home, the Prelude is played before the service start time and the Postlude is played at the end of the service as traveling music for the worshippers as they leave the sanctuary. Here in Germany, the Prelude is played after the announcements are given, which are done prior to the service. At the close of the service, the participants are expected to sit down after the closing hymn and/or Benediction and listen to the entire Postlude. However, we have been encouraging Zion worshippers to stay and listen to the Postlude as well. Maybe it's time to change our tradition? Would love to tell you so much more about these two brilliant musicians, but it's time to go. Enjoy the pictures below.