Orgelkonzert in der Marktkirche

Now that we're looking for local events and entertainment on our weekends here in Hannover, instead of "flying the coop," a whole new world here in our backyard is opening up. During the week we scope things out to see what's available. Last evening, for instance, we headed to City Center to hear a free ORGAN CONCERT in the MARKET CHURCH. This appears to happen every Saturday at 18 uhr (6p) for an hour. Frau Fahrtmann says Marktkirche is known for its accoustics, which is probably why they offer these concerts, and for frei (= free) is just added frosting on the cake!

It was a cool, rainy day--perfect for an organ concert--and our organist was Sergej Tcherepanov, a Moscovite who now lives in Lübeck (see 6/6 post). He played on both church organs, one of which is a German harpsichord with a 16' register (left photo) like those from the 16th - 18th centuries (don't know the age of this one), on which he played his first 4 pieces, all from the 16th century: Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (Dutch), Claudio Merulo (Italian), Johann Ulrich Steigleder (German) and an English Anonymous. Made sense to play 16th century pieces on the 16th century harpsichord! Then he climbed the stairs to the loft of the grand organ and finished the concert with 3 pieces from Felix Mendelssohn (German, 19th c), Jehan Alain (French, 20th c), and Maurice Duruflé (French, 20th c). Let's just say we got a wonderful education!

Before the concert started, we had a chance to walk around the church's nave to look at an exhibition of artwork by a female who (according to the lady who translated for me in her own words) supposedly is depicting the transitoriness of life. It's here today and gone tomorrow. I suspect it's much more than that because this particular grouping (below) was in close proximity to the altar and, for me, portrays worship. In the album I see them all as sinewy "blithe spirits" whose souls came before and after all time. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder...and art can be interpreted in so many ways, regardless of what the artist intended!

After the concert we walked to a nearby Italian restaurant for a quiet dinner. This was our "Saturday night at Pumpkin Creek," a variation on the theme!