Rather than staying in Amsterdam, we started in Haarlem, a 30-minute train ride from Amsterdam. Haarlem is quaint Holland at its best, with a low-traffic core of mostly brick built up in the 1600's. The main square has a Gothic cathedral, Grote Kerk. This houses Hollands greatest pipe organ, which I was fortunate to hear. The floor of the church is full of gravestones that you walk on. It was a bit cold in there, as the heavy stone walls effectively blocked out the sun (rain was threatening anyway).
The main square is about half the size of a football field, and our hotel faced right on it. Here they have street fairs during the day, and partying kids at night (they kept us up late!). I met our group at the hotel, and was assigned a roommate. We ended up being roommates for most of the trip. His name is Bob, about 70 years old. I thought "what am earth am I doing this for? I don't belong with a bunch of old fuddy-duddies". Bob was nice enough, but had a hard time sleeping due to jet lag. He was up at 4:20 AM fussing around in his pack. I couldn't fall asleep after that. Finally at 6:00 I got showered, dressed, and hit the streets to see Haarlem.
The rest of the gang included two ladies from Atlanta GA, 72 years each, two ladies from Dallas-Ft Worth TX, about 45 each, a lady from Minnesota about 65, two men from LA and SF in their 40's, a couple from SF in their 30's, a couple from LA in their late 20's, a lady from LA 29, a family of three from Puyallup (daughter 19, parents 50's), a lady from Kirkland in her 50's, the guide (39), and his mother (75). A diverse gang, indeed. I looked around and figured that with a few people in my age group, plus some from the next half and full generation older would be OK if they were "my type".
Only Bob and myself were up at this early hour, and breakfast wasn't until 7:30. I just wandered around, looking at the narrow streets and all the closely-spaced buildings. You couldn't place a piece of paper between most of the buildings. They were built right against each other. There are canals around to drain the former swampland. Wow, I'm in Europe! Pinch me! No, don't pinch yet, I'm not in Italy yet...
We ate breakfast, consisting of rolls or bread, butter, jam, OJ, coffee for the caffiene addicts. This was to be our breakfast every day for the next three and a half weeks. This is called "continental breakfast". Then we all tromped off to meet our bus driver, Ferdy, to go to Amsterdam for the day. Ferdy is half Italian, half Flemish. I think the Italian half won, as he exhibits quite a few "Italian" characteristics. He likes the women. He likes to cuss out bad drivers. And he likes a good time, good food, and good company. He was a lot of fun. He also speaks Flemish (Dutch), German, Italian, and French. And English with very little accent!
We went into Amsterdam, parked the bus, and started walking. This was to be a walking tour, interspersed by bus rides to the next walking site. We saw the palace, viewed several canals and "walking buildings" (they lean all over the place after 350 years), saw Anne Frank's house, took a canal boat tour, had a picnic lunch, went to the Riksmuseum (Rembrant and other Dutch masters), went to the Van Gogh museum, then I sat down and rested! Later, we went to the red-light district, where ladies wearing Victoria Secret style lingerie stand behind glass doors. You walk through, pick the one you want, go through the door, and pay your money. I'm not sure what happens after you pay your money!!?? That was a busy day. Afterward, we bussed back to Haarlem, where we ate Indonesian food. Collapsed into bed!
The group turned out to be a lot of fun people, for the most part. I found that the ladies of the trip were the most my "type", and enjoyed the company of the Texans, Karen and Nancy, as well as Cheryl from LA, Cathy from SF, and Pat from Kirkland. All this group enjoyed art and the museums.
We spent the next day on the Rhine, touring a huge castle ruins. The castle still has lots of rooms and caverns, and a long tunnel where they trapped enemies. We took our flashlights and wandered all over the place. Then we had a picnic lunch and rode a boat up the Rhine. There are castles every mile or even less is some sections. During the middle ages, the Rhine was the main transport and they extracted taxes from the river travelers. So they needed castles to back up the toll collectors. Every cas tle was a kingdom. Wow!
I went into the Bacharach church. It was small, but very tall like most European churches I saw. Ornately covered with lots of frilly stuff, I figure it was Baroque or Rococco. We had a wonderful German dinner at the hotel. We had another round of learning each other's names (I really needed that). I had fun with Sunnie and Dave, two from LA, where we hiked up the trail past ruins of a Gothic cathedral to the Bacharach castle. We also played a little football in a park near the Rhine.
I really began to enjoy the group I was travelling with. These people were energetic, fun, positive people. These were no fuddy-duddies, they were genuinely interested in all we saw. For the most part, they were quite well educated and informed. Well, maybe except for Bob. He was starting to snore at night, too! The weather had turned to perfect - not hot, not raining, some good sun. Wow!
The next day we travelled to Wurzburg to see the Prince-Bishop's Residenz. This was modelled after the Versailles of Louis IV, although not nearly as big. However, it was extremely ornate and full of frescos, mirrored rooms, expensive furniture, sculpture, chandeliers, and a fancy garden in the back. Each room was more opulent than the previous. Then off to Rothenburg to our hotel there.
In Rothenburg, I stayed in a single room at a pension. The bathroom was down the hall, with a sink in my room. An elderly couple managed the pension, and it was a delightful place right in the middle of this medeival walled town. Nearly the whole wall is intact (much rebuilt after WWII damage however). I walked the wall that night, looking for enemy attackers. Luckily, I had my imaginary crossbow with me. I could search the countryside through the slitted holes in the wall. Every once in a while ther e was a tower where I could get a better view. The moat, drained of its water, had a playground with swings, teeter-totters, and a slide. Hmmm, must be 1994 after all!
We spent the whole next day wandering around this fascinating town. I climbed the town hall tower (scary, it's *really* tall!), toured the Krimenal Museum (weird stuff in there, torture devices, humiliation devices, etc.), went into the Gothic cathedral where there was a fabulous wood carving of Jesus and the 12 desciples (one piece of wood except for Judas), hiked to a nearby town with more wood carvings, and ate ice cream and rested my tired feet. Wow! That night we walked over to a beer garden. It started pouring down rain and we ran home to our pension. Pooped, I sat and wrote in my journal and fell into a deep sleep. Ah, the luxury of a single room!
Ruette is somewhat of a resort town (for winter skiing) and the hotel was the fanciest on the trip. The rooms were huge, and not really "back door" style. It was a pleasant thing, because our next set of hotels in Italy were definitely not fancy! We even had a TV. I roomed with two other guys while Bob had another single room.
The next day we had a fantastic breakfast, not the usual continental. Then back into Germany to see Mad King Ludwig's Neuschwanstein castle. This castle is the model for Disneyland's castle. It was built only 100 years ago. It was fancy and all, but somehow if I had missed it I wouldn't have cared too much. But I did get in on a hike way up into the mountains. All the people say "Gruss Gott" when they greet you there. We had a picnic lunch near the castle, then drove to Wies Church. This church was built after a man had a vision that a church should be built in the middle of a cow field. Yup, cows graze around the church. It is a big church, *extremely* ornate in the Rococco style. The interior is spectacular. Curly-cues all over, cherubs flying on the painted scenes on the ceiling. Nothing is left uncovered. Gold everywhere.
Then off to ride the "luge", a sled that careens down a concrete chute down a ski slope. What fun! Then off to see a *real* castle, albeit a ruined one. We saw the Ehrenburg Castle ruins, up a steep trail. This was my favorite castle, even though it was overgrown with bushes and trees. The crumbling walls really held my imagination. Watch out, they're catapulting flaming balls into the castle! Hey, they're battering the door! Pour hot oil on the infidels! After this busy day, I was *really* tired and actually watched TV before dinner for a half hour. A wonderful dinner, followed by a silly slap-dancing yodeling Tirolean folk festival in a local bar capped the wonderful day.
A week had gone by, and we had done so much! Holland, Germany, and Austria all were pleasant, clean, friendly, orderly countries. Each day was my favorite day, and I'd love to go back to any one of them. And the group I was with were all a blast. It seemed like every day was a party. Even on the bus, we had a ball laughing and talking about what we had done, where we were going, gossiping, sleeping, writing in our journals, etc. Each one of us had two seats so we could really stretch out and relax. It was efficient, comfortable, and fun. On board was a library of travel books which I took advantage of. We stopped every two hours to use the WC (water closets). You have to pay to use them; there is an attendent who takes a coin or two. They give you toilet paper in some of them, others have rolls like the US toilets. It pays to have coins on hand!
We got oriented in Venice and learned that you navigate by walking towards signs either to the Rialto Bridge or S. Marco. At Piazza S. Marco is the best people and pigeon-watching place in Europe. On the edges of this large square are outdoor restaraunts with musicians playing piano and string instruments -- very romantic. Free, unless you sit down at one of the tables for coffee, where it costs about $10 for the privilege. It's a great spot to be at night, even quite late. Across the way is the large S. Marco Duomo (church). Next to it is the Doge's Palace (ruler of Venice). Wow!
People stroll everywhere. Some tourists take the gondolas (very expensive). I was surprised how clean the canals were, after hearing how smelly they were. I did see some doggie-doo in some of the streets, but not a ridiculous amount. I bought some gelato (rich ice cream), the modern art form in Italy. Yum!
I spent the whole next day just wandering the narrow streets and bridges of Venice. Venice was built up hundreds of years ago, but since the decline of its powers it has been a tourist place. Tourists for hundreds of years. Everywhere were people, people, people. Men hawking fruits, vegetables, fish at stands that they dissasembled every night. Restaraunts. Old buildings (there are no new buildings that I saw). One thing I noticed is: nothing grows there -- except for one small private park. Not a tree, bush, grass except for window flowers. At one time 200,000 people lived here, now only 75,000. All the streets are paved with large cobbles. What a romantic place... but I was alone... sigh...
Some of the churches are very plain and kind of ugly. Dark and depressing. Then I went to the S. Marco Duomo. Hey, this is a big one, almost completely covered on the ceiling and walls with mosaics. The mosaics are gold-colored, with saints and Bible characters. It is very dark inside, but eventually your eyes adjust and you can appreciate this magnificent building. Next door, I toured through the Doge's palace with its fancy paintings and sculptures, and the rooms where the ruling was done. I even crossed the famous "Bridge of Sighs" where prisoners saw Venice through a little window on their way to the yucky dark, dank dungeons.
Our group met and we had dinner in smaller groups at various restaraunts. Pizza isn't very good there, pasta is better. Then we took a group condola contingent, four gondolas, one with a singer and accordian player. The drivers poled us around (actually they are paddles, not poles), until we were all in one of the main larger canals. There, we rode side by side as we were serenaded. Someone asked one of the gondola paddlers if he could sing. He said "in Italy there are two kinds of men -- singers and lovers. And I can't sing a note!"
The next day we bussed to Rome. Our hotel was one block from the Vatican Museum entrance. It was a 5-minute walk to the entrance to St. Peters Piazza, so before dinner I wandered over there. The entrance to the church is surrounded by "arms" of giant columns, the roof over the columns covered with statues of saints. In the middle is an ancient Egyptian obelisk. It gradually slopes upwards to the entrance to the big (and I mean *BIG*) church. The church itself was closed, but I enjoyed just watching a lot of Catholic priests and nuns walking around, and some tourists. For dinner, we took a crazy taxi ride (much more thrilling than that luge ride in Austria) to the Piazza Navona. After dinner, we walked past the Trevi fountain, where I tossed in a coin to wish myself back someday (well, gotta do a few touristy things, eh?) Then to the Spanish steps, and past the Pantheon, then subway back to our hotel. Tired. Sleep! Wow, Rome!
We spent the next day in Rome. First, we took a subway to the ancient Rome area. Walking up the subway stairs, it's dark in here, let's go up to the street and see Rome, there's the sunshine, there's the ... the COLOSSEUM! Wow! Right across the street from the subway stop, what a way to get introduced to ancient Rome. We wandered around the colosseum, the Forum and then on to the most amazing Roman ruin, the Pantheon. The Pantheon is now a church, still in use nearly 2000 years after being built. It' s in great shape. Back to the hotel for a nap, but instead of napping I went back to Piazza S. Pietro to see the great Vatican church. Our group met later, when we all went inside. The entrance area is bigger than many big churches, and the inside is huge. I found Michelangelo's Pieta absolutely awe-inspiring. I wandered underneath where the popes are buried, and climbed every step to the top of Michelangelo's great dome. I spent three hours just wandering around this huge buil ding, until they kicked me out -- I was the last person in there!
A great dinner on top of the hotel roof, where our table could see a man dressing in his apartment. We laughed until our sides split, joking about him. We couldn't help see him -- he was on display with the window uncovered and the lights blazing inside! Exhausted from walking and laughing, I slept easily.
The next morning, we walked the one block to the Vatican museum, toured it and the Sistine chapel, then hopped on the bus for Siena, our stop for the next two nights. On the way, we stopped at Civita, an ancient hilltown. The only way there is by walking a bridge, and the town is nearly a ghost town, with ancient streets and old buildings and churches. It was kind of depressing-looking, but very interesting to visit. In Siena, we stayed right inside the walled medieval town. The whole place is cobbled with a large fan-shaped square, a good place to eat and sleep.
We spent the next whole day in Florence, seeing the great Renaissance art, like Michelangelo's David and the Ufizzi museum (boy, did myfizzi hurt after all that walking!) David is very famous, and probably a cliche sight, but I found it to be another awe-inspiring statue. David has a bit of a pensive look, yet confident at the same time. Hmmm. And of course, gelato is the great modern art form here. Back on the bus to Siena where we all went our separate ways for dinner.
The next day we checked out of Siena and drove north to Pisa. Here we had a picnic lunch in the rain at the leaning tower, saw the leaning tower, then hopped back on the bus for La Spezia. Here, we grabbed our bags, and hopped on a train to the Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera. The Cinque Terre are five towns right on the Mediterranean Sea, very old towns with no real good automobile access. You hike from town to town on trails on the cliffs and hills above the ocean. Along the way are vineyards and olive tree orchards. Each town is small and easy to get around, all are accessible by trains that travel in tunnels right through the coastal mountains.
We stayed in Vernazza at a hotel about 2,000 steps above the street level. Well, maybe not quite *that* many steps! It is a quaint hotel with all double beds, so you have to share a bed with your roommate. Poor Bob had a hard time with this concept. Even though I slept with my head at the foot of the bed, with different blankets, he could not abide by this arrangement. He didn't sleep much and complained of my snoring (first time I've heard of that complaint!).
The next morning, Bob ranted and raved that he needed his own private room, by God. And he got it. So I had a single room for the next night in a big queen-sized bed. Ahh, comfortable! I spent the whole day hiking with the two delightful Texas women. First we hiked from Vernazza to Corniglia, a 2-hour hike. The three of us thoroughly enjoyed the hike, even though it was sprinkling off and on. We ate lunch in Corniglia, then walked down a very long set of M.C. Escher type stairs (another 2,000 steps) all the way to sea level where the train station was. Then we waited for the train about 45 minutes, hopped on it to Monterosso al Mare (which is past Vernazza).
At Monterossa, I decided that I *must* dip into the ocean. I had travelled all this way, and was determined to swim in the Mediterranean! Even though it was sprinkling and definately not warm, I did it anyway. Wow! I'm swimming on the Italian Riviera! Actually, it felt very good. I air-dried, put my suit in a zip-lock baggie, and the three of us started walking back to Vernazza. Before getting too far, we stopped for gelato, of course! Then we hiked the two-hour, narrow steep trail back to Vernazza. Great views and good company made this one of my most enjoyable days.
We parted company once we arrived in Vernazza, and I sat and played cards to relax for a while. We had a wonderful dinner, hiked up to the castle tower remains, and watched the sun go down. Sadly, two weeks had gone by and there was only another week left to go.
Here we were in a deep Alp valley, surrounded by shear cliffs (2000 feet high) with fabulous waterfalls and deep, green lush farmland. High above were the glaciated peaks, the Eiger, the Umfrau, the Shilthorn. Wow! These mountains combine the shear granite cliffs of Yosemite, the rugged mountains of the Tetons or the Canadian Rockies, and the pastoral scenes of a quiet ranch in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. We looked up in awe at the cables for the gondola -- hey, these go almost straight up (gulp). Oh, well, the hotel is up there in Gimmelwald, and we gotta get up there. Hope the cable doesn't break ...
Up we went, uneventfully, to the gondola's upper station at the top of the cliff. We walked up a short way, put our bags on a little trailer attached to a small tractor, and walked up to the only hotel in Gimmelwald. The hotel is and old, creaky wooden structure. The floors squeak, and the stairs creak, but the ambiance is wonderful. The comfortable beds had very short down comforters (only about 3/4 length), and tiny dish-washing-size towels. There were only two rooms with showers, and everybody else shared the third shower. You pay for hot water.
We had a cheese fondue snack before dinner, then Walter, the owner, cooked a wonderful dinner of barley onion soup, spaghetti, chicken, salad, and ice cream with peaches. Yum! After dinner some of us went outside in the quickly cooling mountain air and discussed all kinds of intellecual topics. Off to bed, I planned a hike tomorrow with Sunnie and Dave.
The clouds still were around, they had been throughout Italy, with rain in Siena and Vernazza and clouds surrounding the mountains here in Switzerland. Although the tops were visible when we first came in, by evening they were totally covered and we couldn't see the mountain tops. I was concerned that we wouldn't see the mountains any more, which often happens at these altitudes. Oh, well -- we did get quite a few glimpses earlier in the day. The wildflowers were out in force, and it was entertaining to watch the cows.
Yes, the cows -- those cows! Each cow had a cow bell around its neck, clanging with every movement. It was a peaceful and pleasant sound, soothing and romantic. Even the calves had these bells. They were all around, in the fields surrounding the hotel and the town. Gimmelwald is a small, relatively poor town. Due to avalanche hazards, it has never been developed. A few times a day, a mother and her young children would drive about 10-20 cows up the only road to another pasture. Clang, clang went the bells, and the children would chase after that errant calf.
The next morning, the clouds had blown away partly. So Sunnie and Dave and I decided to go for the big hike -- up 5000 feet to the top of the Shilthorn. We grabbed some extra bread, cheese, and some water, and started up the trail. It went through several pastures, fairly steeply. We went through several gates and passed many cows. An hour up the trail, it flattened out and we were in a high valley pointing towards the Shilthorn. We continued up an old gravel road past farmhouses, barns, and meadows. The cows weren't up here yet (too early in the season), but would be soon. At the end of the valley, the trail continued steeply. The clouds started building up again, and also we soon reached snow fields on the slopes. We continued up and up until the snow was continuous. We decided that we didn't have the proper clothing and equipment for hiking in this snow. Besides, we were now in a cloud and couldn't see very far up or down. After downing some of our food, we hea ded down. It was a lot faster he ading down, and soon we were off on another road to Murren.
Murren is more often visited by tourists, and has several hotels and gift shops. I bought a postcard and a snack. Sunnie and Dave shopped for gifts, and I walked back down to Gimmelwald. I took two showers, one Swiss franc each and luxuriated in the wonderful hot streaming water. The main challenge was to dry myself with the dish towel they provided. I met that challenge! I leisurely dressed, then sat outside looking at the peaks slowly get covered by clouds while I wrote in my journal. Most of the group had gone down into the valley, and up the other side. It is expensive to do that (on trains and trams and gondolas), but they returned reporting of great views way up the Umfrau. Maybe the three of us had wasted our time trying to hike up but it was fun hiking in the Alps anyway.
We had another great dinner like the previous night. Afterward, I hiked up to Murren again with one of the women on the trip. We got back way after dark, watching the mountains darken and the cows munching. The clouds covered up the mountain tops.
But the next morning, the clouds were gone, and the mountains were all out in their full magnificent glory. About half of our group walked down to the gondola station, and rode it up to the top of the Shilthorn (our intended destination on our hike). We ate breakfast in the revolving restaraunt at the 9000 foot peak. The mountains were spectacular, and the sky such a deep, dark blue. The snow sparkled in the sunlight. Visibility was outstanding, and all the mountains for miles around were clearly visible. Wow!
We wanted to get to Paris to maximize our time there, so we hopped back on the bus early the next day. Our one-night stand in Beaune was the only one of the trip. By mid-afternoon, we were in Paris, and checked into our hotel, which was close to a Metro station. After a brief introduction to the very good Metro subway system, we zoomed over to the Latin Quarter. We walked to Notre Dame, then went back to the Latin Quarter for dinner. The meals were not expensive, but not really inexpensive either, but wonderful. Outdoor cafes were everywhere, and you had many choices.
The next morning we hit the gigantic Louvre. After hours of viewing paintings and sculpture, we walked through the Tuileries garden to the Orsay museum and saw lots of impressionist art. By that time, I was "museumed out". So I went over to Notre Dame and climbed the tower to the very top, where Quasimoto gave a tour of the bell tower. He didn't have a hunchback, though. Hmmm. The whole group met for a final dinner at a restaraunt on the left bank. I got everybody to sign my copy of "Mona Winks", the museum guide book written by our guide. We took Metro to the Eiffel tower, where most of the group took an elevator to the top. I sat and talked with Karen, one of the women from Texas. A few hours later, the tower folks came down and we got back to our hotel very late.
The group disbanded, but I stayed in Paris a few more days. I hung out with three of the women from the group, going to Chartres and Versailles. In Chartres I saw a wedding, admired the wonderful stained-glass windows and the explanation by expert Malcolm Miller, and heard the magnificent organ. We picnicked in Loius IV's garden at Versailles, then got back to our hotel late again. The next day, I went to church at St. Sulpice to hear one of the greatest organs in the world. This was one of the most amazing things I saw in Europe, and I must describe it in more detail.
The turn-of-the-century French organ music has a style of its own.
It is symphonic in structure, pianistic in idiom. Agreeable
melodies are developed with sweeping style and brilliance. Massive
bass themes exploit pedal sonorities. Cascading figurations set
the rhythm, and there is a good deal of repartee between organ
manuals.
To that, I would add that the music of the twenties and on of this
century from French organ composers have wonderfully complex dissonance.
The music often asks for a large, resonant building. The old stone
cathedrals and churches fit this bill exactly.
Anyway, a man on Internet responded to my request, listing about 10 churches to visit. At the top of his list was the Grande Orgue at St. Sulpice. Daniel Roth is the current organist there. A tradition started with Widor in the 1930's, then Dupre, and carried on to this day, is to open the organ loft to visitors after the 10:30 service. Visitors can gather around and watch him play during the 12:05 service.
So I went to the 10:30 Mass on Sunday. The choir sang, and Roth played various pieces during the service. After the service, he played a half-hour recital of various works, as well as an improvisation. As an encore, he played another improvisation. The organ sounded magnificent during this recital. The people who stuck around after the church service turned their chairs around (the organ is in the back) and listened intently. It was truly wonderful to hear this fabulous organ. The music he played was virtuoso music, complex and spectacular. This included the two improvisations.
Afterwards, I walked to the rear of the church. Several people stood at a side door, so I figured that would be a good place to hang out in case it was true that you could go up to the loft. Sure enough, someone came down and opened the door. About 10 of us tramped up the spiral stone staircase to the organ loft in the back of the church. At the top of the stairs, we walked through the old people-powered pumps, with encased pipes above our heads and to our right. We walked all around the pipes, turned right towards the front of the church, and another right to see the console.
The console is placed in and amonst the pipes. A group of pipes is even in front of the console, so that the organist looks through an opening to see the altar. Seated at the console was Roth. He is an average-looking man, with slightly greying hair, wears reading glasses, has thick fingers. He looks completely relaxed and confident. While playing, his hands were naturally curved and relaxed, always knowing where they were headed next. The console is very large. Roth explained that there are 102 rank s on this 5-manual organ. He said it was a historical monument -- the action is completely mechanical. To reach the furthest stop pulls required Roth to bend forward a long way and barely reach them.
Roth patiently answered everyone's questions, including mine. He spoke good English. I asked about the "feel" of the keyboard (I've only played organs with electric action). Even when manuals are coupled together and many stops pulled, he said it had a good touch, only slightly harder to press the keys. When keyboards are coupled together with the foot-levers, all coupled keyboards play simultaneously (you can see the other keys depressing). There are no preset buttons -- you have to pull each stop ind ividually. I moved over to his left side as others talked to him.
All this time, the service was progressing. A man signalled to Roth that it was almost time to play. He stopped talking, put on his reading glasses, and pulled the music stand closer. On it was a book of Gregorian chant tunes. He flipped forward and backward until he found one he liked. Then he fussed around with the stops, pulling and pushing, changing his mind a few times. All this time he had a very intent look on his face, unlike when we were chatting with him. The assistant signalled again, and he started playing an Offertory piece.
The piece was appropriately quiet and not fast, improvised on the chant tune. It had quite a bit of modern harmony and dissonance. His actions were calm, without a lot of flair or histronics. He never changed the registration, rather he changed manuals to vary the sound. He had a blank stare, and his mouth was open as he played. While his left foot played the pedal notes, his right manipulated the expression controls. As he pressed the keys, I could hear the pipes clicking on and off (this was not the ideal place to *listen* to the music -- better for *watching* the organist!).
Later, he played a recessional piece. Again he flipped around in the chant book -- it took quite a while for him to find what he wanted. He hadn't changed any of the stops since the earlier piece (too busy talking with the audience again). So he surveyed the registration and with the blank stare and open mouth selected almost all the stops for the grand finale. Again, at a signal from an assistant, he glanced back at the book and started playing.
While the pedals played the chant theme, his hands rapidly played dissonant chords. The hands batted the chords back and forth, rising and falling in both pitch and volume. Gradually, the theme would appear in the right hand, sometimes as octaves, as the pedals played it in canon or other counterpoint style. At one point, I thought I heard the theme upside-down. The theme appeared in the left hand also, as he changed keyboards. A slight breeze was turning the page of his hymnal, so he leaned his head f arther and farther to the right. A man standing on his right straightened out the book, and Roth turned is head and said thanks, not missing a beat the whole time!
He decided the registration wasn't quite right part-way through. So he held down a note, and fooled with pushing and pulling stops for a short while. Then he continued the complex dissonent chords, rapidly bouncing, mostly with the left hand. (This musical style reminds me of the pointillist art). At the end it all came to a triumphant dissonant chord. He held the pedal note down and slowly played this penultimate chord. On, off, on, off went the hands. Finally, thankfully, he resolved the work with the climax full-organ harmonic chord, holding it for a long time. He lifted his hands and feet, and the reverberations continued for several seconds as the chord died out. Incredible!
At last, the trip had to end, and sadly, I flew home the next day via London. It took several weeks to come down from this trip. I had so much fun and learned so much about art, history, music, architecture, culture, and even gelato.
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