Tag Archives: music

Art, History, Leipzig, Photos

Gallery: Leipzig

Leipzig gets its name from from the Slavic word Lipsk, meaning “village where the linden trees grow”. I took the train from Berlin and stayed overnight in Leipzig in order to see St. Thomas Church where J. S. Bach served as a cantor and is buried. I rented a car here and drove to Opfermoor Vogtei, Geismar, Kassel, Externsteine, and Hannover from here.

Berlin, History, Personal Journal, Songs

Video: Syrian Wedding Party in the Lustgarten, Berlin

My traveling companion and I toured the Altes Museum for hours, studying the Ancient Greek, Roman, and Etruscan works. At 6pm the bells of the Berlin Cathedral began to ring the call to Vespers, so we ran outside to listen. Once out there, we saw a Syrian wedding party arrive in the Lustgarten out front. They danced and played music while the crowds gathered around and clapped. Later in the trip, I discovered that this exact location was used by the Nazi’s for rallies during WWII. I would have been standing about where Hitler was standing as I filmed the New Berlin being celebrated.

Modern Folklore

Urban Folklore: “Va, pensiero” and East Germany

As an opera fan, I listen to a great many pieces of music that I don’t necessarily know all the history behind. One of my favorites is “Va, pensiero” by Verdi. The piece is also known as “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves”, wherein the Jewish exiles of Babylon mourn the loss of their homeland and their temple. It wasn’t until I arrived here in Germany that I learned that this piece has a specific, although possibly apocryphal, history here. Supposedly, whenever Nabucco was performed in East Germany, audiences would be so moved by “Va, pensiero”, they would rise to their feet and join the chorus. At first the Politburo was pleased, thinking this a rallying cry around their homeland of Soviet East Germany. Once they realized that the homeland the people were singing of was really the West, Nabucco was quickly stricken from the list of acceptable operas to be performed in the East. I have searched for confirmation of this tale and only found vague and unspecified references to it, but the story is still a compelling example of modern folklore. True or not, it depicts acts of defiance of a people divided that serve to crystallize the zeitgeist of a moment in history.

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