A touch of class

Not too much mind you... just a pinch...

On 8th April we went to the Berliner Dom for an organ concert. Yes its a tiny bit different from the sort of music we listen to normally, but we'd heard about this during the Long Night of Museums (see a previous post). There was an organ concert then, but as it was an electronic organ this was a little dissapointing.

With a bomb attack in May 1944 sections of the burning dome fell into the Gruft. The cathedral was no longer usable, but the organ was initially preserved. After the end of the Second World War the organ was heavily damaged by vandalism and theft. Until an interim roof was constructed in 1953 the organ was abandoned unprotectedly to the elements. The organ has now been completely restored, and this concert was the (re)inauguration of it.

So this was a bit different to the electric jobie... 7,296 pipes 113 registers, of freshly restored organ. This is one big mama of an organ (please excuse crass phrasing to describe beautiful object) which is quite capable of making the entire church vibrate slightly - and on particular notes slightly more. It is also only this type of organ that can simulate the sound of human voices - which is pretty freaky to hear...