Bus Tour and Peterskirche

---

Our tour of Vienna was scheduled for today. We loaded the bus this morning and got an extensive (if artificial, since we were in a bus) view of Vienna, complete with a stop at the Zentral Friedhof, or Central Cemetery where we were able to see the graves of some of the most important composers of all times. Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Wolf, Strauss, Schubert and Schoenberg all claim this cemetery as their final resting place, and although most of the musicians buried here were originally interred at different cemeteries in the greater Vienna area, someone had the bright idea of relocating all the graves to one central location for easy access. The central location of all these graves makes it easy on the tourists, but unfortunately, it felt a bit “reconstructed” since all the composers had been essentially laid out in a handy semicircle for a fluid viewing experience. Still, there was an almost ethereal sense of eeriness just being in such close proximity to the bodies of these immortal musicians. The church at the cemetery offered another unique opportunity for us: once in the church we circled up and did an extemporaneous performance of di Lasso’s Magnificat Perpulcrum just for ourselves…this was a magnificent place in which to sing and provided a beautiful acoustic for a powerful work.

Our afternoon consisted of a prepaid lunch followed by a rehearsal for tonight’s concert. The lunch consisted of authentic Wiener schnitzel made from veal. It was an interesting meal…not a taste I’m accustomed to, but still a fun experience. After lunch, we headed to Peterskirche (St. Peter’s church) near Heldenplatz and St. Stephen’s square where we had a brief rehearsal for our concert. The church was quite beautiful. Built in the baroque style, the church was an example of the ostentatious décor that was meant to glorify god in the biggest way. The altar reached from floor to ceiling and was complete with gold leafing, bold colors, and unfathomable elaborate ornamentations in grandiose style. The church (an Opus Dei congregation—ironically this was the same weekend of the Da Vinci Code’s cinematic release) is still operational and we were scheduled to sing right after tonight’s mass. However, upon hearing our rehearsal, the priest asked if we might like to sing during the actual service in addition to our post-mass concert. We of course complied, and planned to do two of our sacred pieces as part of the actual mass itself. After the rehearsal, most of our group jumped on the subway and headed straight back to the hotel, but Derrick, Jason, and I decided to wander back via the Hofburg Palace. After a few pictures in front of the historic Hapsburg residence, we wound back through the streets of Vienna to our hotel.

Tonight’s concert went quite well, and was well accepted by not only the Jefferson Club (who of course loved every concert) but also the random public that happened upon us as well. Even better than the concert however, was another extemporaneous performance on Heldenplatz after our concert: we did a couple of our more entertaining secular pieces right there in the open public (and drew quite a crowd!) I guess this is what I appreciate most about music—the extraordinary way one can affect people when they least expect it. A little gift from us to the city of Vienna (and really, we got as much out of it as anyone else.)

For some reason, several of us craved Italian tonight, and we found a cute little restaurant called “Gondola” just down the street from our hotel: a nice little joint with some good wine. However, after such a packed day, I was quite relieved to hit my pillow.

---