Day 8--St. Augustin

Today was pretty relaxing compared to the past few days. This morning five of us went to a mass at St. Augustin, the main church of the former Emperor, to hear an Anton Bruckner Mass in E Minor. It was absolutely stunning. The orchestra, chorus, and organ were up in the back of the church. We got there early and listened to some of the rehearsal. I recorded a bit of the rehearsal, and I'll try to get that clip uploaded, but our internet connection here is slow. The mass itself ended up being two hours long!! I think that's the longest one I've been to! Bruckner was a late Romantic composer from the late 1800s. It was nice to hear some of that style of music, since we've been inundated with the Classical style of the 1700s. It is quite different. As my colleague Josh so eloquently put it: "Bruckner is more likely lugubrious and chocolate, Haydn is more likely springy and champagne-like." You could feel the bass notes, and the ensembles filled up the space. The final chords were extremely satisfying. I closed my eyes for most parts of the music so I could just absorb the experience with my ears. I let myself just listen instead of putting on my musician-critiquing ears. Goosebumps!