Passau

Our river cruise ship, the Amadeus Brilliant, will depart from Passau to journey down the Danube as far as Budapest and then back upstream again to Passau. We arrived by bus from Prague and set off for the cathedral, which is just a few (mostly vertical) blocks from where the cruise ships dock. Earthbound Expeditions arranged a private organ concert for us in the mid-afternoon, as we arrived too late in Passau for the daily concert at noon.

Cathedral of St Stephan and its enormous pipe organ

The interior of St Stephan's, looking toward the altar.

The view in the other direction, towards the rear. The organ loft above the entrance is lighted, while most of the rest of the sanctuary is in darkness.

The cathedral's pipe organ is made up of five separate organs in different locations around the church. All are played from a single console. When I saw this organ about 10 years ago, one of the five organs was actually on the ceiling, with all of the pipes horizontal. Apparently it has been moved, as it is no longer visible from the floor of the cathedral.

The main part of the organ is in the rear of the church, with two large additions on either side (not visible in this photo).  The organist's console is just behind the stone railing, on the extreme left.

Matthew found a way to get a few of us up into the organ loft for the concert. No photos were allowed during the performance, but I was able to take these afterward.

The console of the organ: 5 manuals, 17,774 pipes, and a bazillion stops.

Talking with the organist after the concert.

It has no effect on the sound, of course, but the organ is very elaborately decorated; much of it is gilded or painted gold.

 

Most of the loft area just in front of the main organ is a set of risers for an orchestra or other instrumentalists. I was struck by these chairs that are made just for this location: their front and back legs are different lengths.

Posing at the organ console.

The last page of the music that was played at the concert. Lots of markings, plus a scrap of fluorescent Post-It note that's hard to miss.

In the courtyard as we left the cathedral, I spotted this sundial on the wall opposite the door. Sundials aren't limited to being horizontal, like the ones we see in gardens. They can be laid out for any wall or other surface as long as the surface receives direct sun for at least part of the day.

After the concert, we boarded the Amadeus Brilliant and departed downstream for Vienna.