SKU: HL.4008004

How often has something been justified by, declared to be, or blessed as “in the name of” some cause or other? How can it be that opposing armies and the use of weapons are ever “in the name of”...? This is a common thread in the history of different faiths. Good was created but evil was committed and all “in the name of...” This thread is also found in the history of the Premonstratensian Abbey at Wadgassen. The abbey was built in the 12th century on unfertile, desolate moorland, which later evolved into the most powerful religious community in the Saarland. The history of the abbey records quite astounding achievements under the motto desertum florebit quasi lilium (“the desert will bloom like a lily”); but also the harsh treatment of delinquents. The order had its own school, in which children were taught the seven liberal arts (which included music as well as geography and astronomy), but the poor were left to starve outside the abbey walls and were only allowed to eat from the members' on feast days. The medieval witch trials demanded their pound of flesh, and one group that fell victim were ecstatic dancers who moved wildly to music--which was interpreted as the devil's work. The result: a show trial that sentenced the dancers to death by fire. All in the name of... The year is 1789: Abbot Bordier is in the tenth year of his command. He does not yet know that he is to be the last abbot of an almost 700-year-tradition. Not far from the abbey is the French border, which has long been making itself felt with the sound of gunfire, and the brothers continue to keep a nervous eye on it. The first portents of the French Revolution loom, but no one wants to believe it--that is, until the French pound the door down, storm the abbey and come right into the brothers' chambers. In a blind fury, all the pipes of the abbey organ are torn out, icons beheaded with swords and brothers beaten death while numerous buildings are set on fire. The abbey church is in flames. A frantic and desperate escape begins. Abbot Bordier and a handful of brothers make their getaway via the River Saar, adjacent to the abbey, to the neighbouring village of Bous. They survive, but their life--the Premonstratensian abbey--is destroyed. While they flee towards Prague and the sanctuary of the Strahov Monastery, the abbey at Wadgassen is razed to the ground and becomes a stone quarry. The desert blooms once more, however. A few short decades later, a glasswork arises from the foundations of the abbey. As peace returns to the region, it brings jobs and a new vision for its people.

SKU: BR.CHB-5321-02

ISBN 9790004412497. 7.5 x 10.5 inches. German.

The musicologist Helmut Lauterwasser, staff member of the Repertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM) in the work group located at the Bavarian State Library in Munich, recently discovered two choral pieces for men's voices by the young Johannes Brahms: Des Postillons Morgenlied (text by Wilhelm Muller) and Goldne Bruecken (text by Emanuel Geibel).Brahms presumably wrote Des Postillons Morgenlied as early as 1847 at the age of 14. The piece is thus the earliest of all of Brahms' transmitted works. Goldne Bruecken was perhaps written for a concert given in Celle in early May 1853. Brahms dedicated the two works to the men's choral society of that town. When he later tried to collect the non-published early works in order to destroy them, he apparently forgot the Celle pieces. The previously unknown copies had been preserved in the estate of the Alte Celler Liedertafel. Their authenticity has since been confirmed by the Brahms Complete Edition in Kiel. The Chorus of the Bayerischer Rundfunk gave the first performance and the world- premiere broadcast of the pieces in its BR-KLASSIK program on 5 March 2010.

SKU: PR.114408650

UPC: 680160013180. 8.5 x 11 inches.

The Laurel Tree is rooted in the world of mythology, for it reflects the legend of Daphne and Apollo. As the story goes, Cupid, in a fit of spite, shot Apollo with an arrow that rouses love, then shot Daphne with an arrow that vanquishes love. Upon seeing Daphne, Apollo fell passionately in love. When he approached her, Daphne fled in terror, and Apollo chased after her. Just as she was about to be caught by Apollo, Daphne cried for help to her father, the river-god Peneus. She begged him to change her, to destroy her beauty, so that Apollo would no longer persue her. And so, Peneus turned her into a radiant laurel tree. The Laurel Tree looks at the legend of Daphne in psychological terms. In an essay titled Schizophrenia - the Inward Journey, Joseph Campbell refers to the image of Daphne turning into a laurel tree as the image of a psychosis, and shows that the imagery of the mythological hero journey matches that of schizophrenic fantasy. The movement titles and the structure of the piece are influenced by Campbell's writings on mythology, particularly his universal formula of the hero's journey. The first movement is based on the legend as described above, up to the moment Daphne is turned into a laurel tree. The second movement explores Daphne's inward retreat, deep into her psyche and backward in time, toward chaotic and terrifying experiences, to recover something missed or lost. The third movement tracks Daphne's return journey of rebirth to life, in harmony, at peace, richer, stronger, and more joyous.