The baroque organ
The instrument Bach knew and applied to play.
Ajepbah โ CC BY-SA 3.0 de ยท Alchemist-hp (talk) โ CC BY-SA 3.0 ยท Alchemist-hp (talk) โ CC BY-SA 3.0 ยท Alchemist-hp (talk) โ CC BY-SA 3.0
Because the church expected the successful candidate to make a substantial financial donation as an unstated part of the appointment โ a common practice at the time. Bach played before the committee and impressed it but withdrew, and the post went to another candidate who paid a large sum. The episode is documented and drew criticism even in its own day.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet โ be the first.
St James' is one of Hamburg's five principal churches, its origins reaching back to the fourteenth century. It was destroyed in a 1944 raid and rebuilt in the 1950s, but its most important treasure survived by pure chance, having been dismantled and stored outside the city before the bombing. That treasure is the Arp Schnitger organ of 1693: one of the most important surviving baroque organs anywhere, with four thousand pipes, and the instrument Johann Sebastian Bach knew and admired โ he applied for the post of organist at this church in 1720 but did not get it. The organ is still played at regular concerts, which are the best way to hear it. The church also holds three medieval wooden altarpieces that likewise survived, and carved pews. The building stands squarely in the city centre near the Monckebergstrasse shopping street, entry is free, and the visit is short but the organ alone justifies it.
The instrument Bach knew and applied to play.
Three wooden altars that survived the war.
Jakobikirchhof 22, 20095 Hamburg