All along our 500 km journey, our host, Hans-Ulrich Erbslöh, kept phoning the office at St. Ludwig’s in Munich to see if we could see the organ there. Apparently it being Monday, it was both the pastor’s and the organist’s day off, but the secretary kept trying to reach them. By the time we reached Munich about 4:30 we got the word that it was OK to see the organ.

The instrument was built in 1959-1960 by Rudolf von Beckerath which means it was one of his earlier installations. It has four manuals and 54 stops and there are a number of stops and innovations which made it ahead of its time. As I wrote in an earlier post, I brought my organ shoes and Bach’s Clavierübung just in case I would have this opportunity. I played for about half an hour and Carl said I could now say that I played an all-Bach recital at St. Ludwig’s because there were people coming in and out of the church throughout. What a gem that organ is! Even though I haven’t touched an organ keyboard in over two weeks and my fingers were mush, I could tell this instrument is a real gem. I could get used to this anytime! I just loved the rolling acoustics, and the sound of the organ just went on and on.