Organs in Vienna Austria
  • Gaudium
    Posts: 49
    Hi all,

    I am in Vienna for a 5-day vacation. Any particular churches and organs that I should put on my must-see list (or other general music places to recommend)? I do have tickets for the Vienna Opera House but haven't made any other plans.

    Thanks!
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 1,959
    Visit all the big churches in the city center. The Opus Dei church, the Peterskirche, has a good choral program (I took a look at the service bulletin for the upcoming Sunday when I visited). The FSSP has a Sunday evening Mass, usually Sung or Solemn, at the Kapuzinerkirche, where the many Habsburgs are buried. I don’t recommend Vespers at the Stephansdom (it was in German and musically stilted, and on a weeknight it probably will be recited by a layperson), but I thought it had a good instrument. The Augustinerkirche and the Michaelerkirche are also near the Hofburg and are historically notable (though ignore the concrete altar in the former!!!).

    Other than at the Dom, I can't tell you about the organ; I only took pictures (I took a picture of the organ in every church in Europe I visited where it was visible).

    Of course, it’s Lent, and you don't appear to be there for Sunday anyways...I hope you enjoy Vienna; it’s one of my favorite places.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Gaudium
  • madorganist
    Posts: 906
    The Augustinerkirche is THE place to go for orchestral Masses. The Church of the Seven Refuges (Altlerchenfeld Parish Church) is slightly off the beaten tourist path but is a real jewel and open during the workday. The address is Mentergasse 13. It's easy to reach by public transit or by foot. I recommend downloading the Quando app even though you're only going to be there a few days. It's free and will save you a lot of time navigating the transit system. In addition to the churches mentioned above, Maria am Gestade, the Jesuitenkirche, and the Votivkirche are notable. Architecturally, they're more impressive than the Kapuzinerkirche or Augustinerkirche, but historically less important. The Karlskirche is probably worth a visit too.
    Thanked by 1BruceL
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 1,959
    I think most of those make the tourist map of the city. FWIW.

    Yeah, Vienna transit is cheap, but if it isn’t the U-bahn it can get complicated (Rome is like that too).
  • BruceL
    Posts: 1,072
    Yeah, the St. Stephen's organ has a long, sad, and tortured history. I heard a nice recital in a parish church in Vienna years ago on a Rieger, but I can't remember for the life of me what it was or who was playing.
  • AOZ
    Posts: 369
    A bit off topic...make sure you stop it at the Jesuitenkirche to see all of the bone fragment relics. So many bones of saints in one place I have never seen.
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