Admittedly, it is not easy, feel-good music that will be performed in Aachen Cathedral on Sunday, 6 April at 6 pm. But you wouldn’t expect it to be during the Easter penitential season, when the Aachen Cathedral Choir performs Bach’s St Matthew or St John Passion in alternate years in keeping with tradition. This year, this practice will be interrupted for a change due to the recent change of leadership in the office of the cathedral choirmaster.

Instead, cathedral organist Michael Hoppe will perform ‘Music for the Passion’ on the organ and play the ‘Way of the Cross / Le Chemin de la croix’ by Marcel Dupré. The complex work, which is one of the most important compositions of the 20th century for the organ, cannot be clearly assigned to a musical genre, but rather operates as an organ meditation, combined with contemporary text reflections by pastoral counsellor Stefan Voges, pastoral counsellor.

‘Dupré himself originally improvised this work to texts by Paul Claudel,’ says Michael Hoppe. ‘Musically, I see a beautiful symbiosis between drama and very internalised moments. The individual stages from the condemnation of Jesus to his death on the cross are subtle meditations with a conscious theology behind them. You can literally hear the hammer blows and gasp for air, then suddenly pause in silence or feel the emotions of the encounter with the weeping women. It’s music that – if you let yourself in – goes through your bones!’

The audience is in for an intense 60 minutes, which already serve as spiritual preparation for Easter in that the ‘Way of the Cross’ at the end, with its timid, quiet sounds, offers a glimpse of the resurrection and the victory of life over death.

Admission to the concert is free, but an appropriate donation is requested at the exit.

‘Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden‘ is the main work of a concert performed by the Aachen Cathedral Girls’ Choir on Saturday, 8 March at 7 pm. The occasion is the 275th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach’s death. But not only that. Rather, the work is intended as a musical continuation of the ‘Stabat mater Dolorosa’ by Pergolesi (1710-1736), to which the singers dedicated themselves last year.

Many important composers have set this religious poem to music, but Pergolesi’s version is considered the most famous. Bach knew and adapted the version by setting a German adaptation of Psalm 51 instead of the Latin sequence. The theme is a person who is aware of his guilt and asks God for forgiveness.

Bach largely adopted the music, although he changed some of the movements and expanded the orchestration. Bach’s revision surprisingly fell into oblivion. St Thomas’ Cantor Karl Straube first drew attention to it again in 1946. ‘The work has also been slumbering in my drawer for years,‘ admits cathedral cantor Marco Fühner, director of the girls’ choir. ‘But after we sang Pergolesi’s ‘Stabat mater’ a year ago, it seemed logical to me to juxtapose it with Bach’s musically denser arrangement this year.’

As part of their traditional cathedral concert at the beginning of Lent, the young singers also perform ‘Miserere in D minor’ by Johann Adolf Hasse. This penitential psalm for four-part girls’ choir culminates in a solemn ending in D major. During his thirty-year tenure as court conductor in Dresden, Hasse – renowned for his operatic compositions – moulded the orchestra there into one of the top ensembles of the time. Bach also visited the Dresden Court Opera several times to hear Hasse’s ‘pretty little songs’.

Judith Hilgers (soprano) and Eva Nesselrath (alto) and the Aachen Cathedral Orchestra under the direction of Marco Fühner will perform together with the girls’ choir. The title of the concert, ‘Absolution’, picks up on the occasion and content.

Tickets (8 to 18 euros) are now available here: ABSOLUTION

Why did the German-Jewish writer Barbara Honigmann emigrate from East Berlin to Strasbourg in 1984? How does she write about Jewish life between orthodoxy and modernity? And why is it important to her to speak, tell and write about the ‘juif inauthentique’ (Jean-Paul Sartre)?

At the invitation of the European Foundation Aachen Cathedral (ESAD), Barbara Honigmann will be reading two chapters from her book ‘Das Gesicht wiederfinden’ on

It is about Jewish life in Europe in the past and present: on the one hand, using the example of the Jewish Slavicist Etty Hillesum in occupied Holland in 1941/42, who in a desperate situation sought a faith between Jewish and Christian texts, and on the other hand, using the example of her own Jewish studies in Strasbourg, the ‘Jerusalem of the West’. Following the reading, the author will talk to literature professor Michael Braun about her experiences and observations as well as her writing.

Barbara Honigmann, born in 1949 as the child of Jewish emigrants in East Berlin, worked as a dramaturge and director at the Volksbühne and Deutsches Theater in Berlin in the 1970s. In 1984, she immigrated with her family to the Jewish community in Strasbourg. Since 1986, she has published prose, novels and essays, most recently the father book ‘Georg’ and the essay collections ‘Das Gesicht wiederfinden’ and ‘Unverschämt jüdisch’. Honigmann, said the President of the Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin, Prof Dr Raphael Gross, at the Adenauer Foundation’s 2022 Literature Prize Award Ceremony, provides enlightenment from an extremely marginal historical constellation: ‘About false historical narratives. About false concealment. About false assumptions. About completely false shame.’
Admission to the reading is free, registration is not required.

At the invitation of the European Aachen Cathedral Foundation, Jean-Claude Cardinal Hollerich SJ, Vice-President of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, will speak at the Cathedral on

will give a lecture in Aachen Cathedral. The topic will be the role of the Church in the European context. The moderator will be the former editor of the Aachener Zeitung, Peter Pappert. Admission is free.

4x tower winds and Advent impulses
Anyone looking for a little spiritual time-out in the run-up to Christmas is cordially invited to the Advent impulses in Aachen Cathedral. These begin on Fridays, 29 November, 6, 13 and 20 December, at 6:45 pm with trumpet playing by the ‘Neuß’ private chapel wind ensemble in the direction of the cathedral courtyard. This is followed by a 15-minute spiritual impulse on the subject of ‘Advent Symbols’ in the cathedral.

3 open sing-alongs in the cathedral singing school
During the Christmas market period, there will be open sing-alongs in the Cathedral Singing School three times on Mondays, 2, 9 and 16 December, at 4 pm. Everyone who likes to sing is cordially invited! Admission is free.

Christmas Concert at the cathedral singing school
The ‘Music for Advent and Christmas’ is the Cathedral Singing School’s most popular event. On Saturday, 22 December at 4 pm, the boys and girls will get their audience in the mood for the approaching Christmas season for the 34th time. Cathedral organist Michael Hoppe and a small orchestra will provide the instrumental accompaniment. The concert will be conducted by headmistress Irma Wüller. Admission is free, admission from 15:30.

Spiritual music from the girls’ choir for Advent
Under the title ‘Silence’, the girls’ choir at Aachen Cathedral is dedicating itself to sacred music for Advent. For their performance on Sunday, 8 December at 6 pm, the singers will be studying works by Ola Gjeilo, Javier Busto, Arvo Pärt and others under the direction of cathedral cantor Marco Fühner. Arvo Pärt and others. Admission is free.

Christmas concert by the cathedral choir in the Coronation Hall
Since 1994, the Lions Club Aachen has been organising a Christmas concert with the Aachen Cathedral Choir in the historic Coronation Hall of the Town Hall on the third Sunday in Advent. This year’s charity concert on Sunday, 15 December, at 5 p.m., once again offers the opportunity to show social co-responsibility: All proceeds are earmarked for social causes. Information on advance ticket sales at: www.lionsclub-aachen.de

3x evening praise in the Latin rite
On three Sundays in Advent (1, 15 and 22 December), visitors can join in the evening praise in the Latin rite and with a sacramental blessing, starting at 6 pm. Participants are invited to sing in this traditional form of worship and (re)discover the power of prayer. Duration: approx. 45 minutes.

Lunchtime meditations
The ecumenical lunchtime meditations take place on Wednesdays and Fridays at 13:30 during Advent, and four times from Tuesdays to Fridays in the week before the Christmas holidays (17 to 20 December). This short time-out in the St Nicholas Chapel of the cathedral is a quarter of an hour’s reflection with word and music contributions. Come in and come down!

4 visits to the throne without a guided tour
On two Advent weekends, the Aachen Cathedral Action Group and the Service of Honour make it possible to visit the throne, which is otherwise only possible as part of a guided tour. Admission is 3 euros for adults and 1 euro for children (6 to 16 years). All proceeds go towards the preservation of the cathedral.

For the 30th time, the Aachen Cathedral Action Group (AAD) and the Honours Service are inviting visitors to climb the tower and view the throne parallel to the European Market. This year, visitors can climb the 184 steps in the western tower on 7 and 8 September and enjoy the view of the town hall and the old town. Those who wish can stop off at the royal throne, which can otherwise only be seen as part of a guided tour.

You can round off the breathtaking experience with a detour to the ‘Dom Café’, where the choirs of the Cathedral Music will be serving cakes, waffles and crêpes in the foyer of the Cathedral Singing School.
The organisers of the Honours Service and the Action Group would like to point out that all proceeds will go towards the restoration of the cathedral and the Cathedral Music Society.

The organ is often referred to as the “queen of instruments” due to its powerful sound and size. Almost every organ is unique, specially designed for the client and specially adapted to the room. This also applies to the organ in Aachen Cathedral: it was built in 1939 by the renowned Klais organ builders in Bonn, extended in 1993 by the Hochmünster organ, but its basic structure goes back to an older instrument. Today’s organ has 94 stops. Outside of church services, its impressive sound and technology can usually only be experienced during concerts organised by the cathedral’s music department. But once a year – during the “Organ Days at Aachen Cathedral” – it itself takes centre stage.

The concert series is now a firm fixture in the cathedral’s annual calendar and enjoys nationwide popularity. Not only proven organ fans and connoisseurs of classical music enjoy coming to the four concerts in late summer, but increasingly also students and people who enjoy the special experience of sound and space in a world heritage site.

This year, cathedral organist Michael Hoppe has once again invited three colleagues, each of whom will be free to organise their own concert evening and showcase very different styles and focuses. The organiser himself will kick things off: On Tuesday, 27 August, at 7 pm, he will draw on the full musical spectrum and play pieces by Bach, Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Jean Jacques Grunenwald and the monumental organ work “Ad nos ad salutarem undam” by Franz Liszt.

Under the title “Time for B”, Friedemann Johannes Wieland, cathedral organist from Ulm, will dedicate himself to famous composers such as Bach, Buxtehude and Barber on Thursday, 29 August at 7 pm, travelling stylistically from the Baroque to modern times.

“In the middle” – the title of the programme – is the guest performance by Daniel Beckmann, cathedral organist from Mainz, on Tuesday, 3 September at 7 pm. In addition to classical works, visitors can also look forward to his interpretations of contemporary works by Bovet, Franck and Dupré.

Stephan Leuthold, cathedral organist from Bremen, will bring the Organ Days to a close on Thursday, 5 September with “People, Images, Emotions”. Popular works such as the Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 by Edvard Grieg will be performed alongside romantic pieces such as the Sonata No. 5 in D minor op. 118 by Gustav Adolf Merkel and sacred compositions such as “Nun danket alle Gott BWV 657” by Johann Sebastian Bach.

ADMISSION TICKETS

The entrance fee (€9.00, reduced €6.00) covers the costs. Tickets can be purchased online or at the Dominformation until the start of the concert at 7 pm.

The idea for a special choral encounter was born during a visit to Aachen Cathedral by the management team of the Cologne Cathedral Choir in March. Just a few weeks later, the idea turned into a double concert by both cathedral choirs on the left bank of the Rhine. Twice in June, the ensembles will enter into a sonorous musical dialogue with their boys and gentlemen. The title ‘Exsultate – Jubilate’ (Rejoice, rejoice) can be interpreted as a celebration of musical co-operation.

First, the Aachen Cathedral Choir will travel to Cologne Cathedral on Tuesday, 4 June, where the concert will begin at 8 pm. Admission is free, but a donation is requested.
Admission tickets are available online at: https://www.koelner-dom.de/book/4466
The return visit to Aachen Cathedral will take place on Friday, 21 June, at 7 pm. Tickets priced at 10 euros (concessions 8 euros) can be purchased now: www.dommusik-aachen.de

The programmes offer a broad cross-section of romantic, baroque and contemporary works and impressively reveal the singers’ extraordinary abilities – a real treat not only for classical music lovers!

The Aachen Cathedral conductor Berthold Botzet and his colleague Eberhard Metternich are also very much looking forward to these choral encounters for personal reasons: This will be the last meeting of this kind for both of them, as both Botzet and Metternich will be retiring next year after many years of service.

‘Without more commitment to our Europe, we will all fail in the face of history!’ This is the title of the speech by former Federal President Christian Wulff on Tuesday, 7 May at 5 p.m., which will introduce the supporting programme of the Charlemagne Prize celebrations in Aachen Cathedral.

In honor of the Youth Charlemagne Prize winners and the Charlemagne Prize winner 2024, the “Diplomatic String Quartet” will perform the musical part of the event in two 20-minute parts. The program includes works by Jewish composers. Incidentally, the second violin is played by the Federal Government Commissioner for Anti-Semitism, Dr. Felix Klein.

Admission is free, but registration is requested by e-mail to events@karlspreis.de.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion is considered a baroque music drama par excellence. Using the musical means of (Baroque) opera, the composer created a drama whose scenery is intended to play out in the listener’s mind’s eye. The story of the Passion of Jesus Christ is told according to the account by the evangelist Matthew.

At more than 150 minutes long, the St Matthew Passion, conceived for two choirs and two orchestras, is not only Bach’s most extensive work, but also his most heavily scored. The Evangelist’s simple account replaces the action on stage. The work unfolds its impressive stereophonic effect thanks to the double choir and orchestra, in which the choirs often engage in dialogue with each other. The two parts of the setting are framed by large-scale opening and closing choruses. In between, there are contemplative arias that internalise the suffering of Jesus. Between the recitatives, choruses and arias are the chorales, which refer to the dramatic climaxes of the plot.

The St Matthew Passion will be performed in Aachen Cathedral on Sunday, 17 March at 5 pm. The performers are Markus Schäfer, Evangelist; Timothy Sharp, Christ’s Words; Judith Hilgers, soprano; Elisabeth Stützer, alto; Milos Bulajic, tenor; Thomas Bonni, bass; the baroque ensemble “Concert Royal Köln” on period instruments and the Aachen Cathedral Choir. The concert will be conducted by cathedral conductor Berthold Botzet.

Tickets between 8 and 18 euros are available here