Husum Ahoy!

My fourth yearly Autumn visit to sing with the Theodor Storms Chor in Husum was marked by a complete absence of sunshine, but it was also a time to enjoy a feast of Mozart.

Penny and I flew from Birmingham to Hamburg as usual, then took the brand-new S-Bahn (suburban railway) to the main railway station, and the train to Schleswig, where we were met by Marketta Weßler.  On the return journey Georg Weßler drove us straight to the Hamburg airport – for chauffeuring us, and for their unfailingly generous hospitality, we owe them very sincere thanks.

Friday morning provided an opportunity, on the occasion of the anniversary of the opening of the Altenbegegnungsstätte (a community centre for the elderly run by St. Marienkirche), to hear a talk by Henning Scherf, the former Bürgermeister of Bremen, on opportunities and services for the elderly;  he was an engaging and passionate speaker. 

Later that day I joined the members of the Theodor Storms Chor on a coach to St. Peter-Ording for the first rehearsal of the weekend.  The TSC had joined with the Kantorei St. Peter to perform Mozart’s Requiem (in the 1993 realisation by American composer Robert Levin) and Vesperae solennes de Dominica, and, as Jens Weigelt, the TSC’s conductor, was recovering after a heart attack, the rehearsals and both concerts were conducted by Christoph Jensen, director of the Kantorei St. Peter and a former pupil of Jens Weigelt.

Saturday began with some shopping and then, after lunch, the journey to Tating, near St. Peter-Ording, where that day’s concert would take place.  Tating’s St. Magnuskirche – the largest on the Eiderstedt peninsula – dates from 1103 and has many historic features: a good venue for Mozart, but as it turned out not really ideal for the size of the choir, orchestra and audience.  Nevertheless, an enjoyable rehearsal and performance, marked particularly by the beautiful singing of the four soloists and the playing of the concerto classico orchestra – a group of professionals and students based in St. Peter-Ording.

On Sunday we and our hosts were guests of Manfred Kamper (former Propst of the then Husum-Bredstedt Kirchenkreis) and his wife Frigga for a lunch that featured Grünkohl, a speciality of Nordfriesland, after which we made our way to the Stadtkirche, St. Marien, for another rehearsal before our second concert.  St. Marienkirche is a much larger venue than the church at Tating, and although there was a capacity audience the overall effect was very impressive.  Again the soloists excelled, and Christoph Jensen showed himself an able and sensitive musical director.  All in all a most enjoyable concert.

Sunday’s concert began at 5.00 p.m., which allowed plenty of time for the party at the Thomas Hotel that followed – a time to reminisce and to renew old friendships.  At the party Jens Weigelt, who had attended that day’s rehearsal and concert, made a speech, and was evidently well on the way to recovering his former energy and strength.

Before we left Husum on Monday there was just time for a call at the Rathaus, where we met up with Bürgermeister Rainer Maaß, and a bit of last-minute shopping.  And so back to England – tired, but happy to have experienced once again the pleasures of friendship and music-making in Husum.

Ray Harrowing