The guided tour of the monastery ended in the magnificent Baroque church, with the 'Bruckner organ' and Bruckner's tomb below it in the crypt – according to his wishes – of particular interest to me. The remarkable ceiling, by the painters Gumpp and Steidl from Munich, illustrates the martyrdom of St Florian – he is flagellated, beaten, thrown into the River Enns and assumed into Heaven, where he is glorified as the patron against fire (the patron saint of firefighters).
The Bruckner Organ over the west door has four manuals, 103 stops and 7343 pipes. It was built between 1770 and 1774 by Franz Chrismann, from Laibach, Yugoslavia, was further developed in 1873, and was restored by Wilhelm Zika between 1945 and 1951. More work was carried out in 1996 on the centenary of Bruckner's death.
After a break outside for some photos in the watery sun, I returned to the church for an excellent 20-minute organ recital [14:30 daily except Tuesday and Saturday, details in the Music Trail]. I'd already bought a well-recorded CD from a choice of several in the monastery shop: works by Bruckner, Bach, Couperin and Prof. Augustinus Franz Kropfreiter, performed by Kropfreiter. |
