Kloster Chorin

I went to Kloster Chorin with Johanna yesterday afternoon. My Silsdeners are probably asking what and where is it. Open map of Berlin. Find a railway station in the east called Lichtenberg. Jump onto the RE3 train heading north and enjoy the countryside. Go through Eberswalde and two stops later get out at Bahnhof Chorin. You can take a shuttle bus all of 5 minutes to the Kloster – Cloister or walk 1.8 km through the woods until you arrive there.

We went there to enjoy listening to Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.2. It is known as the ‘Resurrection’ symphony in all of 5 movements. It was played by the Brandenburg Staatsorchestra Frankfurt plus choir and lead singers. The acoustic in the Kloster is remarkable. You can read all about the history of the Kloster in a number of buildings with information in German and English!

It took Mahler from 1887 to 1894 to complete the symphony but then he was busy as a conductor and completing symphony No.1 plus writing symphonies 3 and 4. Busy and productive time! You will find shared themes and musical expressions in symphonies 2,3 and 4. I think that his symphonies 2 and 5 are probably best known and played more often in concert halls and on the radio. My favourite is still No.6!

Johanna and I walked back to the station. Some exercise after sitting so long. We found seats on the train and talked about the afternoon and music. I got home just before the start of the Germany-vs-Sweden football match. The whole country stopped moving to watch and see if the team would be out or move to the next level. After a good start they went to sleep then woke up again at the end to score 2.1. They have made it through to the next round.

And now I am going to get ready to watch the England-vs-Panama match. It starts in 45 minutes. Just enough time to grab something to eat and pour into a glass :-)UPDATE: England won 6:1. Amazing!