tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post113364530169276988..comments2024-03-26T15:57:13.443+00:00Comments on On An Overgrown Path: I am a camera - DresdenUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-1147209704791582222006-05-09T22:21:00.000+01:002006-05-09T22:21:00.000+01:00Simon, thanks for those kind words. And yes, the o...Simon, thanks for those kind words. And yes, the original Silbermann organ which Bach, among others, played has been recreated in loving detail.<BR/><BR/>What a triumph of workmanship, and what a tragedy that the original organ, the Frauenkirche, and the rest of the centre of Dresden, and so many innocent lives, were needlessly destroyed.Pliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-1147209193242765822006-05-09T22:13:00.000+01:002006-05-09T22:13:00.000+01:00They're lovely pictures. I visited in 2004 when th...They're lovely pictures. I visited in 2004 when the Frauenkirche was in the final stages of completion, but I didn't see the interior. Is the organ an exact --or as exact as they can get it -- reproduction of the original that the Allies destroyed?Simon Trezisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09944038709535202748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-1136807256066194062006-01-09T11:47:00.000+00:002006-01-09T11:47:00.000+00:00Quote from Squadron Leader Peter de Wesselow, mast...Quote from Squadron Leader Peter de Wesselow, master bomber for the first RAF attack on Dresden on 13 Feb 1945. <BR/><BR/><B>"In general, you saw a light on the ground, which was the fires - but mainly you saw a glowing light in the smoke. Then searchlights above and ack-ack around you. There was always a weird feeling of unreality in Bomber Command. You were living in, say, Cambridgeshire or Norfolk; you were thinking of friends, pubs, girls, even intellectual pursuits. Then you were launched for eight hours into a different world at 20,000 feet over Germany.<BR/><BR/>Dresden was one experience among many for us. At briefing, we were told it was a communications centre for the Russian Front. I think we knew, and were told, that it was to help, and still more impress, the Russians with the powere of Bomber Command. Yalta had just occured. It was deep in, deeper than Berlin, so there was smaller chance of survival. I wished it had been Cologne or even the Ruhr.<BR/><BR/>The target was lit up a long way ahead, but nothing very special. The weather was good. My main memory is of coming down for a better view. I couldn't identify the aiming point, which must be why I came down to 5,000 feet - just above the blast range of our 4000lb bombs. I can still see one picture distinctly: there was a platz flanked by a fine building, and some gabled houses suggestive of south Germany. There was a mass of smoke (to the east?) and an industrial area (to the west?) clear of smoke. The city was distinctly lit up. I saw people in the streets, I saw a dog rush across a road - and felt sorry for it (is that absurd?). I was busy, keeping the bombing from going away from the main line and allowing for creep back.<BR/><BR/>The uniqueness of Dresden for me was coming down, because it needed it. I had a good aircraft, there seemed to be no opposition. So coming down, I saw much more; it was more intimate. All these raids were pretty horrifying though.<BR/><BR/>We went to Dresden with the usual sinking feeling of personal fear, suppresed by busying ourselves with our technical tasks, in the usual ignorance of why our masters chose this target and briefed on the matter only so far as was relevant to destroying what they wanted to destroy."</B><BR/><BR/>From <I>The Devil's Tinderbox - Dresden 1945</I> by Alexander McKee (Souvenir Press ISBN 0285635476)Pliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-1135041432502235702005-12-20T01:17:00.000+00:002005-12-20T01:17:00.000+00:00The brilliance of the photos scarcely does justice...The brilliance of the photos scarcely does justice to the building. The week after your post, I was there as a member of the Bach Choir from London, who sang Handel's Messiah to two packed and enthusiastic houses. The whole event was full of the symbolism of reconciliation: the golden cross which crowns the restored church was given by well-wishers in the UK and made by the son of one of the wartime pilots. And singing with us, at her request, was a brave lady whose mother sang in the choir there in 1944 and died in the raid. Some parts of the text were very hard to sing, such was the emotion we all felt. Truly a wonderful experience, and part of the whole miracle of the place.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-1133755217664685492005-12-05T04:00:00.000+00:002005-12-05T04:00:00.000+00:00Spec-freaking-tacular. What an inspiring post.Spec-freaking-tacular. What an inspiring post.Hucbaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17111826753868595100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-1133740436438549652005-12-04T23:53:00.000+00:002005-12-04T23:53:00.000+00:00Speaking of "Recycling Shostakovich and Beethoven"...Speaking of "Recycling Shostakovich and Beethoven", I fuond Naidin's reply very interesting. And there's a video recording of the Debussy Quartet playing live the Shostakovich 9th, I think in Lyon.Mr Duffyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09304809960513636841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-1133696929976559202005-12-04T11:48:00.000+00:002005-12-04T11:48:00.000+00:00Excellent pix....Excellent pix....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-1133684654384412972005-12-04T08:24:00.000+00:002005-12-04T08:24:00.000+00:00Indeed visiting Dresden is a must.Indeed visiting Dresden is a must.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com