10.00 am – the mighty organ of Der Michel

Published on: 4th November 2014 Published in: Cities & Memory

From the wonderfully ridiculous to the patently sublime, as we head to the Hamburg landmark of St. Michaelis church, or ‘Der Michel’ as they call it here. There’s a daily free service here, and to our faint surprise the church is packed for this one – but just to hear the mighty organ of this hugely impressive Lutheran church is worth the visit. It dominates the space as you’d expect, and when the low bass notes are hit, it’s overwhelming, your entire body reverberating with every note. One of my favourite field recordings from the trip, sound artist Martin Dixon had some great raw material here to inspire this arpeggiated crescendo of a reimagining of the sound of Der Michel.