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View of the gallery and the nave. In the gallery, a man is sitting at the organ console; to his right stand two women, one playing the violin and the other the flute.

Christmas music in flux

Three musicians from the Mittweida University of Applied Sciences fill the Mittweida Town Church with the sound of six instruments. Electronics developed at the university bring the organ and glockenspiel to life.

This page was translated automatically using artificial intelligence (DeepL). The German version is binding. More information about automatic translation

View from the chancel upwards into the nave towards the galleries. In the background on the left, between two pillars, stands the flautist; on the gallery on the right is the violinist.
Spot the difference: Silia Aichele is in the top left-hand corner of the organ gallery between the pillars; Gina Marie Ehrhardt is on the north gallery.

Traditions help to get us in the mood for Christmas. Reinterpreting traditions and breathing new life into them with surprises does no harm at all. For those attending the – traditional – Christmas concert with Professor Frank Czerner on 5 December, it was certainly a new experience to take their seats in the chancel of Mittweida Town Church this time, rather than in the organ loft. “We’ve always done it this way” would not befit an academic institution that sees itself as a boundless testing ground for possibilities.

In the foreground is a black grand piano, to which a poster bearing the inscription ‘Mittweida Living Advent Calendar – 5’ is attached. Behind the grand piano, the professor is standing, facing the violinist and the flautist, and applauding them. In the background of the picture, members of the audience are sitting and applauding.
A round of applause for the other participants: Silia Aichele (right) studied ‘General and Digital Forensic Science’ in Mittweida, whilst Gina Marie Ehrhardt is about to complete her Bachelor’s degree in the same subject. The Christmas music was the fifth door of the 2024 Living Advent Calendar organised by the Christian churches in Mittweida.

Sound from throughout the church

So whilst this year’s audience did not get as close to the professor at the organ and his two accompanists – Silia Aichele on the flute and Gina Marie Ehrhardt on the violin – as they usually do, for the three of them the musical performance was almost an athletic challenge: For whilst, during the course of the one-hour concert, the Ladegast-Jehmlich organ or, in the chancel, the Steinway grand piano were at times accompanied by the glockenspiel – the ‘Celesta’ from 2022 – the violin and flute were played at times from the middle bay of the northern side aisle gallery, at times from the organ loft, and at times directly from the chancel. The mobile trio of musicians thus ensured that the music was heard simultaneously from three different locations within the nave.

Two women are looking with interest at a keyboard that is positioned at right angles to the keyboard of a grand piano and resembles an electronic keyboard. Professor Czerner leans over the music stand and presses a key.
Curious glances at the music stand, which is connected to the celesta by a cable.

Technology brings music to life

The fact that Czerner, whilst at the grand piano in the chancel, was also able to play the distant, stationary celesta with his right hand is made possible by its electronic remote control via a dedicated mobile manual. Behind this is another professor from Mittweida: Christian Schulz. Many years ago, he had developed an electronic bypass for the old, fault-prone mechanical console of the Mittweida organ. This has evolved into a system known as the ‘Eule Organ Electronics System’, which is now used worldwide and also enables the control of the glockenspiel, which is physically separated from the organ. Schulz is currently testing a dynamic control system on the Mittweida Celesta, which will soon enable the pipe carillon of the ‘Porsche organ’ in Leipzig’s St Nicholas’ Church to be played at varying volumes.

A man is speaking with a smile from the lectern in front of the altar.
Professor Christian Schulz, Chairman of the Mittweida Organ Society, gives a brief introduction to the history of the organ, which was built in 1888 by Friedrich Ladegast and extended in 1931 by Jehmlich Orgelbau. Schulz himself oversaw the extensive restoration work in 2017/18.

Combining secular and religious Christmas themes

To set the mood for the Christmas concert at the ‘Unser lieben Frauen’ town church in Mittweida, the ‘Big Ben’ theme, ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ were performed. The programme continued in a meditative vein with the Jewish melody ‘Kennst du das alte Lied’, interwoven with the theme ‘Maria durch ein Dornwald ging’. This was followed by improvisations on well-known melodies: ‘My Bonnie is over the Ocean’ and ‘Jingle Bells’, which flowed into ‘Leise rieselt der Schnee’ (Softly Falls the Snow), the melody of which was carried on by the violin before the flute and grand piano/celesta joined in again. The “Finale” was “Nun freut euch, ihr Christen” (“Now Rejoice, O Christians”), which began on the organ and whose third and fourth verses were continued in the chancel with the grand piano, celesta, violin and flute. The entire concert is also available to listen to online. The recording was made by Andreas Löffler.

A young woman is standing at the lectern in front of the altar, smiling, and speaking into a microphone.
Gina Marie Ehrhardt recites her poem ‘The Magic of Winter’.
Visitors are standing around the organ console, where the professor is playing.
A time-honoured tradition with visitors in the gallery: after the concert, Professor Czerner gave everyone the opportunity to see and hear the celesta and the Ladegast-Jehmlich organ. Afterwards, everyone stayed together to enjoy mulled wine, tea and pastries.