St Thomas Church, Leipzig
The history of the late-Gothic Thomaskirche or the St Thomas Church is connected to that of the city Leipzig and to German heritage and culture like few others.
Thomaskirche was built as part of a 13th-century monastery, but now stands on its own. Its tall roof dates from 1496, and the church was heavily restored after World War II.
Martin Luther preached here on Whitsunday 1539, signaling the arrival of Protestantism in Leipzig.
JS Bach memorial in front of St Thomas Church, Leipzig
Bach’s 12 children and the infant Richard Wagner were baptized here in the early 17th-century, and composers Wolfang Mozart and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy performed here.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, godfathers to another revolutionary Karl Liebknecht, attended the latter’s baptism here.
However, no one is indelibly linked to the Thomaskirche as celebrated composer Johann Sebastian Bach, Leipzig’s musical director – director ‘musices lipsiensis’ – and choirmaster of the St Thomas’ Boys Choir for 27 years between 1723 and 1750.
Bach was a member of and wrote most of his cantatas for the church’s famous boys’ choir, the Thomanerchor (St Thomas Boys’ Choir), which was founded in the 13th century.
Bach's final resting place
In the Middle Ages, the boys sang on every occasion – city celebrations, the installation of bishops, and even executions.
Recently, the church has hosted artists such as cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin, the latter performing Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Thomanerchor for the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death.
For more about the city of Leipzig, which can rightfully call itself the ‘City of Music‘, click here.
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The St Thomas Boys Choir, Leipzig, makes its Singapore debut on March 6 at the Esplanade Concert Hall.
