The world has a virtuous courage
A journey through time to peasant parlors and aristocratic palaces | Ensemble astrophil & stella
Fri, September 26th, 2025 - 7:00 PM | Castle Church

Please aboard! A musical journey back in time to the world of half a millennium ago begins. In 1525, significant upheavals swept across large areas of the German-speaking world, largely initiated by farmers and rural communities: Nothing less than the right to self-determination of the poorest was at stake. The four-person ensemble astrophil & stella takes its audience to rural taverns and parlors, reconstructing the songs of the common people using typical instruments such as the dulcimer and the straw fiddle, a precursor to the modern xylophone. These instruments are preserved from descriptions dating back to the 16th century and are still played in the traditional music of many regions today.

Texts and music from this period reflect the austere lives of the peasant population, who had to pay high tributes to feudal lords and monasteries. The nobility and the bourgeoisie, in turn, cultivated a very different kind of music: Italian fantasies and French chansons were "en vogue," and those who could afford them owned fine musical instruments such as the lute or transverse flute and sang from expensive printed music. Originating in Wittenberg, the ideas of the Reformation sparked centuries of ongoing conflicts and negotiations on religious issues. Amidst all this, mercenaries seeking to escape the poverty of their villages roamed the countryside with fifes and drums in search of loot and adventure. Ultimately, this concert evening also addresses the question of where the exploitation of the poorest has shifted half a millennium later... Featuring music by Pierre de la Rue, Johannes Wannenmacher, Balthasar Resinarius, Stephan Zirler, and many others!

Ticket 25 euros/concessions 22 euros