Serendipity

 Hang on, this doesn't seem right. Have we stumbled onto the set of a reality tv cooking show?  

We were tiptoeing around Zurich's magnificent Grossmünster when a casually dressed bloke wandered up to the front clutching a yellow ceramic bowl. He threw in a coin and let it roll around until a ringing sound filled the church. Okay, he's not making a batch of scones then. With this tintinnabulation as the only accompaniment, Mr Ordinary and his sidekick Ms Clarinettist burst into glorious song, tenor and soprano. Before you could whip up a bowl of cream, they were joined by Piano Accordion Man and we were treated to 20 minutes of a folk music rehearsal in acoustic heaven. The pièce de résistance was the appearance of a l-o-n-g wooden instrument that looked like a didgeridoo (I missed the bell shape at the base on first glance) but sounded like a delicate brass instrument. It was an alphorn. Cue cows, flowers and lederhosen.

And that mixing bowl? Google tells me it was a talerschwingen, an early 1900s addition to the folk music scene. Brilliant. Have a scone.

This was indeed a serendipitous moment. We had gone into the Grossmünster to reconnect with the  fabulous stained glass windows  created by Chagall in the 1970s. It turns out that we were in the wrong Münster. We should have been tiptoeing around the Fraumünster, just across the river Limmat. But then, we would've missed the rehearsal. Serendipity.

To continue the day's musical theme, we enjoyed a lunchtime organ recital at the Fraumünster. This was a truly synaesthetic experience: Eyes on Marc Chagall's five stained glass panels. Ears happily engaging with the repertoire. Feet occasionally sensing the organ's bass notes. Bliss.

One of the works was by a French composer and organist, Jehan Alain (1911-1940). These dates hinted at a young talent lost to war, and so it turned out (thanks again, Google, the traveller's friend).

In Wikipedia's own words,
"Always interested in mechanics, Alain was a skilled motorcyclist and became a dispatch rider in the Eighth Motorised Armour Division of the French Army. On 20 June 1940, he was assigned to reconnoitre the German advance on the eastern side of Saumur, and encountered a group of German soldiers at Le Petit-Puy. Coming around a curve, and hearing the approaching tread of the Germans, he abandoned his motorcycle and engaged the enemy troops with his carbine, killing 16 of them before being killed himself. He was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre for his bravery, and ... was buried, by the Germans, with full military honours."

Music is such a powerful teller of stories.