The “Sagrada Familia” is a highlight of every visit to Barcelona.

The Basilica Sagrada Familia is the most famous landmark of Barcelona and one of the most impressive sights of the city. The church is huge in size. It is often called “cathedral”, but without having a bishop’s seat.

In the middle of the 19th century, José María Bocabella planned to build a church in Barcelona and to dedicate it to the Holy Family “Sagrada Familia”. He chose a plot of land still within the street grid of the then “Poblet” (small village), in today’s Eixample district. A property closer to the city centre was not possible due to the already high property prices at that time.

The diocesan architect Francisco del Villar initially planned the church. He designed a church in the gothic style and the work on the church began in 1882 with the construction of the crypt. Due to fundamental disagreements with Bocabella, however, he had to resign from his commission. A few months later, in 1883, the young architect Antoni Gaudí took his place. Gaudí found his life’s work there and worked on the Sagrada Familia until his death on 10 June 1926.

Under Gaudí, the church gained its expansive dimension and lavish design. He was convinced that the city of Madrid would one day be known for “his” church.

Today, the unfinished building is one of the most important sightseeings of Barcelona and has been attracting numerous tourists for many decades. In 2014, 3.2 million visitors came. The annual budget was 25 million euros. This is completely in the spirit of Gaudi: “The Sagrada Familia is the work of the people for the people”. Everything is possible at the same time: construction work, visits and church services.

Make a musical visit to this famous cathedral. There are these works for wind orchestra about the Sagrada Familia.

The Taj Mahal – a love story carved in stone

Admittedly India in summer: India may be a bit hot in summer – but musically it doesn’t matter. There are no concerts in summer anyway. But as a reminder in autumn this is a hot tip: a trip to the Taj Mahal, India.

Built in the seventeenth century, the Taj Mahal lies on the outskirts of the city of Agra. This symphonic sketch reminds in a single sentence of the whole story, of the poetry and beauty of this wonder of the world. The work, divided into five parts, describes both its architecture as a whole and its hidden love story.

Construction of the Taj Mahal began shortly after the death of Mumtaz Mahal in 1631 and was completed in 1648. Over 20,000 craftsmen from many parts of South and Central Asia and various architects were involved, including Ahmad Lahori and the Persian Abu Fazel from Badakhshan (today Afghanistan). He merged Persian architecture with Indian elements into an outstanding work of Indo-Islamic architecture. The building materials were brought from India and other parts of Asia with the help of about 1000 elephants.

A widespread legend says that originally the same black marble building was planned as a mausoleum for Shah Jahan on the other side of the river Yamuna, but was not realized. On the opposite side of the “white” Taj Mahal was a park with a large water basin. The white Taj Mahal was reflected in this basin and appeared black in the water.

Shah Jahan was deprived of power by his son Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir and spent the rest of his life as a prisoner in the Red Fort. He was buried next to his wife in 1666. His tomb destroys the symmetry of the building, which proves that he intended to build his own tomb, especially as, to preserve this symmetry, he had a rest house built on the eastern side of the building, similar to the mosque on the western side.

The Taj Mahal is not located in the centre of the garden, as is usual for Persian tombs, but on the northern edge, suggesting that another tomb was planned on the opposite bank. The buildings separated from the river would then again have been in the centre of the now large garden area, as it corresponds to the Persian understanding of heaven as a Tschahār Bāgh . (Source: Wikipedia)

At the other end of the world.

The Milford Sound is a fjord on the South Island of New Zealand. The 14 km long water is one of the most famous tourist attractions of the country and, as it is part of the Fiordland National Park in the southwest of the island, it belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, where the region is registered since 1990 under the name Te Wahipounamu.

The British writer and poet Rudyard Kipling is said to have described the fjord as the eighth wonder of the world after visiting Milford Sound in the 1890s.

Long before the first European settlers found their way to the shores of Milford Sound, Māori came fishing, hunting and to find the coveted Pounamu (Jade). They believed in the creation of the fjord by Tu-te-raki-whanoa, a divine being.

After the discovery of the fjord by the first European, John Grono, in 1823, it took 56 years for the first settler to settle on the shores of Milford Sound. It was Donald Sutherland, a Scottish-born immigrant, who settled at Sound in 1879 and created a hostel there with his wife Elizabeth in 1891, providing accommodation for tourists and hikers. After their death in 1928, the hostel was replaced by a hostel built by the government.

From 1935 the construction of the Homer Tunnel began, which could only be opened in 1954. Through the tunnel it was possible for the first time to reach the Milford Sound via a road connection.

Musically one reaches the Milford Sound via the composer Roger Derongé and his composition of the same name Milford Sound. For Harmonie, Fanfare or BrassBand released.

If you want to present pieces about Maori culture, you can find them in the field “Full text search”, keyword Maori

Other works with keyword “New Zealand“