Sound of Silence III

Together with the historian Father Dr. Thomas Fässler from the monastic community, you will immerse yourself in decisive days of the monastery's history.

500 years ago, a deep silence fell over Einsiedeln Abbey: The monastic community had dwindled to a single, 86-year-old abbot. The end of the traditional place of pilgrimage seemed inevitable. However, the people of Schwyz recognized the importance of the monastery and asked the Abbot of St. Gallen for help. On August 15, 1526, Ludwig Blarer was appointed as the new abbot. Under his leadership, silence gave way to new life and Einsiedeln remained a place of spiritual contemplation and pilgrimage. The world around Einsiedeln was also changing at this time: Europe was discovering new horizons, science and art were entering an era of new beginnings. The music of this period reflects these tensions: It is both meditation and insight, number and sound, devotion and research - an art that oscillates between contemplation and awakening.

Le Miroir de Musique
Jacob Lawrence, tenor
Claire Piganiol, harp, organetto
Elizabeth Rumsey, Viola d'Arco, Renaissance viola da gamba
Baptiste Romain, lira da braccio, rebec, vielle, bagpipes & conductor
Father Dr. Thomas Fässler OSB, historian

With works by Alexander Agricola (†1505), Johannes Tinctoris (†1511), Josquin Desprez (†1521), Hans Judenkünig (†1526) & Ludwig Senfl (†1543)

The concert takes place as part of the celebrations for the anniversary year 1526-2026. A guided tour beforehand at 3.45 pm invites you to an exhibition in the Abbey Library that focuses on the revival of the monastery in 1526. Many of the items on display are accessible to the public for the first time ever. Advance booking of the guided tour is required.

This concert is part of the "Kloster Klang Einsiedeln" series:

Kloster Klang Einsiedeln is much more than a concert series. It is a place of human and musical encounters in Einsiedeln Abbey; 2026 under the title "Sound of Silence". Four concerts in June will revolve around this theme and look at it from the perspectives of spirituality, art, science and community. Four perspectives that also represent the way of life of the monastic community at the monastery. The events open up insights into new worlds and bring the history of the thousand-year-old Einsiedeln monastery to life. Meet inspiring people, marvel at rarely exhibited monastery treasures and Benedictine arts and crafts and listen to wonderful music from 500 years of musical history, performed by renowned ensembles.

In the 9th century, St. Meinrad withdrew as a hermit into the silence of the "Dark Forest" in order to have more time for God and prayer. The Einsiedeln monastery was finally founded in 934 on the site of his hermitage.

What does silence mean in a world full of noise? Even a thousand years after the monastery was founded, people are still searching for silence and its meaning. Is silence the absence of noise or an inner state of mind rooted in mindful presence? Do we have to search for silence or is it already within us? The Kloster Klang series of events follows the question of the "sound of silence".


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.

Preceded by a guided tour of the exhibition in the baroque Abbey Library at 3.45 pm. Places are limited; please reserve your ticket in advance.