According to that which has been handed down, one of the requirements demanded of candidates wishing to enter the Benedictine Order at Andechs Monastery on the Holy Mountain at the time of its founding was the ability to perform on a musical instrument. Already from the time of the second half of the 15th Century organ playing was encouraged as well as choral song. In the 18th Century many gifted musicians were active on the Holy Mountain, among them were the organist Gregor Schreyer, the poet and musician Placidus Scharl, and the Bohemian composer Franz Christoph Neubauer.
Andechs Monastery music was known and appreciated well beyond Andechs and its surroundings. Through musical contacts to the Munich Court, secular music-making also took place in Andechs.
Andechs’s rich musical heritage is continued today primarily through the Summer Festival “Orff in Andechs” in the Florian-Stadl and the multifaceted series of concerts and events taking place under the artistic direction of Prof. Dr Hellmuth Matiasek. These include oratorios, symphonic concerts, Lieberabende, chamber music and piano recitals as well as cabaret, jazz and Bavarian folk music. The cultivation of young musicians is a permanent part of event programming.
Not only are the glittering Baroque rooms of the Monastery’s Fürstentrakt available for musical offerings. The Florian-Stadl at the foot of the Holy Mountain has been successfully converted to a concert and festival stage since renovation work began in 1997. Seating up to 700, since its enlargement over a series of several construction periods, this incomparable concert venue offers a special rustic charm and outstanding acoustics.
The cultivation of the works of Carl Orff, one of the most important composers of the 20th Century, is especially dear to the hearts of the Benedict monks on the Holy Mountain. Andechs was an important part of the great Bavarian composer’s “Heimat,” which why he insisted on being buried within the Monastery church. “Folks should know, where I was at home, and when they visit my grave, they should at least be able to drink a decent beer,” said the cosmopolitan composer regarding his choice of gravesite.
