God Bless
Walking the beautifully clean streets of Vienna, on my way to Stad Park to meet Natalia by
the Golden Strauss statue. Since she created the Waltz, I'm noticing I got a bit more pep in my
step than usual. The Soviet War Memorial. A semi-circular white marble
colonnade partially enclosing a 12 meter figure of a Red Army soldier was unveiled in 1945.
The hero's monument of the Red Army in Vienna was built to commemorate the 17,000 Soviet soldiers
that fell in the battle for Vienna in World War II.
So yeah, so what were you saying about that whole bow? It was part of the reason why you came
here to learn the history of... Yeah, well, basically, being a musician is not only... I mean,
classical musicians, especially. It's not only about reading the notes and like,
basically it's like a reproductive thing. The composer, he writes something and you're like
the one who is like, reproducing it, yeah? So you're learning and you're trying to understand
and then in on a way you want to like add your own thing. Reproducing it. Yeah, reproducing, I'm sorry.
So yeah, and basically all the things that... I don't know, but I think I came basically to
Vienna because you always want to learn more and you want to find, you want to search to the things,
you want to read about things, you want to meet people who will tell you different stories about
also the teachers and all the things like the knowledge they have to give it to you. So basically
I came to Vienna to understand better why did Johann Strauss made the waltz or why, how did Mozart
live here and what was the time. So it's not only about playing the notes, it's not only, it's also
about, so basically all the things that are written, it's not, everything important is not written.
So yeah, it's like when you're learning about history, about finding out what happened, what
dresses they had, why, how, what was the physics of playing, I mean they had different bows they had,
like, so when you add all together then you're searching your own, like, it's a point of being
an artist basically, like, taking your thing out on the sun. Nice. All right, we're running out of
time and I got a lot of churches to go discover. The votive church is one of the most important
neo-gothic religious architectural sites in the world. Built on the site of a failed knife attack
on Emperor Franz Josef, 26-year-old Henri van Ferstau chose to build a cathedral in the neo-gothic
style, borrowing heavily from the architecture of Gothic French. Construction began in 1856
and it was dedicated 26 years later on April 24th, 1879, the occasion of the silver jubilee of the
royal couple.
St. Michael's Church is one of the oldest churches in Vienna. It's also one of the few
remaining Romanesque buildings. Dedicated to the Archangel Michael, St. Michael's Church is
located across from St. Michael's Gate at the Hofburg Palace. Over its long history spanning
more than eight centuries, the church has incorporated a melody of architonic styles.
St. Charles Church is a baroque church located on the south side of the Karlsblatt
and designed by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. Widely considered the most outstanding
baroque church in Vienna, as well as one of the city's greatest buildings, St. Charles Church is
dedicated to St. Charles Baromial, one of the great reformers of the 16th century.
The Scottish Abbey is a Roman Catholic monastery founded in Vienna in 1155 when Henry II brought
Irish monks to Vienna. The monks did not come directly from Ireland, but came instead from
St. Jacob's Irish monastery in Regensburg, Germany. Since 1625, the abbey has been a member of the
Austrian congregation.
And last, St. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna
and a seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schoenenberg.
The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral, seen today in the Stevensblatt,
was largely initiated by Duke Rudolf IV and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches,
the first of Paris Church consecrated in 1147. The most important religious building in Austria's
capital, St. Stephen's Cathedral, has borne witness to many important events in the nation's history
and has, with its multi-colored tiled roof, become one of the city's most recognizable symbols.
Wow, what a beautiful city. I mean, seriously. As a musician, it's the perfect place to get
inspired. Seeing the same sights and smelling the same smells and inspired some of the classic
musicians such as Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, and so much more. It's an amazing feeling.
Strudel, anyone? Next, we head to Budapest.
It's recording.
Wow, okay.
Um, and that, when you mentioned the waltz, that's why we came here. That's what we're
gonna talk about. So, but no, but that's good because, because, um, because that's why we came,
wasn't it? Because of the statue. So what was it about the, there's something about the waltz
you were gonna say or something, is it? Or just that, that was... Stop, like...
