A musical journey through Germany.

(From Irish Independent)

The musical legacy of the land of the current World Cup is quite remarkable. The competition began in Munich, where the composer Carl Orff first saw the light. His most famous work,Carmina Burana, the musical staging of a series of medieval poems, was first performed in 1937 in Frankfurt, where England kicked off.

My personal road trip then took me off to Leipzig, birthplace of Richard Wagner, and on to Berlin, home of one of the most famous orchestras in the world. Herbert von Karajan directed the Berlin Philharmonic for 35 years, and the street where you'll find their concert hall is named after him.

After a sojourn in Cologne, where Max Bruch was born, and just down the Rhine from Beethoven's home town of Bonn, my present base is Hamburg, birthplace of Mendelssohn and Brahms. Those are particular favourites. Brahms' soothingLullaby is the perfect piano relaxant. The third movement of his third symphony is of a similar nature, soothing strings setting the tone for thispoco allegretto.

Whenever I think of Felix Mendelssohn, I'm immediately attracted to the whoosh of the opening of his fourth symphony, the Italian, in A major. The sparkle and vivacity of the melody that dances away after the initial blast of brass and woodwind brings a wonderful sensation of freedom and light. Then there's the ...