Musical spring service - Paul Gerhard on his 350th birthday

Paul Gerhard is probably one of the best-known German-language poets of Christian songs. In addition to the more well-known ones, however, there are also a large number of texts that are sung less often or have not even been set to music.
In the second university service in our "Zwischen - Zeiten" series, we want to open up space for Paul Gerhard's multi-layered and exciting work and perhaps discover it from a different angle than before.
Gerhard's texts, which were written over many years of his life, are characterised in particular and fundamentally by the two tones of joy and sorrow, security and distress, the experience of sadness and the unshakeable trust that underlies it all. In his songs, these primal human experiences and feelings are combined in a unique and inseparable way. The lyrics are able to speak to us in a timeless and undisguised way, in all the ambivalence, all the ups and downs and all the nuances of our lives in this world and beyond.
Together we want to sing and listen to classic and lesser-known songs and learn more about Paul Gerhard's life and work.
The choir of the Institute of Church Music and Musicology under the direction of Prof Frank Dittmer will once again be taking part, while Prof Dr Stefan Beyerle from the Faculty of Theology in Greifswald will be bringing short texts and impulses to the service instead of a sermon.
All are welcome, admission is of course free.