Austria: Organs & Abbeys - Historic instruments in magnificent monasteries and remote rural churches

Fly at c. 9.00am from London Heathrow to Vienna (Lufthansa). Wrapped around by the hills of the Vienna Woods, the Cistercian abbey at Heiligenkreuz is one of the great sights of Austria. The Romanesque nave of the church is beautifully austere, the cuboid Gothic chancel an astonishing contrast. The 1804 organ, between Baroque and Romantic, was built by Ignaz Kober and the organists for today’s recital are Pater Tarcisius (a monk) and Daniel Schmidt. First of three nights in Dürnstein.

Ancient circuitous cobbled lanes thread through Krems-an-der-Donau. The hilltop Piaristenkirche is Gothic and has an organ of 1892 in a Baroque case. Jesuit-style St Veit, ‘the cathedral of the Wachau’, has a Baroque-type organ built in 1986 by Gerhard Hradetzky. Both are played by Ronald Peter, church organist here since 1986 (when he was 13). Stift Herzogenburg, an Augustinian abbey of the 1720s, combines architectural restraint with decorative richness. The organ, in a splendid green and gold case, is played by Johannes Zimmerl.

The abbey on the banks of the Danube at Dürnstein is famously pretty, the interior of sombre richness; the organ of 1724 is by Christoph Pantzner and the recital by Christian Ertl. Some free time in this exceptionally attractive little town before driving through hills to Altenburg Abbey. This is the grandest so far, with splendid Baroque halls and library, medieval parts and tremendous frescoes by Paul Troger. The 1773 organ by Anton Pfliegerl is played by Martin Wadsack.

Three riverside delights today. The fortified church of St Michael outside Weissenkirchen, endearingly wonky, contains a Renaissance organ claimed to be the oldest in Austria. Melk is a small town with one of the greatest and most lavish of all monasteries. Free time, with the option of an abbey tour. The beautiful Rococo church at Stift Wilhering has a choir organ of 1746 by Nikolaus Rummel. First of three nights in Linz, capital of Upper Austria.

The Neo-Gothic cathedral at Linz is Austria’s largest church and has an organ to match, the magnificent 1968 instrument by Marcussen & Son, played today by Wolfgang Kreuzhuber. Nearby is the superb Monastery of St Florian, founded in the 8th century and rebuilt 1686–1751. The Bruckner Organ – the composer was organist here – has four manuals, 103 stops and 7,343 pipes. The most recent restoration was undertaken by Kögler Orgelbau, whose workshop in St Florian we visit.

Another day of drives on narrow winding roads through stunning hill scenery, pasture, woods, scattered farmsteads. Remote but beautifully situated, the church of St Anna in the hamlet of Steinbruch has an unchanged Baroque organ of 1727 by Franz Richter, played for us by Gustav Auziger. Continue to Stift Schlägl, a relatively modest abbey. The main organ is by Andreas Putz, an exceptional instrument of 1634, the pipes original except for the reeds.

Founded in 1114, Klosterneuburg Abbey became the ‘Austrian Escorial’, a Baroque monastery-cum-palace begun for Emperor Charles V in 1730 but never completed. From the Middle Ages there remain a beautiful cloister, some precious metalwork and the church, later encrusted with gorgeous frescoes, stucco and wood carving. The organ was built on the cusp of Renaissance and Baroque traditions in 1642 and is of international importance. Johannes Zeinler gives our final recital here. Return to Heathrow, arriving c. 7.00pm.