The Bach Journey, 4–10 September 2023

MUSIC AND PLACE

4–10 SEPTEMBER 2023

A journey exploring the life and music of Johann Sebastian Bach through central Germany.

MUSIC ALONG THE RHINE 23–30 JUNE 2023

CELEBRATING WILLIAM BYRD

1–5 JULY 2023

THE BACH JOURNEY 4–10 SEPTEMBER 2023

THE THOMAS TALLIS TRAIL 20–22 OCTOBER 2023

UK SHORT CHAMBER MUSIC BREAKS: CASTALIAN STRING QUARTET, 3–5 MARCH 2023

LINOS PIANO TRIO, 21–23 APRIL 2023

ELIAS STRING QUARTET, 8–10 MAY 2023

4.

THE BACH JOURNEY: AN INTRODUCTION

12.

PRE-FESTIVAL TOUR

Extend your stay in Germany with a tour that has been designed to link with the festival.

6.

THE FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

The day-by-day itinerary including details of the concerts.

DISCOVER

THE PLACE: THURINGIA

14.

MEET THE MUSICIANS

ACCOMMODATION & TRAVEL

Choose from four hotel options and a range of flights.

We have engaged international musicians and singers of the highest calibre. 21.

BOOKING

Details of how to book, along with the booking form and our conditions.

Photography throughout ©Ben Ealovega, taken for us during The Bach Journey 2019.

THE BACH JOURNEY

Journeying to the places

Hearing his works in buildings which he frequented must rank among the highest delights available to music lovers. This unique festival provides the opportunity.

Nine concerts, ranging from violin partitas to the St John Passion, from an organ recital to the Mass in B Minor, from solo harpsichord to full orchestra, present a comprehensive range of Bach’s output. For this, the ninth Bach Journey we have assembled artists and ensembles from Britain and continental Europe who are world leaders in performance of the repertoire.

The festival is emphatically a journey. It starts, as did Bach, in the little towns and cities of the principality of Thuringia and finishes, again like Bach, in the free city of Leipzig.

To cater for different budgets, there is a choice of four packages which differ in the choice of hotels. Each option stays in hotels in three places, Eisenach or Mühlhausen, Weimar and Leipzig, and the concerts take place here and in three other towns.

Admission to the concerts is exclusive to those who take an arrangement which includes accommodation, flights from London (optional), coach travel, most dinners and some lunches, lectures and interval refreshments.

where Johann Sebastian Bach lived and worked is an experience as near to pilgrimage as the history of music offers.

Background image: J.S. Bach, woodcut c. 1930.

THE FESTIVAL PACKAGE

Access to the concerts is exclusive to those who take the festival package, the price for which includes:

— All nine concerts

— Hotels for six nights – you choose between four options.

— Choice of flights between London and Germany (reduced price if you arrange your own).

— Travel by coach, five dinners, three or four lunches (depending on flight option), all tips.

— Talks by Sir Nicholas Kenyon

— The assistance of festival staff and a detailed programme book.

In addition, there are extra services which can be booked:

— Pre-festival tour: Mitteldeutschland (27 August–4 September 2023).

See pages 16–17.

— Arriving a day early. See pages 18–20.

THE SPEAKER

Sir Nicholas Kenyon was Managing Director of the Barbican Centre 2007–21, Controller of BBC Radio 3 and Director of the BBC Proms 1996–2007 and is currently visiting scholar in the Faculty of Music at the University of Cambridge. He has been music critic for The New Yorker and The Observer, music editor of The Listener and editor of Early Music and is currently opera critic for the Daily Telegraph . Among his books are the Faber Pocket Guide to both Bach and Mozart and The Life of Music (2021), and he was editor of Authenticity & Early Music and The City of London: A Companion Guide. He was awarded a knighthood in 2008. This will be his fifth Bach Journey

MARTIN RANDALL & OUR FESTIVALS

This festival has been devised and planned by Martin Randall, Creative Director. It follows the format that he established nearly 30 years ago with our first Danube Music Festival. Since then we have organised festivals along the Rhine, Loire and Seine rivers, in Suffolk, York, Oxford, the Cotswolds and the West Country, to Seville, Toledo, Burgos, Santiago, Venice, Rome, Bologna, Sicily, the Veneto, to St Petersburg, through Thuringia, and most recently to the Alentejo.

THE CONCERTS

Private events. All the concerts are planned and administered by Martin Randall Festivals, and the audience consists exclusively of those who have taken the full festival package. The concerts are private. Seating. Specific seats are not reserved. You sit where you want. Seating in the churches may be a little uncomfortable; consider bringing a cushion.

Acoustics. This festival is more concerned with locale and authenticity than with acoustic perfection. Some venues have idiosyncrasies or reverberations of the sort not found in modern concert halls.

Capacity. There will be up to 200 participants on the festival. At venues which cannot accommodate this number the audience is divided and the concerts repeated.

Changes. Musicians fall ill, venues may close for repairs, airlines alter schedules: there are many circumstances which could necessitate changes to the programme. We ask you to be understanding should they occur.

‘

I’m not sure I have the appropriate words yet to describe how much I loved the music. It was magnificient on every level... inspiring and invigorating.’

THE FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

We have booked seats on a number of flights from Heathrow to Frankfurt. You choose, though each option is linked to your choice of town for the first two nights.

J.S. Bach was born in Eisenach in 1685 and he was raised here until the death of his father ten years later. He was baptised in the Gothic church of St George – the font remains in use – and the interior is as Bach would have known it. Eisenach is dominated by the Wartburg castle, a unesco World Heritage Site where Martin Luther stayed while working on his translation of the Bible.

Mühlhausen is where Bach held the post of organist at the church of St Blasius 1707–8. The town is a delight, a dense matrix of streets and alleys and little open spaces threaded between half-timbered and stone buildings. Six Gothic churches rise heavenwards, and all is bounded by a complete circuit of walls.

The first of the talks by Sir Nicholas Kenyon precedes a solo violin recital in Mühlhausen Town Hall, a charming set of rooms which is little changed since Bach’s time.

Recital, 11.30am & 9.00pm: Mühlhausen, Town Hall

Solo Suites & Partitas

Rachel Podger violin

The modest size of the main hall requires the audience to be split and the event repeated – which brings the benefit of appropriate intimacy to the hearing of these earthy yet spiritually charged works.

We are offering the option of arriving at your hotel in Eisenach or Mühlhausen a day before the festival begins – see pages 18–20 for accommodation and prices.

The price includes the flight, transfer from Frankfurt to Eisenach or Mühlhausen and an extra night at your festival hotel. Lunch or afternoon tea during the coach journey are included (dinner is independent).

The first festival event is dinner in your hotel or nearby restaurant.

Overnight in Eisenach or Mühlhausen.

Violinist Rachel Podger is the leading interpreter of Baroque music. She plays the Partita No.2 in D minor (BMV 1004), which culminates in the sublime, monumental Chaconne, and partners it either with the Sonata No.2 in A minor (BMV 1003) or Partita No.3 in E (BMV 1006) – the choice to be made nearer the time!

Lunch is provided for all participants.

There is time in Eisenach to visit the excellent Bach Museum. The new wing wraps around a house which used to be believed to be his birthplace.

Concert, 3.30pm:

Eisenach, Church of St George

The Bach Dynasty

Vox Luminis, Lionel Meunier director

In the church where Johann Sebastian was baptised, there is a concert of cantatas by older members of the Bach family, presenting the sound world into which

Above: Mühlhausen, lithograph c. 1830. Photograph opposite: speaker Nicholas Kenyon delivering a talk at Mühlhausen Town Hall, The Bach Journey 2019.

he was born. These are great uncle Johann Bach (1604–73) and uncles Johann Michael (1648–94) and Johann Christoph (1642–1703, also organist at this church). It finishes with a motet from Johann Sebastian, the famous Jesu meine Freude (BWV 227).

Having performed to great acclaim in the last three MRT Bach Jouneys, Vox Luminis returns not only for this, a version of the programme they have performed for us in the past, but also for two other concerts later in the week. With a distinctive and engaging sound and personality, this largely Belgian ensemble has emerged as one of the very finest in the world for northern Baroque repertoire.

Dinner for all participants, and overnight in Eisenach or Mühlhausen.

Day 3

Wednesday 6 September Ohrdruf, Arnstadt, Weimar

Leave Eisenach and Mühlhausen and drive to Ohrdruf.

After the death of his father, Johann Sebastian lived at Ohrdruf for five years with his eldest brother, Johann Christoph, organist to the local lord. The recital takes place in the refurbished hall of the rambling ducal Schloss on the edge of the tiny town, home to the brother’s employer.

Recital, 11.00am: Ohrdruf, Schloss Ehrenstein Goldberg Variations Mahan Esfahani harpsichord

The Goldberg Variations constitute a peak of keyboard writing in the 18th century. Staggeringly clever in conception, a treasury of numerical and musical games of which even the most acute listener is scarcely aware, they also possess a remarkable emotional range. They don’t merely stir, they shake.

Born in Iran, Mahan Esfahani is one of the most celebrated harpsichordists of our time. The winner of multiple awards, he is the first harpsichordist in a generation whose work spans virtually all the areas of classical music-making including working with contemporary composers.

Drive on to Arnstadt, arriving in time for lunch. Bach’s first significant employment (1707–08) was as organist here.

Spreading across a hillside, Arnstadt has retained much of its ancient centre, a picturesque mélange stretching back to the Middle Ages. Among the places of interest is a small Bach museum and the Romanesque-Gothic Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Lady).

Concert, 4.00pm:

Arnstadt, Bachkirche

St John Passion

Solomon’s Knot

The story of Christ’s Passion is both sublimely numinous and deeply human, and in no other manifestation of human creativity is the drama so potently and movingly presented as in Bach’s surviving settings. Of the two, the St John is the earlier and the more compact and dramatic. A performance in an appropriate liturgical space can be a transcendent experience.

Solomon’s Knot is an international if largely British ensemble which has won widespread acclaim for their innovative and highly engaging performances of Baroque masterpieces. One of the ways in which they enhance musical and verbal communication is for the singers to learn their parts by heart.

The venue is the church where Bach was organist early in his career. The interior is as close to lavish as a Lutheran parish church dared get, with walls and galleries wrapped in white and gold panelling.

Drive on to Weimar, where two nights are spent.

THE FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

Day 4

Thursday 7 September Weimar

Weimar is also revered as a centre of literature and Enlightenment thought, largely owing to the sixty-year residence and service at court of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Herder, Schiller and Nietzsche are among the other great names to have spent time here. As the last home of Lucas Cranach and the first site of the Bauhaus school, the city also has significance in the history of the visual arts.

The clubhouse of the local shooting society, the Greek Revival Schiesshaus was opened in 1805. The occasion for rebuilding was the wedding of Prince Karl Friedrich, heir to the dukedom of SaxeWeimar-Eisenach, to a daughter of the Russian Tsar. In the 20th century it fell into disrepair and has been recently restored.

Concert, 5.00pm:

Adorned with a magnificent range of classical architecture and landscaped parks, Weimar is the loveliest of Thuringian towns as well as the liveliest.

It has few rivals among the smaller cities of Europe for its importance in the history of literature and music. Bach worked at the court here in 1703 and again 1708–17. Liszt’s period of residence (1842–61) attracted many musical visitors including Wagner, Brahms, Smetana and Borodin, and turned Weimar into an international centre of the musical avant-garde. Richard Strauss was court Kapellmeister 1889–94.

There is time to wander through the enchanting streets and squares and for exploring one or two of the many museums.

Concert, 11.00am: Weimar, Schiesshaus

Concerti for Oboe & Violin

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin

Xenia Löffler oboe

Georg Kallweit violin & director

These fresh interpretations of violin and oboe concertos show Bach’s bravura adaptation of the Italian concerto style and his inventiveness in every aspect of his music. The oboe was clearly one of the composer’s favourite instruments. The programme also features the double concerto for both instruments, excerpts from The Art of Fugue and a symphony by his second son Carl Philipp Emanuel which reveals the sound of the next generation.

Founded in 1982, the Academy for Early Music Berlin is one of the world leaders among historically informed chamber orchestras. Oboe player Xenia Löffler and violinist Georg Kallweit are among the stars of the ensemble and also have solo careers in their own right.

Weimar, Church of St Peter & Paul Bach’s Magnificat

Vox Luminis, Lionel Meunier director

The Magnificat is the greatest and most glorious of Bach’s shorter choral works; we hear the lesser known version in E flat. The 2022 recording by Vox Luminis was selected by BBC Radio 3 as one of the five finest Bach recordings of all time. In this concert it will be joined by a couple of other cantatas yet to be decided.

The most important church in Weimar, St Peter and Paul (Herderkirche) was where four of Bach’s children were baptised. Its present appearance has changed little since the 18th century, and a striking altarpiece by Lucas Cranach dominates the chancel.

Dinner is independent today.

Second of two nights in Weimar.

Above: Weimar, lithograph by Ellen Torngrist, 1920.

Day 5

Friday 8 September Sangerhausen, Leipzig

Leave Weimar for Sangerhausen, a small town which has retained much of its historic fabric and possesses a fine organ of Bach’s time.

Recital, 11.15am:

Sangerhausen, Church of St James Organ Recital

Martina Pohl organ

The instrument for today’s recital of pieces for organ by J.S. Bach was built in 1726 by Zacharias Hildebrandt, pupil and rival of Gottfried Silbermann and occasional collaborator with Bach.

Martina Pohl has been organist at the Church of St James (Jakobikirche) since 2004, and has a busy schedule of performances throughout Germany.

After lunch in Sangerhausen, the journey continues to Leipzig.

Bach was employed by the city council at Leipzig in 1723 with the brief to take charge of music at the principal churches. Toghether with his various additional responsibilities, he effectively became director of music for the city until his death in 1750.

Concert, 6.00pm:

Leipzig, Salles de Pologne

Concertos & Orchestral Suites

Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

Gottfried von der Goltz violin & director

Bach is joined by his Italian peers Albinoni, Marcello and Vivaldi for a joyful programme of concertos for violins, flute, oboe, horn and harpsichord, finishing with Brandenburg No.5.

Performing with passion and precision and deep understanding of the music, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra has a reputation as the finest period-instrument orchestra in Europe. Their partnership with MRT goes back a quarter of a century.

The Salles de Pologne is a Neo-Baroque hall of the 19th century which has been recently restored.

Dinner follows the concert.

First of two nights in Leipzig.

Meet the Musicians

See pages 14–15 for their biographies.

Above:

Leipzig, Altes Rathaus, wood engraving 1866

‘ The quality of the performances was out of this world – magical!’

THE FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

Day 6

Saturday 9 September

Leipzig

Leipzig is the only large city of the Journey – though with a population of just half a million, and a historic centre which can be traversed in fifteen minutes, it is not a metropolis. After the degradation of the GDR years, the subsequent transformation of the city seems little short of miraculous. Restoration and rebuilding have gone hand in hand with the emergence of pavement cafés, smart shops and good restaurants.

There are excellent museums here including an outstanding collection of musical instruments at the Grassi Museum, an impressive display of paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts, a well-refurbished apartment where Mendelssohn lived and the enthralling museum attached to the Bach Archive.

The day is free until dinner and the final concert.

Concert, 8.00pm:

Leipzig, Nikolaikirche (Church of St Nicholas) Mass in B Minor

Vox Luminis, Lionel Meunier conductor

Bach’s B-Minor Mass is among the greatest achievements in the history of music. Compiled and completed towards the end of his life, Bach may have regarded it as a summation of his life’s work.

Whatever its enigmas – was it intended to be performed in its entirety? why did this stalwart Lutheran steer so close to Catholic tradition? – it remains a work of exceptional potency and beauty.

Day 7

Sunday 10 September Leipzig

Vox Luminis are working towards a recording of the B-Minor Mass. One of the four Leipzig churches where Bach was in charge of music, the Nikolaikirche is a Gothic construction of the early-16th century which underwent a spectacular Neo-Classical transformation in the late 18th century.

Final night in Leipzig.

Depending on your flight option there may be further free time in Leipzig.

See page 20 for details of transfers and flights.

Fitness for the festival

This is a physically demanding festival and fitness is essential.

Within the towns and cities, you will be expected to walk for anything up to 25 minutes and at a pace which is unlikely to slow others down when moving together. Many surfaces are uneven or cobbled and there are some ascents and descents. You will need to climb stairs at some venues and hotels, check in and out of three hotels and be comfortable travelling considerable distances by coach, particularly on the first and last days.

We ask that you assess your fitness, before you commit to a booking, by trying the simple exercises on the right.

Fitness tests

By signing the Booking Form, you confirm that you have taken these tests.

1. Chair stands. Sit in a dining chair, with arms folded and hands on opposite shoulders. Stand up and sit down at least eight times in 30 seconds.

2. Step test. Mark a wall at a height that is halfway between your knee and your hip bone. Raise each knee in turn to the mark at least 60 times in two minutes.

3. Agility test. Place an object three yards from the edge of a chair, sit, and record the time it takes to stand up, walk to the object and sit back down. You should be able to do this in under seven seconds.

An additional indication of the fitness required, though we are not asking you to measure this, is that you should be able to walk unaided at a pace of three miles per hour for at least half an hour at a time, and to stand for at least 15 minutes.

Leipzig, Nikolaikirche, performance on The Bach Journey 2019.

DISCOVER THE PLACE: THURINGIA

By then the exceptional musical and procreative talents of the family had led to the prominence of several Bachs as professional musicians throughout the region. Not only was Johann Sebastian firmly embedded in the family tradition, for the first half of his working life he plied his trade in the same provincial German backwater as the rest of his clan.

Thuringia is – as it was in Bach’s time – a region of rolling hills, deciduous woodland, patchwork fields, compact red-roofed villages and proud little towns. Being then divided into some of the smallest citystates and princedoms of pre-unification Germany, and later only patchily affected by the ravages of industrialisation and war, its appearance remained little changed throughout the 20th century.

These are the towns where Bach grew up and where he plied his trade, the locations of his quotidian concerns as well as the exercise of his genius. Merely to walk the same streets and sit in the same pews is to enlarge and illumine one’s understanding of Bach’s music. To hear his compositions not only in the locale but in the very buildings where they were first performed is a lifeenhancing experience.

Forty years in the chill embrace of the Communist state further impeded ‘progress’. All this gives rise to a strange paradox: though at the geographical centre of Germany, Europe’s economic powerhouse, Thuringia feels strangely provincial and peripheral.

For those who knew East Germany before 1989, the subsequent changes appear little short of miraculous – major transformation of infrastructure, buildings painted and restored, recrudescence of commercial and social life on a par with anywhere else in Europe. Yet the region has still not awoken fully from a halfcentury slumber which allowed much of the historic fabric of the towns and villages to slide into desuetude and dereliction.

Less than a century elapsed between the first record of a Bach in Thuringia and the birth there of Johann Sebastian in 1685.

‘Hearing such excellent musicians, in concerts that were laid on just for us, was an unforgettable privilege!’

MEET THE MUSICIANS

VOX LUMINIS

Since its foundation in Namur (Belgium) in 2004, the vocal ensemble Vox Luminis – led by bass Lionel Meunier – has been internationally praised for its highly distinctive sound. Vox Luminis specialises in English, Italian and German repertoire from the 17th and early 18th centuries. Depending on the repertoire, a core of vocal soloists is supplemented with continuo, solo instruments or a complete orchestra.

The group has made nearly twenty recordings, and have won numerous prizes, including ‘Recording of the Year’ at the Gramophone Awards in 2012 and 2019, as well as ‘Klara Ensemble of the Year 2018’, BBC Music Magazine ‘Choral Award Winner 2018’, three Diapasons d’Or and several Preis der Deutschen Schalplattenkritik.

Every year Vox Luminis gives around 70 concerts at major concert halls and festivals worldwide, and is artist in residence at Concertgebouw Brugge. The ensemble has recently launched a collaboration with the Freiburger Barockorchester, which is also performing on the Bach Journey.

RACHEL PODGER

Rachel Podger has established herself over the last two decades as a leading interpreter of Baroque and Classical music. She has won many awards for her recordings, most recently winning  BBC Music Magazine ’s ‘Recording of the Year’ (2023) for her disc  Tutta sola.

Rachel holds chairs for Baroque Violin at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. She is also founder and Artistic Director of the Brecon Baroque Festival.

MAHAN ESFAHANI

Born in Tehran in 1984, Esfahani grew up in the United States and studied musicology and history at Stanford University. He was the first and only harpsichordist to be a BBC New Generation Artist (20082010) and a Borletti-Buitoni prize winner (2009).

As a concerto soloist he performs with major symphony and chamber orchestras and contemporary music ensembles under a starry range of conductors. Esfahani’s work with new music is particularly acclaimed, with high-profile solo and concertante commissions from many contemporary composers.

His richly-varied discography, which includes an ongoing series of the complete works of Bach for Hyperion, has been acclaimed in the press and has garnered multiple awards, including Gramophone award, two BBC Music Magazine Awards, a Diapason d’Or and ‘Choc de Classica’ in France.

He can be frequently heard as a commentator on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4 and as a host for such programs as Record Review, Building a Library, and Sunday Feature.

SOLOMON’S KNOT

Solomon’s Knot is an international collective of unconducted instrumentalists and singers who want to bring old music to new life by pushing the limits of what is possible on stage. Taking inspiration from innovative live theatre, their singers sing everything by heart, and combine scrupulous musical preparation with highwire risk-taking and intense, direct delivery.

They have recently performed at the Tage Alter Musik, Regensburg (2021), Bachwochen Thüringen, Eisenach (2021), and at Wigmore Hall throughout their residency.

Their performance of the 1725 version of J.S. Bach’s Johannes-Passion at the Bachfest Leipzig and Wigmore Hall in 2019 was acclaimed as ‘setting new standards’ by the Leipziger Volkszeitung. In the same summer, they made their debut at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall with Bach cantatas for St Michaeland-All-Angels. Magnificat, a debut CD of festive music by Schelle, Kuhnau, and J.S. Bach was released in 2019, and their opera production L’ospedale is available on DVD.

AKADEMIE FÜR ALTE MUSIK BERLIN

Founded in Berlin in 1982, the Academy for Early Music Berlin (Akamus for short) is now one of the world leaders among historically informed chamber orchestras. The ensemble made a significant contribution to the rediscovery of the music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann. Akamus gradually expanded its core Baroque and Classical repertoire into the 19th century, most recently with its highly acclaimed cycle ‘Beethoven’s symphonies and their models’.

Guest performances in their anniversary year took the orchestra to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Wiener Musikverein and the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. As Artist in Residence, Akamus could also be seen several times in London’s Wigmore Hall and at the Mozart Festival in Augsburg.

The now around one hundred recordings have received all the major record awards. The ensemble has received the Telemann Prize from the city of Magdeburg and the Bach Medal from the city of Leipzig.

Martina Pohl began playing music at the age of three and studied at the Hochschule für Kirchenmusik (College for Church Music) in Halle 1980–86. She focusses principally on the German Romantics and J.S. Bach. She accompanies soloists, instrumentalists and choirs on concert tours in Germany and elsewhere and on recordings. Since 2004 she has had charge of the Hildebrandt organ in Sangerhausen.

FREIBURG BAROQUE ORCHESTRA

The Freiburger Barockorchester (FBO) is one of today’s leading ensembles for historic performing practice. It has had a significant presence on the international music scene for more than 35 years.

Founded in 1987 by former students of the Freiburg College of Music, the FBO makes regular guest appearances at major international concert venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall London, New York’s Lincoln Center, and Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

Solomon’s Knot

Vox Luminis

Rachel Podger

Akademie

Martia Pohl

Mahan

Following the principles of historic performing practice, the FBO usually plays without a conductor. But for selected projects calling for a large ensemble, it works with wellknown conductors like Pablo Heras-Casado, Sir Simon Rattle or Teodor Currentzis.

The FBO’s exceptional musical diversity is documented on numerous recordings, which have been awarded many prizes, including several Echo Klassik awards, Grammy nominations and the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik.

MARTINA POHL

Photographs, left–right:

für Alte Musik Berlin ©Uwe Arens Freiburg Baroque Orchestra (top) ©Marco Borggreve

Esfahani ©Barnhard Musil

MITTELDEUTSCHLAND WEIMAR AND THE TOWNS OF THURINGIA AND SACHSEN-ANHALT

Pre-festival tour:

27 August–4 September 2023 (mj 840)

9 days • £3,320

A trawl through little-known and largely unspoilt towns at the heart of Germany.

Great medieval churches, Baroque and Neo-Classical palaces, enchanting streetscape, fine art collections, beautiful countryside.

Sachsen-Anhalt and Thuringia, the Länder in the middle of Germany, are predominantly rural, with rolling hills, deciduous woodland, compact red-roofed villages and ancient small-scale cities. Only patchily affected by the ravages of war and industrialisation, much of the historic architecture remained intact throughout the 20th century. 40 years in the chill embrace of the East German state further impeded ‘progress’. The result is that at the heart of Europe’s richest and most modern nation is a region which feels strangely provincial and archaic.

Thuringia was one of the five major states of early medieval Germany, but by the end of the Middle Ages it had fragmented into numerous little statelets and free cities. The history of Sachsen-Anhalt was similar: during the tenth century ‘Old’ Saxony was the most powerful of the German duchies and formed the kernel of the German nation, but loss of pre-eminence was followed by subdivision. From the 16th century both Länder consisted of innumerable principalities and independent cities, and were political and economic backwaters – though in the 17th and 18th centuries the Bach family dominated music making here.

And one small dukedom in particular made a quite exceptional contribution to art and thought. Weimar played host to J.S. Bach, Goethe, Schiller, Herder, Liszt, Nietzsche, Richard Strauss, Walter Gropius and many other great names.

ITINERARY

Day 1: London to Quedlinburg. Fly at c. 12.50pm from London Heathrow to Berlin (British Airways). Drive to Quedlinburg. First of three nights here.

Day 2: Quedlinburg, Gernrode. Quedlinburg is a wonderfully preserved medieval town. The castle hill is crowned by the church of St Servatius, begun 1070, and contains one of Germany’s finest treasuries. See also the Gothic church of St Benedict in the market square and the Wipertikirche with its tenth century crypt. At nearby Gernrode is one of the oldest churches in Germany, and one of the most beautiful, St Cyriakus, begun ad 961.

Day 3: Blankenburg, Halberstadt. Blankenburg is an idyllic little spa town in the foothills of the Harz mountains with two Baroque palaces, the creation of a younger son of the BraunschweigWolfenbüttel dynasty who made Blankenburg his capital. Halberstadt was a major city in the Middle Ages, and the cathedral is the largest French-style Gothic church in Germany after Cologne; the treasury is exceptional.

Day 4: Mühlhausen. Drive in the morning across the Harz mountains to Thuringia, passing forested vistas, half-timbered hamlets and patches of pasturage. Mühlhausen is astonishing, one of the most delightful and evocative towns in northern Europe, preserving its complete medieval wall, an abundance of half-timbered buildings and six Gothic churches. Walk along a section of the wall, visit the soaring, five-aisled church of St Mary, and St Blasius, the church where Bach was organist 1707–08. Overnight Mühlhausen.

Day 5: Gotha, Arnstadt. A Residenzstadt within the principality of Saxe-CoburgGotha, Gotha is dominated by Schloss Friedenstein, which has fine interiors, a picture collection and a Baroque theatre. Walk down a processional way to the Hauptmarkt with its Renaissance town hall. Arnstadt, the oldest town in eastern Germany, has fine streetscape on a sloping site with the church where Bach was organist 1703–7; the Early Gothic Church of Our Lady and a palace which illustrates social hierarchy from the court’s perspective. First of four nights in Weimar.

Day 6: Weimar. Two centuries of enlightened patronage by members of the ducal family enabled the little citystate of Weimar to be home to many great writers, philosophers, composers and artists. Today, visit the Stadtkirche, the main church with an altarpiece by Cranach, Goethe’s house, a beautifully preserved sequence of interiors and garden, the ducal Schloss, with Neo-

Lecturer: Dr Jarl Kremeier

Classical interiors and a fine art museum, and an English-style landscaped park with Goethe’s summer house.

Day 7: Erfurt. Capital of Thuringia, Erfurt well preserves its pre-20thcentury appearance with a variety of streetscape and architecture from medieval to Jugendstil. Outstanding are the Krämerbrücke, a 14th-century bridge piled with houses and shops, and the cathedral, framing Germany’s largest set of medieval stained glass. See also the Severikirche, the friary of St Augustine where Luther was a monk, the Predigerkirche which retains its late medieval appearance intact, and the 17th-century hilltop citadel.

Day 8: Weimar. A walk includes Haus am Horn and Van de Velde’s School of Arts and Crafts from which the Bauhaus emerged. Free afternoon in this beautiful little city. Among the many other museums to choose from are the Bauhaus Museum, the 18th-century Wittumspalais and the Schiller House

An excursion to Buchenwald concentration camp can be arranged.

Day 9: Naumburg. Architecturally, Naumburg Cathedral is an outstanding embodiment of the transition from Romanesque to Gothic, but its great importance lies in its 13th-century sculpture, including statues of the founders, among the most powerful and realistic of the Middle Ages. Fly from Berlin, arriving Heathrow at c. 8.45pm.

COMBINING WITH ‘THE BACH JOURNEY’

4th September: travel by coach from Naumburg to Eisenach or Mühlhausen (depending on your hotel option – see pages 18–19). Check in and settle in to your room, before dinner in your hotel or nearby restaurant.

10th September: after the festival, fly from Berlin to London Heathrow, arriving at c. 5.30pm (festival flight option 5 & 6 – see page 20).

Flights are charged as part of your prefestival tour booking, so you take the ‘no flights’ price for the festival (see page 19).

LECTURER

Dr Jarl Kemeier. Art historian specialising in 17th- to 19th-century architecture and decorative arts.

PRACTICALITIES

Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,320 or £2,990 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,730 or £3,400 without flights.

Included: air travel (Euro Traveller) on scheduled British Airways flights (aircraft: Airbus 320); travel by private coach; hotel accommodation as described below; breakfasts, 1 lunch and 5 dinners with wine; all admissions to museums and sites; all gratuities for restaurant staff, drivers, guides; all airport and state taxes; the services of the lecturer.

Accommodation. Romantik Hotel am Brühl, Quedlinburg (hotelambruehl.de): restored 4-star hotel in a heritage building near the historical heart, comfortably furnished. Brauhaus “Zum Löwen”, Mühlhausen (brauhaus-zum-loewen.de): 3-star converted brewery in the centre of the town; characterfully rustic dining area and bar, simple but spacious rooms. Dorint Am Goethepark, Weimar (hotel-weimar. dorint.com): a modern 4-star hotel, situated by the park and on the edge of the town centre. Single rooms throughout are doubles for sole use.

How strenuous? This tour is fairly long and there is quite a lot of walking in the town centres where vehicular access is restricted. It should not be attempted by anyone who has difficulty with everyday walking and stair-climbing. Average distance by coach per day: 56 miles. There are long transfers between each hotel and the airport, otherwise coach travel is limited to short excursions.

Group size: 10–22 participants.

Left: Arnstadt, steel engraving c. 1850.

ACCOMMODATION & PRICES

The audience stays in three different towns during the course of the festival.

Choose between four different hotel options, A–D – see the page opposite.

If you intend to share a twin room with a friend, the best options are C and D (due to visibility of the bathroom from the bedroom area at the Park and Radisson Blu hotels in Leipzig).

MÜHLHAUSEN OR EISENACH

3 or 4–6 September (two nights, or three if arriving a day early)

Depending on which hotel option you choose (A–D), you stay for the first two or three nights in either Mühlhausen or Eisenach.

Mühlhausen has few hotels. Categories A & B stay in the same 3-star hotel. The bathrooms have showers only. Twin and double beds are usually two mattresses on a single base. The hotel does not have air conditioning.

In Eisenach, both Categories C & D stay in a well-appointed 4-star hotel in the centre. Bathrooms are almost all baths with shower fitments. Twin and double beds are usually two mattresses on a single base.

WEIMAR

6–8 September (two nights)

Weimar has a very good range of 3-, 4- and 5-star hotels. A small city, the hotels we have selected are no more than 10 or 15 minutes’ walk or a 15minute drive from the venues. There is no air-conditioning in the Elephant (Option D), nor at the Anna Amalia (Option A) but windows can be opened.

LEIPZIG

8–10 September (two nights)

Leipzig, as a trade fair city, has a good selection of hotels of all categories though some lack charm and individuality. We have selected ones within the periphery of the medieval core of the city; none is more than 15 or 20 minutes on foot from the venues. All have air-conditioning.

Participation in our festivals is a very different experience from conventional group travel – no repetitive or redundant announcements, no herding by elevated umbrella, no unnecessary roll calls, little hanging around. We work on the assumption that you are adults, and our staff cultivate the virtue of unobtrusiveness.

We provide sufficient information to enable you to navigate the festival events without needing to be led. However, festival staff are also stationed around the events to direct you if needed.

OPTION A

Mühlhausen: Brauhaus zum Löwen. An old timber-framed building of great character in the centre of town. Rooms are in the modern annex, 3 minutes walk from the main building. While the buildings are less characterful, rooms have been redecorated in recent years and have either a modern or a more rustic feel. All rooms are spacious and there is a lift.

Weimar: Anna Amalia. A family-run hotel in a quiet cobbled street in the centre of town. Rooms are simply furnished with cream walls and light wood furniture. Bedrooms vary in size.

Leipzig: Park. This is a modern and comfortable hotel. The quirky design uses plenty of wood and is vaguely nautical. Bedrooms are a good size. There is a glass panel in the wall separating bathrooms and bedrooms. There is a good restaurant.

PRICES, per person

Arriving 3 September

£3,320 sharing a twin or double £3,490 double for single use

Arriving 4 September

£3,250 sharing a twin or double £3,390 double for single use

OPTION B

Mühlhausen: Brauhaus zum Löwen. The same hotel as for option A, but with rooms in the main building. Bedrooms are simple and mostly spacious. Some overlook the (quiet) street; most are not served by a lift, but porters are available.

Weimar: Dorint am Goethepark. Comprising two historic houses connected by a new addition, this is now a modern hotel pleasantly situated by the park and a short walk from the town centre. Décor is a little austere, but the rooms elegant and comfortable. There is a restaurant in the hotel.

Leipzig: Radisson Blu. A modern hotel, purpose-built in 1964 and completely renovated in 2006. It is situated on the Ring overlooking Augustusplatz and the Gewandhaus. Geared more to the business market, its interior of cool elegance is nevertheless comfortable. Beds can be divided into twins, but there is no more than 15cm of space between them. Bathrooms are separated from the bedrooms by a glass wall (though the lavatory cannot be seen).

PRICES, per person

Arriving 3 September

£3,770 sharing a twin or double £4,060 double for single use

Arriving 4 September

£3,680 sharing a twin or double £3,960 double for single use

OPTION C

Eisenach: Steigenberger Thüringer Hof. A large, centrally-located hotel with a Neo-Classical façade. Bedrooms (Standard category) are bright and simply decorated. Two restaurants, a bar, as well a spa with sauna, exercise room and rooftop terrace. There is no airconditioning.

Weimar: Russischer Hof. An elegant hotel dating to 1805 and furnished in a partially modernised, opulent Russian Neo-Classical style. Impressive public areas and restaurants, comfortable rooms with luxurious bathrooms, excellent location.

Leipzig: Marriott. A traditional hotel decorated in marble, wood and brass. Rooms are spacious with cosy, country-style furnishings and all mod cons. Centrallylocated but quiet. There is a swimming pool.

PRICES, per person

Arriving 3 September

£4,050 sharing a twin or double £4,410 double for single use

Arriving 4 September

£3,960 sharing a twin or double £4,260 double for single use

OPTION D

Eisenach: Steigenberger Thüringer Hof. The same hotel as for option C (Comfort category rooms).

Weimar: The Elephant. Famous, historic establishment blending classical gravity with contemporary understatement. Bedrooms are spacious and very well equipped and there are two restaurants, including the finest in Weimar.

Leipzig: Steigenberger Grandhotel Handelshof. A 5-star hotel in a converted former exhibition building, next to the Old Stock Exhange. Rooms are decorated in a clean and contemporary style. Views are of the internal courtyard or the city. There is a spa and fitness area. There are some slightly ostentatious modern design features.

PRICES, per person

Arriving 3 September

£4,470 sharing a twin or double £4,970 double for single use

Arriving 4 September

£4,370 sharing a twin or double £4,790 double for single use

For travel options, see page 20. If you choose not to take one of our flights, we reduce the price by £210.

TRAVEL OPTIONS

Flights from London Heathrow are included in the price – all options fly into Frankfurt and back from Berlin.

If you select hotel option A or B, you can travel on flight options 1, 3 or 5.

If you select hotel option C or D, you can travel on flight options 2, 4 or 6.

There is the option to fly out on the 3 September, the day before the festival begins – see the previous two pages for accommodation details and prices.

MAKING YOUR OWN ARRANGEMENTS

You can take the package without flights and make your own arrangements for joining and leaving the festival. You are welcome to join our airport transfers from Frankfurt and back to Berlin, though we cannot wait for you should you be delayed.

There is a reduction in the price of £210 per person for this option.

ARRIVING 3 SEPTEMBER (A DAY EARLY)

Option 1 – for hotel options A or B.

3 September: depart Heathrow 09.30, arrive Frankfurt 12.05 (LH 901).

10 September: depart Berlin 11.45, arrive Heathrow 12.50 (BA 983).

Option 2 – for hotel options C or D.

3 September: depart Heathrow 10.30, arrive Frankfurt 13.05 (LH 903).

10 September: depart Berlin 13.55, arrive Heathrow 14.55 (BA 993).

ARRIVING 4 SEPTEMBER

Option 3 – for hotel options A or B.

4 September: depart Heathrow 09.30, arrive Frankfurt 12.05 (LH 901).

10 September: depart Berlin 11.45, arrive Heathrow 12.50 (BA 983).

Option 4 – for hotel options C or D.

4 September: depart Heathrow 10.30, arrive Frankfurt 13.05 (LH 903).

10 September: depart Berlin 13.55, arrive Heathrow 14.55 (BA 993).

Option 5 – for hotel options A or B.

4 September: depart Heathrow 11.30, arrive Frankfurt 14.05 (LH 905).

10 September: depart Berlin 16.35, arrive Heathrow 17.30 (BA 985).

Option 6 – for hotel options C or D.

4 September: depart Heathrow 11.30, arrive Frankfurt 14.05 (LH 905).

10 September: depart Berlin 16.35, arrive Heathrow 17.30 (BA 985).

MAKING A BOOKING

1. BOOKING OPTION

We recommend that you contact us first to make a booking option which we will hold for seven days. To confirm it please send the booking form and deposit within this period – the deposit is 10% of your total booking price.

2. DEFINITE BOOKING

Fill in the booking form and send it to us with the deposit. It is important that you read the Booking Conditions at this stage, and that you sign the booking form. Full payment is required if you are booking within ten weeks of the date the festival begins.

3. OUR CONFIRMATION

Upon receipt of the booking form and deposit we shall send you confirmation of your booking. After this your deposit is non-returnable except in the special circumstances mentioned in the Booking Conditions (page 23). Further details about the festival may also be sent at this stage, or will follow shortly afterwards.

Above: Weimar, lithograph c. 1830.

THE BACH JOURNEY

4–10 SEPTEMBER 2023 (MJ 850)

NAME(S) – We do not use titles on documents issued to other participants unless you want us to by including them here:

Participant 1: Participant 2:

Contact details for all correspondence:

Address

Postcode/Zip Country

Telephone (home) Mobile

E-mail

Tick if you are happy to receive your festival and booking documents online, where possible – and confirm your e-mail address above. Please complete this section, even if you have told us your preferences before:

How would you like to be kept informed about our future tours and events?: By post Yes No

E-newsletter Yes No

What prompted this booking? Please be as specific as possible – e.g. did you see an advertisement in a particular publication? Did you receive a communication from us (by post or e-mail) that mentions this event? Did you come across the festival on our website? Or elsewhere (please specify)?:

ACCOMMODATION AND TRAVEL OPTION. Please tick your chosen hotel option and room type, and one return travel option (arriving either on the 3 or 4 September).

NB if you are booking on the pre-festival tour, you do not need to indicate a travel option below.

C

Double for single use

Double, two sharing

Twin, two sharing

D

Double for single use

Double, two sharing Twin, two sharing

FURTHER INFORMATION

Option 2 No flights

3 Option 5 No flights

Option 4 Option 6 No flights

Option 4

PRE-FESTIVAL TOUR. C omplete this section to add to your festival booking.

Mitteldeutschland

27 August–4 September 2023 (mj 840) See pages 16–17 for full details.

Room type

Double for single use

Double room, two sharing Twin room, two sharing

Travel arrangements

Including flights Flying out from London with the tour, and back with the festival (i.e. return on festival option 5 & 6). No flights I will make my own way to the tour and onwards after the festival.

Option 2 No flights

Please notify us of dietary restrictions (for example, religious, medical or if you are vegetarian or vegan). Please also use this space to request room upgrades, or further extra nights, etc.:

Option 6 No flights

PASSPORT DETAILS & NEXT OF KIN

Essential for airlines and hotels, and in case of emergency. Please use capital letters for your passport details.

PAYMENT

We prefer payments by bank transfer. We cannot currently accept payment through our website. All money paid to us is fully protected regardless of payment method. Please tick one option:

BANK TRANSFER Please use your surname and the festival code (mj 850) as a reference and ask your bank to allow for all charges.

Account name: Martin Randall Travel Ltd.

Bank: Barclays, 1 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HP. Account number: 4054 4558. Sort code: 20-96-63.

Transfers from non-UK bank accounts: please instruct your bank to send payment in pound sterling (GBP). IBAN: GB19 BARC 2096 6340 5445 58. Swift/BIC code: BARC GB22.

DEBIT OR CREDIT CARD. I authorise Martin Randall Travel to contact me by telephone to take payment from my Visa credit/ Visa debit/Mastercard/AMEX.

USING CREDIT. Please tick this box if you are transferring funds from a booking affected by Covid-19 (ie. from a cancelled tour or festival) or a refund credit note.

Please tick payment amount, and then ensure you sign at the bottom of this form:

EITHER Deposit 10% of total booking cost.

OR Full balance

Required if you are booking within 10 weeks of departure.

TOTAL: £

I have read and agree to the Booking Conditions and Privacy Policy (www.martinrandall.com/privacy) on behalf of all listed on this form.

Signature: Date:

Martin Randall Travel Ltd

10 Barley Mow Passage

London W4 4PH, United Kingdom

Tel +44 (0)20 8742 3355

From North America: 1 800 988 6168

info@martinrandall.co.uk www.martinrandall.com

Martin Randall Australasia PO Box 1024 Indooroopilly QLD 4068, Australia

Tel 1300 55 95 95

New Zealand 0800 877 622 anz@martinrandall.com.au

PLEASE READ THESE

You need to sign your assent to these Booking Conditions on the booking form.

OUR PROMISES TO YOU

We aim to be fair, reasonable and sympathetic in all our dealings with clients, and to act always with integrity.

We will meet all our legal and regulatory responsibilities, usually going far beyond the minimum obligations.

We aim to provide full and accurate information about our holidays. If there are changes, we will tell you promptly.

If something does go wrong, we will try to put it right. Our overriding aim is to ensure that every client is satisfied with our services.

ALL WE ASK OF YOU

That you read the information we send to you.

SPECIFIC TERMS

Our contract with you. From the time we receive your signed booking form and initial payment, a contract exists between you and Martin Randall Travel Ltd.

Eligibility. You must be in good health, free of infectious illness, and have a level of physical and mental fitness that would not impair other participants’ enjoyment by slowing them down or by absorbing disproportionate attention from the tour leaders. Please read ‘Fitness for the festival' on page 10 and take the self-assessment tests also described there; by signing the booking form you are stating that you have understood what we are asking of you and are fit to participate. If you have a medical condition or a disability which may affect your holiday or necessitate special arrangements being made for you, please discuss this with us before booking – or, if the condition develops or changes subsequently, as soon as possible before departure. If during the festival or tour it transpires, in the judgement of the tour leaders, that you are not able to cope, you may be asked to opt out of certain visits or to leave altogether. This would be at your own expense. We reserve the right to refuse to accept a booking without necessarily giving a reason.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office advice. Before booking, please refer to the FCDO website to ensure you understand the travel advice for the places to which the festival or tour goes. NonUK citizens should look at the advice issued by their governments, which may differ significantly.

Insurance. It is a requirement of booking that you have adequate holiday insurance cover. The insurance must cover, at minimum, medical treatment, repatriation, loss of property and loss of payments to us in the event that you cancel your booking. If you are making your own arrangements for international travel, please ensure you have insurance that protects you in the rare event of Martin Randall Travel cancelling the festival or tour. Experience indicates that free travel insurance offered by some credit card companies is not to be relied upon.

Passports and visas. British citizens must have valid passports for travel outside the United Kingdom. The passport needs to be valid for 6 months beyond the date of the festival and/ or tour. For Schengen countries, your passport must have been issued less than ten years before the date you enter the country and valid for at least three months after the day you

leave. Non-UK nationals should ascertain whether visas are required in their case.

If you cancel. If you have to withdraw from a festival or tour on which you had booked, there would be a charge which varies according to the period of notice you give. Up to 57 days before departure the deposit would be forfeited. Thereafter a percentage of the total cost of your booking will be due:

Up to 57 days: deposit only

Between 56 and 29 days: 40%

Between 28 and 15 days: 60%

Between 14 days and 4 days: 80%

Within 72 hours: 100%

Additional costs for individual arrangements (including but not limited to flight upgrades, flight amendments, extra nights at hotel(s), room upgrades and airport transfers) are subject to the same cancellation charges, apart from in the instance where we have previously notified you that an additional cost is non-refundable.

If you cancel your booking in a shared room but your travelling companion chooses to continue to participate, the companion would have to pay the single-occupancy price.

We take as the day of cancellation that on which we receive written confirmation of cancellation.

If we cancel. We may decide to cancel a festival or tour if there were insufficient bookings for the it to be viable (though this would always be more than 8 weeks before departure). We would refund you with everything you had paid us.

Safety and security. Cancellation may also occur if civil unrest, war, natural disaster or other circumstances amounting to force majeure arise in the region to which the festival or tour was due to go. If the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against travel, we would either cancel or adjust the itinerary to avoid risky areas.

Health and safety. We have a safety auditing process in place and, as a minimum, request that all of our suppliers comply with local health and safety regulations. However, we operate tours in parts of the world where standards are lower than those you are used to at home, particularly in the areas of accessibility, handrails and seatbelts. We ask that you take note of the safety information we provide. The limits of our liabilities. As principal, we accept responsibility for all ingredients of a tour or festival except those in which the principle of force majeure prevails. Our obligations and responsibilities are also limited where international conventions apply in respect of air, sea or rail carriers, including the Warsaw Convention and its various updates.

If we make changes. Circumstances might arise which prevent us from operating a tour or event exactly as advertised. We would try to devise a satisfactory alternative, but if the change represents a significant loss to the tour or festival we would offer compensation. If you decide to cancel because the alternative we offer is not in your view an adequate substitute, we would give a full refund.

Financial protection for UK residents. Any money you have paid to us for a holiday which includes an international flight is protected by our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (ATOL, number 3622). Payments for holidays which do not include a flight from/to the UK are protected by ABTOT – The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited. So, in the (highly unlikely) event of our insolvency in advance of the festival or tour, you would get your money

back, or if we failed after it had begun, it would be able to continue and you would be returned to the UK at its conclusion. Clients living elsewhere who have arranged their own flights should ensure their personal travel insurance covers repatriation in the event of holiday supplier failure.

Financial protection – the official text. We are required to publish the following:

We provide full financial protection for our package holidays which include international flights, by way of our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number 3622. When you buy an ATOL protected flight inclusive holiday from us you receive an ATOL Certificate. This lists what is financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if things go wrong. Most of our flights and flight-inclusive holidays on our website and in our brochure are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. But ATOL protection does not apply to all holiday and travel services listed. Please ask us to confirm what protection may apply to your booking. If you do not receive an ATOL Certificate then the booking will not be ATOL protected. If you do receive an ATOL Certificate but all the parts of your trip are not listed on it, those parts will not be ATOL protected. In order to be protected under the ATOL scheme you need to be in the UK when you make your booking and/or one of the flights you take must originate or terminate in the UK with the group.

We provide full financial protection for our package holidays that do not include a flight, by way of a bond held by ABTOT – The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited.

We will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where we aren’t able do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder may provide you with the services you have bought or a suitable alternative (at no extra cost to you). You agree to accept that in those circumstances the alternative ATOL holder will perform those obligations and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by you under your contract to that alternative ATOL holder. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under the ATOL scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable). If we, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL certificate, are unable to provide the services listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder or otherwise) for reasons of insolvency, the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under the ATOL scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign absolutely to those Trustees any claims which you have or may have arising out of or relating to the nonprovision of the services, including any claim against us (or your credit card issuer where applicable). You also agree that any such claims maybe re-assigned to another body, if that other body has paid sums you have claimed under the ATOL scheme.

English Law. These conditions form part of your contract with Martin Randall Travel Ltd and are governed by English law. All proceedings shall be within the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

Privacy. By signing the booking form, or by booking online, you are stating that you have read and agree to our Privacy Policy (available online at www. martinrandall.com/privacy).

MARTIN RANDALL TRAVEL LTD

10 Barley Mow Passage

London W4 4PH

United Kingdom

Tel +44 (0)20 8742 3355 info@martinrandall.co.uk www.martinrandall.com

Contact the London office from the USA and Canada:

Tel 1 800 988 6168 (toll free) usa@martinrandall.com

MARTIN RANDALL TRAVEL…

is Britain’s leading specialist in cultural travel and one of the most respected tour operators in the world.

MRT aims to produce the best planned, best led and altogether the most fulfilling and enjoyable cultural tours and events available. They focus on art, architecture, archaeology, history, music and gastronomy, and are spread across Britain, continental Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, India, Japan and the Americas.

MARTIN RANDALL AUSTRALASIA

PO Box 1024 Indooroopilly

QLD 4068 Australia

Tel 1300 55 95 95

New Zealand 0800 877 622 anz@martinrandall.com.au

For 2023 we have planned around 175 expert-led tours for small groups (usually 10–20 participants), four music festivals of our own devising (such as The Bach Journey ), several short history and music breaks, an extensive programme of online talks, and single days in London.

For 35 years the company has led the field through incessant innovation and improvement, setting the benchmarks for itinerary planning, operational systems and service standards.

To see our full range of cultural tours and events, please visit www.martinrandall.com