Wittenberg Renaissance Music Festival

La dolce vita
An evening of music by Claudio Monteverdi
Opening concert | lautten compagney BERLIN
Fri, 19/09/2025, 19:00 | Stadthaus

Monteverdi's music tells of love, happiness, pain and hope - themes that still resonate today. In passionate arias, poetic madrigals and sacred works, praise, longing and fate resound. Between the joy of love and heartache, a sound picture of human emotions unfolds. Tehila Nini Goldstein and the lautten compagney BERLIN perform excerpts from madrigal books, the opera L'incoronazione di Poppea, the Marian Vespers and the Selva morale e spirituale.

Tickets: € 25 / € 22 reduced

Dona nobis pacem
Wittenberg sings | Choir meeting
Sat, 20/09/2025, 18:00 | Schlosskirche

After last year's strong start, it's time again: Wittenberg sings! Choirs from the city and the surrounding area will come together in the castle church and castle courtyard to set an example for peace under the motto ‘Dona nobis pacem’. The repertoire is freely selectable - whether Renaissance, gospel or pop - the main thing is that it unites generations and styles. Taking part: the Wittenberg choir, the gospel choirs of the castle church, school choirs and many more. They will once again be accompanied by the lautten compagney BERLIN.

Festival director Thomas Höhne will moderate.

Admission free - donation requested

Divine melancholy                                             Italian lute music | Nigel North - Renaissance lute        Sat, 20.09.2025, 20:00 | Catholic Church

An evening full of elegance and depth: Nigel North presents lute music from the 16th century - with fantasies, dances and song arrangements by Francesco da Milano, Alberto da Ripa and Simone Molinaro. Finely spun melodies, virtuoso counterpoints and a pinch of divine melancholy make this solo evening the quiet highlight of the festival.

Tickets: € 25 / € 22 reduced

Frederick's nightlife
A scenic evening mass for the Elector | Wittenberg Court Chapel
Sun, 21/09/2025, 17:00 | Monastery Church

An evening in Wittenberg at the beginning of the 16th century: the court chapel is waiting for the Elector - but he doesn't show up. Instead of mass, secular music is soon to be heard: dances, songs and surprises from Georg Forster's songbook, works by Senfl, Lasso & Co. The musicians take the audience on a sonorous journey between courtly devotion, whispers of love and dancing pleasure - and who knows, maybe the evening will end on the dance floor...

Tickets: € 25 / € 22 reduced

Music for the Electors
Court music from Berlin-Cölln | Gaby Bultmann & Cöllner Compagney
Mon, 22/09/2025, 19:00 | Old Town Hall

The Cöllner Compagney sheds light on the musical heyday at the court of Berlin-Cölln. The focus is on Bartholomaeus Praetorius and William Brade - two influential composers of the Renaissance whose works helped shape the court music of this twin city. The programme ranges from courtly instrumental music to the sounds of town pipers and pieces from the Reformation period.

Tickets: € 25 / € 22 reduced

Saitentänze
How the Follia came to Europe | Amandine Affagard & Alejandro Galiano Zurbriggen
Tue, 23/09/2025, 19:00 | Malsaal im Cranach-Hof

A rare duo: theorbo, a lute instrument, and baroque guitar tell of dances between folk art and courtly elegance - from Spain, France and Italy. The centrepiece of the evening is the Follia, originally from Mexico and later varied many times in Europe - for example by Corelli. The programme is complemented by music by Gaspar Sanz, Robert de Visée and improvised Renaissance dances.

Tickets: € 25 / € 22 reduced

"Die Welt die hat ein thummen Muet"
Time travel to peasant parlours & aristocratic palaces | Ensemble astrophil & stella
Fri, 26.09.2025, 19:00 | Schlosskirche

A musical journey to the year 1525: The ensemble astrophil & stella takes you from the simple life of the peasants to the music rooms of the nobility - with songs, dances and sounds on dulcimer, straw fiddle, lute and transverse flute. Social upheavals, music of the Reformation, old folk instruments and courtly elegance take centre stage. Half a millennium of history sounds between tavern and castle, pipe and psaltery.

Tickets: € 25 / € 22 reduced

Musical city walk
Love as in Luther's time | Praetorius Consort, Wittenberg Court Chapel & guests
Sat, 27/09/2025, 15:00 | Start: Castle Church

Wittenberg sounds - at the original sites of the Reformation! During the popular city walk, Renaissance sounds meet modern film music, historical instruments meet young talents. After an opening in the castle church, small groups walk through the town - with music in places such as the Old Town Hall, the Corpus Christi Chapel and Café Klatschmohn. All in the spirit of love and peace - in keeping with Martin Luther's 500th wedding anniversary.

Duration: approx. 2.5-3 hours Tickets: € 25 / € 22 reduced 

The Elector dances
Historical dance ball | Ensemble The Playfords
Sat, 27/09/2025, 20:00 | Old Town Hall

Anniversary edition! For the 20th time, the Historical Dance Ball invites you to a festive round dance - with live music by The Playfords and lively dancing led by Mareike Greb and Mark Frenzel. Whether country dance or contredanse - the dancers will be dancing what once moved electors and peasants. Previous knowledge and costumes are welcome, but not necessary. If you like, you can practise in the classes during the day - and start the ball in the evening. 

Tickets: € 44

The healing power of the silver string sound
Music as an antidepressant with singing, harp & dulcimer
Julla von Landsberg & Ensemble 33zwo
Sun, 28/09/2025, 17:00 | Altes Rathaus

Music heals and moves - from the silvery sound of the harp to the hammered dulcimer. The evening combines English, German and Italian dances, love songs and cantatas from the Renaissance to the Baroque. Works by Monteverdi, Handel, Senfl and many more meet traditional melodies from Wales and Ireland.

Tickets: € 25 / € 22 reduced