Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra

Registration date:	2006-06-05
Country:	Germany
City:	Leipzig
Address:	Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, Augustusplatz 8
Telephone:	+49.341 127 0-420
Fax:	+49.341 127 0-407
Homepage:	http://www.gewandhaus.de
Contact language(s):	german, english
Contact e-mail:	publicrelations@gewandhaus.de

Description
The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is a German orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. It is named after the concert hall in which it is based, the Gewandhaus ("Cloth Hall").

Concerts in Leipzig date back to the early 18th century. They were first held in a private dwelling, and then an inn, before the orchestra moved to the Gewandhaus in 1781. The orchestra has a good claim to being the oldest continuing musical performing organization in Europe. In the early 19th century, Felix Mendelssohn was the kapellmeister. In 1885, the orchestra moved into a new hall, which was destroyed in 1944. The present Gewandhaus is the third building with the name. It was opened in 1981. There is a large organ in the hall, which bears the orchestra's long standing motto "res severa verum gaudium" ("true pleasure is serious business"). This has been the motto of the ochestra since it moved into its first concert hall in 1781.