Mstislav Rostropovich performs the Sarabande from Bach's Second Suite for Solo Cello in Dm at Checkpoint Charlie while the Berlin Wall comes down in November, 1989. Checkpoint Charlie was a police station that monitored all crossings between East-West. The Berlin Wall had been erected in 1961 to prevent a 'brain drain' of the intelligentsia fleeing the communists. While its stated purpose was to protect East Germans from any remnants of Nazi influence, its real purpose was to hold captive those seeking refuge in the West.
The Berlin Wall came down following peaceful demonstrations for freedom involving half a million people.
When Rostropovich heard about the wall on the radio in his apartment in Paris he immediately persuaded an industrialist friend to give him a ride to Berlin in his private jet. Without knowing the destination, his friend agreed. When they landed they grabbed a taxi for the wall - but where? The wall was very extensive. They agreed that the symbolic crossing point Checkpoint Charlie was the right spot. But he had no chair! His friend grabbed a chair from one of the gate's guards, and Rostropovich began to play his deeply spiritual Bach for this momentous event, which was fortunately captured on film.
