Previous posts for November 10th are here: Martin Luther; Carl Stalling (2019) and Johann Christian Schieferdecker (2020)
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François Couperin (10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque composer, organist, and harpsichordist.
Monumentality
Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin is a light-hearted, and sometimes reflective work rather than a sombre one which Ravel explained in response to criticism saying: "The dead are sad enough, in their eternal silence." -- adapted from Wikipedia
Of all the works of Couperin
It was his suites for clavecin
Which gave Ravel the urge to show
His deep respects with a Tombeau,
A title which suggests lament,
But that was not Ravel’s intent;
“The Dead in their eternal peace
Do not seek dirges for release.”
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Friedrich Schiller (10 November 1759 – 9 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher whose poems were set by Beethoven and Schubert. among others.
Ode to Joy; or, Beethoven Defends Himself
Beethoven said that a great poem is more difficult to set to music than a merely good one because the composer must rise higher than the poet – "who can do that in the case of Schiller?" -- Wikipedia
“I know that the piece is a killer,
As the choir gets shriller and shriller;
But when singers get hoarse,
Which is often, of course,
I’ll blame the disturbance on Schiller.”
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