Previous posts for February 3rd are here: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina; Felix Mendelssohn (2020), Mabel Mercer (2021), Johann Georg Albrechtsberger; Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (2022), and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (2023)
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Floored
Palestrina's funeral was held at St. Peter's, and he was buried beneath the floor of the basilica. His tomb was later covered by new construction and attempts to locate his grave have been unsuccessful. – Wikipedia
Palestrina found his final rest,
In a place the Church considered best,
But later in some Papal renovation
They overlooked his skeleton’s location.
Alas, how insecure our earthly place is
Even in the holiest of spaces!
Too Much of a Good Thing?
Mendelssohn was an enthusiastic visual artist who worked in pencil and watercolor, a skill which he enjoyed throughout his life. – Wikipedia
A 2009 survey by the BBC of 16 music critics opined that Mendelssohn was the greatest composing prodigy in the history of Western classical music. – Wikipedia
Rosen called Mendelssohn "the inventor of religious kitsch in music". – Wikipedia
Everything Mendelssohn touched
Blossomed with consummate ease;
It never was labored or clutched,
He was free as a summertime breeze.
He was given an excellent rearing,
He was good with a pencil and brush,
And his personal charm was endearing,
His account at his bankers was flush.
And yet, he has had his detractors
There are high-minded critics who bitch
That his music was one of the factors
In Protestant musical kitsch.
There are those who pooh-pooh his ability
And the consummate ease that suffuses
The miraculous, fluent facility
Of this halcyon son of the muses.
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