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Showing posts with the label Claudio Abbado

Benedict XVI on death and silence

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Benedict XVI, Zagreb, Croatia, 5 June 2011 [ Wikipedia ;  photo ] One of the most beautiful passages on death that I have ever read is from Pope Benedict's encyclical letter on hope,  Spe Salvi , No 48. I have often quoted from this passage at funerals. Spe Salvi, 48. Pope Benedict In hope we were saved (Romans, 8:24). The belief that love can reach into the afterlife, that reciprocal giving and receiving is possible, in which our affection for one another continues beyond the limits of death—this has been a fundamental conviction of Christianity throughout the ages and it remains a source of comfort today. Who would not feel the need to convey to their departed loved ones a sign of kindness, a gesture of gratitude or even a request for pardon? . . . We should recall that no man is an island, entire of itself. Our lives are involved with one another . . . The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And conversely, my life spills over

Claudio Abbado RIP, Pope Benedict and Mozart's Requiem

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Claudio Abbado  ( 26 June 1933 - 20 January 2014 ) Lacrimosa  from  Dies Irae , Mozart's  Requiem Lacrimosa dies illa Qua resurget ex favilla Judicandus homo reus. Huic ergo parce, Deus: Pie Jesu Domine, Dona eis requiem. Amen. Full of tears shall be that day On which from ashes shall arise The guilty man to be judged; Therefore, O God, have mercy on him. Gentle Lord Jesus, grant them eternal rest. Amen. Agnus Dei , Mozart's  Requiem , Lucerne Festival 2012 Pope Benedict on Mozart's  Requiem Pope Benedict attended a performance in his honour of Mozart's  Requiem  in Castel Gandolfo in September 2010. He gave a  short address  afterwards. Here are some quotations from that. Everything is in perfect harmony in Mozart, every note, every musical phrase is as it is and could not be otherwise; even those opposed are reconciled; it is called ' mozart’sche Heiterkeit'  (Mozart's serenity), which envelops everything, every moment. It is a gift of the Gra