New Roman Pontiff favours Beethoven !

[Amalie]

Whatever religious affiliation you may have I am sure all of us as Beethoven lovers will be pleased to learn the New Pope Benedict XV1 favourite composers are Beethoven and Mozart. Apparently the Cardinal Ratzinger plays the piano on an international level, and whatever spare time he has he sets aside 15 minutes everyday and plays Beethoven piano sonatas.
He obviously comes from a German/Austrian cultural background and a man of profound wisdom and knowledge.

Viva Il Papa !


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~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~

[This message has been edited by Amalie (edited 04-23-2005).]

[Joy]

He is an accomplished pianist who loves art, culture and has a passion for classical music. His favourites are Beethoven and Mozart.

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'Truth and beauty joined'

[Sorrano]

In watching the funeral proceedings of the previous Pope I was impressed with the musicality that is required of the Catholic Clergy in performing the rites and services. The church is very rich in its musical heritage and I am not surprised at the tastes of the current Pope. While I am not of Catholic persuasion I have collected some of the missas in book form and have a great interest in the chants and notation.

[Rutradelusasa]

He has some recordings on his name too. One of christmas music for DGG, one of Palestrina for DHM and quite a few for Ars Musici. I looked for a review of any of those and found at Gramophone one for Palestrina, which found it very bad recorded, but the musicians were ok.

Interesting huh? Imagine a CD that says: Palestrina, Choir of Regensburg, Conductor: The Pope.

Maybe we will be seeing some performance at the Vatican.

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"Wer ein holdes weib errungen..."

[Chris]

I read that he only plays in private of late. 15 minutes of practice a day isn't much, and I suspect he won't even get that a lot of time now, what with his new responsibilities! But I'm sure his love of art and music will come through in his papacy. Long live Benedict XVI!

[ruudp]

Originally posted by Chris:
I read that he only plays in private of late. 15 minutes of practice a day isn't much, and I suspect he won't even get that a lot of time now, what with his new responsibilities! But I'm sure his love of art and music will come through in his papacy. Long live Benedict XVI!

But let us not forget that the good man also is a VERY conservative and strict catholic who believes that His faith is THE ONLY one, I can´t comprehend why the catholic church would choose such a conservative man in these times of secularisation and alienation from believe, faith and religion. The former pope was conservative aswell but not to the extent this one is, I´m anxious to see what the responses of the world will be on this new ´papa`.

regards,
Ruud

[Amalie]

I was watching the Inauguration of Benedict XV1, and at the end of the Mass it was wonderful to hear Bach's Toccata & Fugue, which I think is a nice inclusive gesture to the protestant denominations.

We may see great changes.

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~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~

[Chris]

Originally posted by ruudp:
But let us not forget that the good man also is a VERY conservative and strict catholic who believes that His faith is THE ONLY one, I can´t comprehend why the catholic church would choose such a conservative man in these times of secularisation and alienation from believe, faith and religion. The former pope was conservative aswell but not to the extent this one is, I´m anxious to see what the responses of the world will be on this new ´papa`.

regards,
Ruud

Any Catholic (who pays attention to the doctrines of the Church as they should) believes the Catholic religion is the only (true) one. But I think his position as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for the last 24 years made him seem more...severe...than he really is. Defending and explaining the doctrine of the Church was his job. And while that is still his job in some sense, he has a much more all-encompassing responsibility now. Already he has surprised people with his spirited ecumenical mindset.

No, I think there will be no problems there.

[This message has been edited by Chris (edited 04-24-2005).]

[Amalie]

Originally posted by Chris:
Any Catholic (who pays attention to the doctrines of the Church as they should) believes the Catholic religion is the only (true) one. But I think his position as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for the last 24 years made him seem more...severe...than he really is. Defending and explaining the doctrine of the Church was his job. And while that is still his job in some sense, he has a much more all-encompassing responsibility now. Already he has surprised people with his spirited ecumenical mindset.

No, I think there will be no problems there.

[This message has been edited by Chris (edited 04-24-2005).]

I totally agree Chris, and don't forget he is an incredibly civilized humane and humble person, very much a product of all that is best in European culture, he has said that one of his themes will be reconnecting or trying to transform European secular culture excesses and I was reading that his favourite novel is Herman Hesse , Steppenwolf, with its portrayal of the way man isolates himself .



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~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~

[Peter]

Much more of this and I shall have to ban the lot of you

Back to music please! Perhaps with regard to tolerance as opposed to extreme conservatism we should recall the cases of Palestrina's Missa Pope Marcellus and Jacobus de Kerle's Preces Speciales, both of which silenced the hardliners of the Coucil of Trent and allowed polyphonic music to flourish, paving the way for the great Baroque composers.

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'Man know thyself'

[Joy]

Don't ban me!!! Back to music and also the Pope. I heard yesterday that he is concerned about not being able to bring his piano to his new apartment from his old one as the elevators where his new apartment is are very old and very small, much to small for a piano to get through!

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'Truth and beauty joined'

[~Immortal Beloved~]

Originally posted by Amalie:
Whatever religious affiliation you may have I am sure all of us as Beethoven lovers will be pleased to learn the New Pope Benedict XV1 favourite composers are Beethoven and Mozart. Apparently the Cardinal Ratzinger plays the piano on an international level, and whatever spare time he has he sets aside 15 minutes everyday and plays Beethoven piano sonatas.
He obviously comes from a German/Austrian cultural background and a man of profound wisdom and knowledge.

Viva Il Papa !

wow that's wonderful! Long live the New Pope! hehe

[Chaszz]

Originally posted by Rutradelusasa:
He has some recordings on his name too. One of christmas music for DGG, one of Palestrina for DHM and quite a few for Ars Musici. I looked for a review of any of those and found at Gramophone one for Palestrina, which found it very bad recorded, but the musicians were ok.

Interesting huh? Imagine a CD that says: Palestrina, Choir of Regensburg, Conductor: The Pope.

Maybe we will be seeing some performance at the Vatican.

The conductor you seem to be referring to is named Georg Ratzinger, while the new pope's former name is Joseph Ratzinger.

[Chris]

Originally posted by Chaszz:
The conductor you seem to be referring to is named Georg Ratzinger, while the new pope's former name is Joseph Ratzinger.

Hm... The pope's brother's name is Georg Ratzinger. He is also a priest. I'm not sure what his interest in music is, but it sounds like it could be him.

[Rutradelusasa]

Originally posted by Chaszz:
The conductor you seem to be referring to is named Georg Ratzinger, while the new pope's former name is Joseph Ratzinger.

OOps, my mistake . They both were priests at Regensburg, and they both conducted the boy's choir.



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"Wer ein holdes weib errungen..."