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richard
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Happy 250th Birthday Mozart!
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Jan 27 17:22 UTC 2006 |
Today is the 250th birthday of Mozart! Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born
on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria. Mozart only lived to age 35 and
he died broke and in obscurity. There was no money for or interest in a
funeral, his body was disposed of in a paupers grave, where they buried
other unclaimed bodies. He wrote much music that was not even performed
in his lifetime. It was his former students like Beethoven, who was far
better known in his lifetime than Mozart was, who kept telling people
about him and keeping his memory alive.
Now, over two hundred years later, Mozart is the most performed, most
recorded artist/composer in history. At any moment of the day, somebody
somewhere in the world is playing Mozart. For someone who died at 35, he
produced a staggering amount of work.
He died a poor unknown alcoholic recluse. Two hundred and fifty years
from now, when every other contemporary artist we know will likely be long
forgotten, they'll be celebrating Mozart's 500th birthday. Because
Mozart's music becomes more relevant, more important as the years ago by.
Happy Birthday Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the greatest of all composers.
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| 27 responses total. |
keesan
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response 1 of 27:
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Jan 27 17:51 UTC 2006 |
The paupers' grave story is a myth based on the fact that there were multiple
bodies in the grave. That was standard practice at the time, in a crowded
cemetary.
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nharmon
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response 2 of 27:
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Jan 27 18:11 UTC 2006 |
From Wikipedia:
"According to popular legend, Mozart was penniless and forgotten when he
died, and was buried in a pauper's grave. In fact, though he was no
longer as fashionable in Vienna as before, he continued to have a
well-paid job at court and receive substantial commissions from more
distant parts of Europe, Prague in particular. Many of his begging
letters survive but they are evidence not so much of poverty as of his
habit of spending more than he earned. He was not buried in a "mass
grave" but in a regular communal grave according to the 1784 laws."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart
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rcurl
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response 3 of 27:
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Jan 27 18:45 UTC 2006 |
It is, of course, regardless of the myths, ASTONISHING how creative he was
in composing music. Could it have been caused by random mutations in the
his brain's genome?
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nharmon
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response 4 of 27:
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Jan 27 19:02 UTC 2006 |
No, he was intelligently designed that way.
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richard
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response 5 of 27:
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Jan 27 19:04 UTC 2006 |
There you go quoting wikipedia info as facts again. They don't know where
Mozart is buried, they would love to dig up his body and study it. A pauper's
grave is the most likely explanation. Just recently they found a skull in
a pauper's grave they speculated might be his but probably isn't, it was
in the news.
It is suspected that a lot of Mozart's music was lost because it is well
known that he did not make copies or rough drafts of any kind. He only
bothered to write any notes down in their final form. Every music you
hear of his he only put to paper once.
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tod
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response 6 of 27:
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Jan 27 19:30 UTC 2006 |
A pauper's grave is how they define anybody's grave that wasn't royalty or
a Pope. People still recycle graves in Europe. You have a "family plot" and
if at least 7 years has passed then you can have the grave diggers
"consolidate" it by digging up the bones and burning/busting them to ash so
you can put another body in there. That's not a "poor person" or "pauper"
idea but one of general practice.
Funeral homes and singular "crypts" inside a singular "plot" are an American
invention to emulate European royalty.
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aruba
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response 7 of 27:
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Jan 27 19:49 UTC 2006 |
Although Beethoven was a great fan of Mozart, he never studied under him.
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mcnally
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response 8 of 27:
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Jan 27 19:54 UTC 2006 |
I'm tempted to create an http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wallner
page full of disinformation, just to tick Richard off..
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rcurl
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response 9 of 27:
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Jan 27 19:55 UTC 2006 |
I thought it was a tenet of Catholicism that the body had to be kept buried
and entire. Cremation is not allowed by Catholics. Mozart was raised a
Catholic, married in the Catholic church. Although he became a Freemason,
Freemasonry was not considered to be in opposition to Catholicism. So...
why would he be dug up and burned/busted as a "regular practice"?
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happyboy
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response 10 of 27:
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Jan 27 19:58 UTC 2006 |
re8: could you do one for klg as well then?
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mcnally
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response 11 of 27:
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Jan 27 20:14 UTC 2006 |
re #9: I believe your information on Catholic burial practices is
a little out of date.
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klg
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response 12 of 27:
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Jan 27 20:19 UTC 2006 |
Hard to believe.
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tod
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response 13 of 27:
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Jan 27 20:21 UTC 2006 |
re #9
You're thinking of Jews.
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nharmon
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response 14 of 27:
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Jan 27 21:26 UTC 2006 |
Re 5: I don't see a problem quoting Wikipedia as fact. Especially when
discussing things on a friggen internet conference. Sure, I wouldn't
cite a Wikipedia page in any of my college research papers. But we're
talking about Grex for Christ's sake.
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richard
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response 15 of 27:
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Jan 27 21:28 UTC 2006 |
I was in Salzburg, Austria, Mozart's birthplace, a couple of years ago. One
of the most beautiful places in the world. It is also where the "Sound of
Music" true story and movie took place.
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tod
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response 16 of 27:
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Jan 27 21:30 UTC 2006 |
What a romantic town....
*cough*
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happyboy
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response 17 of 27:
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Jan 27 22:04 UTC 2006 |
"...and on your left you'll see where my SS grampa
shot a jew."
---Austrian Tourguide
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rcurl
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response 18 of 27:
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Jan 27 22:26 UTC 2006 |
Re #11: It doesn't matter if I'M out of date; what matters is what were the
burial practices for Catholics in Austria in 1791. Enlighten us.
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mcnally
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response 19 of 27:
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Jan 27 22:31 UTC 2006 |
I don't know that I can provide enlightenment, but a grammar lesson
is something I can probably manage.
When you write "Cremation is not allowed by Catholics," most English
speakers will take the present-tense verb "is" to indicate that you
are speaking about the current state of affairs. If you wish to talk
about burial practices in Austria in 1791, you should replace the word
"is" in that sentence with "was."
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scholar
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response 20 of 27:
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Jan 27 22:52 UTC 2006 |
But it's a whole nother problem if he writes the rest of the paragraph in
present tense.
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khamsun
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response 21 of 27:
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Jan 27 23:10 UTC 2006 |
Re #9,11,12,13:
rcurl is mostly right.
Catholicism does tolerate (ie. not encourage, only that it's no longer a
sin which will send you straight to Hell) cremation since 1963, at the
time of the big overhauling of the Vaticano 2nd concil. Before 1963,
that was forbidden.So at the time of Mozart. Some countries did forbid
it too, for instance France up to 1889.
The decree allowing the stuff was promulgated the 8th mai 1963,
and added as $3 in the article #1176 og the Canon Law Code.
the reference (in english) right from the Holy See:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4A.HTM
" 3. The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burying
the bodies of the deceased be observed; nevertheless, the Church does
not prohibit cremation unless it was chosen for reasons contrary to
Christian doctrine."
the practice when the grave is full, and room must be made for the next
coffin, is to grab the bones and put them apart in some box, or in a
common grave.That's the reason for the big ossuaries seen here and there
around Yurop, in old churches basements and so. Think too at the large
catacombs in the underground of most big cities.
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khamsun
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response 22 of 27:
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Jan 27 23:15 UTC 2006 |
Re #6:
"Funeral homes and singular "crypts" inside a singular "plot" are an
American invention to emulate European royalty."
isn't the whole USA mainly an emulation of Yurop, after format c:/
natives?
(of course, one can't say such things which are bare facts, 'cause some
yanks will pop up whining it's "anti-american")
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tod
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response 23 of 27:
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Jan 28 01:27 UTC 2006 |
Let's talk about corduroys
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krj
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response 24 of 27:
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Feb 8 20:25 UTC 2006 |
Danish Broadcasting Corporation has put a bunch of MP3s of Mozart
symphonies up for free download. Start at http://www.dr.dk and
grub around until you find them, if interested.
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