The more I hear about B16, the happier I am.
Pope Benedict Without His Beloved Piano as Movers Struggle to Fit It Into His New Quarters
"ROME — Pope Benedict XVI, a fan of Mozart and Bach, is still without his piano as movers have been unable to fit it through the windows of his papal apartment, it was reported Wednesday...
Ratzinger, who apparently uses the piano to relax at times of stress, reportedly used to irk his neighbours by playing Mozart, Bach and Palestrina a little too loudly, according to German weekly Der Spiegel."
That's what we need: a Pope who plays Palestrina a little too loudly.
Pope or no Pope; if Benedict did that sort of thing in the street where I live (London, England) someone would get him to court and slap an ASBO (standing for Anti-Social Behaviour Order) on him. Then woe betide him if he played Palestrina at 3 in the morning. Off to Gaol he would go!
ASBO's: putting the smack-down on noisy pianists since 2003! :-)
I think Cardinal Ratzinger was probably too busy putting the smack down on heretics at 3am to be playing the piano.
He's probably a mid-morning or afternoon piano guy...
Hope they get that piano in there soon. Even the Pope is fallible when playing Mozart after a month with no practice ;)
Wish I was there to listen to him touching the Ivories
As long as he doesn't like show tunes or religious songs that sound like them:
"You who dvell in ze shelter uff ze Lord, who abite in Hiss shhadow for liffffe..."
Actually, RC - the words are:
"LAAAA-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEFFFFFFE!"
Palestrina never sounded so good! Gosh....could polyphony be making a comeback?! Dare we hope?
Peter, the pope used only Gregorian chant and Latin polyphony during his inaugural Mass.
I wonder if he'll be able to work a little piano recital into his Wednesday audiences. That would be way cool.
I like Benedict more and more every day. Gregorian, Palestrina, pre-schism-pallium, pre-vat2-practices (like beatifications by cardinals). If he manages to meet with Alexy II then I'll be jumping up and down.
If he did show tunes in the style of Thelonius Monk that wouldn't be so bad. Hearing Professor Longhair stride-piano riffs coming from the Papal Apartments would be something. Maybe Apple should be working on a Pope Benedict iPod endorsement?
I think an Alexi / Benedict meeting is more likely than not. I've often wondered if JP2 was unwelcome partly because of his Slavic nationality and popular personality. I knew a Ukrainian Orthodox church that had a picture of JP2 in the parish hall, across from one of the pastor w/ Alexi.
RC wrote...."You who dvell in ze shelter uff ze Lord, who abite in Hiss shhadow for liffffe..."
I'm glad I read this in the afternoon. If I'd found it in the early morning there'd be coffee all over my keyboard.
Speaking of Palestrina, my wife and I were in Rome, and we were searching for his tomb, (I read it was in St.Peters)..close to the sacristy. We could not find it, and no one seemed to know where it was. Does anyone know where it is? More Palestrina?...That would be great!!
Nathan: Actually, it was a blend of chant, polyphony, and more modern elements.
He's a sweetheart, is Papa Benedetto ... although I doubt that he'll be playing the piano any during his weekly audiences, we can always hope! :) Hmmm ... wonder if they got all his books to fit into his new library at the Papal apartments? He's supposed to have an incredible library ... what I wouldn't give to scan the titles, or to work at the bookstores where he loved to browse the shelves before going to work! I seriously would have loved to be in one of his theology classes when he was still teaching, except I think I was just 10 years old at the time!
As for the possibility of Papa Benedetto's meeting with Alexy, I'll be praying for that. Miracles do happen ... as John Paul the Great showed us, it is still possible for centuries of -- err -- disagreement to fall under the sheer weight of the power of Christian love and understanding.
Rick, I believe that Palestrina's tomb is in St. Mary Major.
I've heard it said (and hold it as an article of faith!) that "a day w/out Mozart is like a day w/out sunshine". Hope that the Holy Father gets his piano pretty soon. We pianists tend to get a little cranky without regular doses of our beloved instrument! Sidenote: Before BXVI was elected, I shared the typical misconceptions about his personality -- and we all know what they are! However, I've been reading more about him and some of his writings, and have come to agree with the above poster who called him a "sweetheart". His whole demeanour, beginning with his first appearance as Pope on the balcony, has pretty much won my heart. And, to top off his love of music, he also likes cats!!! I mean, who could dislike anyone who loves God, Mozart and cats??? Not possible! BTW, if the Holy Father needs a cat, our local vet has some cute kittens up for adoption -- but I guess he'd have to pay shipping charges from Montreal to Rome ....