VATICAN CITY, 8 SEP 2010 (VIS) - Yesterday evening in the Apostolic Palace at Castelgandolfo the Holy Father attended a performance of Mozart's Requiem played by the Symphony Orchestra of Padua and Veneto, and the "Accademia della voce" Choir of Turin, conducted by Claudio Desideri.
At the end of the concert, one of a number of such initiatives to mark the fifth anniversary of his pontificate, the Pope expressed his thanks to the musicians and singers, reaffirming his particular affection for Mozart whose music, he said, reminded him of his parish church when, as a child, during Mass "I felt that a ray of the beauty of heaven had touched my heart. I feel the same each time, including today, I listen to this great, dramatic and serene meditation upon death.
"In Mozart", the Holy Father added, "everything is in perfect harmony, each note, each musical phrase. ... Even opposites are reconciled and... 'Mozartian serenity' envelopes everything at all times. This is a gift of the Grace of God, but also the fruit of Mozart's own living faith which - especially in his sacred music - manages to reveal the shining response of divine Love which brings hope even when human life is beset by suffering and death".
Recalling the last letter Mozart wrote to his dying father, in which the composer affirmed that death did not frighten him and thanked God for the opportunity of recognising therein the key to happiness, Benedict XVI affirmed: "That letter expresses a profound and simple faith, which also emerges in the great prayer of the Requiem and which, at the same time, leads us to love the vicissitudes of earthly life intensely, as gifts of God, and to rise above them, contemplating death serenely as the 'key' that opens the door to everlasting happiness".
The Holy Father concluded: "Mozart's Requiem is an exalted expression of faith, one that knows the tragic nature of human life and does not remain silent before its dramatic aspects; thus it is an expression of Christian faith, aware that all of man's life is illuminated by the love of God".
BXVI-CONCERT/ VIS 20100908 (360)
At the end of the concert, one of a number of such initiatives to mark the fifth anniversary of his pontificate, the Pope expressed his thanks to the musicians and singers, reaffirming his particular affection for Mozart whose music, he said, reminded him of his parish church when, as a child, during Mass "I felt that a ray of the beauty of heaven had touched my heart. I feel the same each time, including today, I listen to this great, dramatic and serene meditation upon death.
"In Mozart", the Holy Father added, "everything is in perfect harmony, each note, each musical phrase. ... Even opposites are reconciled and... 'Mozartian serenity' envelopes everything at all times. This is a gift of the Grace of God, but also the fruit of Mozart's own living faith which - especially in his sacred music - manages to reveal the shining response of divine Love which brings hope even when human life is beset by suffering and death".
Recalling the last letter Mozart wrote to his dying father, in which the composer affirmed that death did not frighten him and thanked God for the opportunity of recognising therein the key to happiness, Benedict XVI affirmed: "That letter expresses a profound and simple faith, which also emerges in the great prayer of the Requiem and which, at the same time, leads us to love the vicissitudes of earthly life intensely, as gifts of God, and to rise above them, contemplating death serenely as the 'key' that opens the door to everlasting happiness".
The Holy Father concluded: "Mozart's Requiem is an exalted expression of faith, one that knows the tragic nature of human life and does not remain silent before its dramatic aspects; thus it is an expression of Christian faith, aware that all of man's life is illuminated by the love of God".
BXVI-CONCERT/ VIS 20100908 (360)
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