Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Marche Funèbre


The Marche Funèbre from Chopin's opus 35, played by Valentina Igoshina.

In her memoirs, discussing her father's last years, Marie-José writes: 

En effet, plus les années avançaient et plus mon père semblait se détacher des contingences de ce monde. Son esprit voyait les problèmes d'une manière de plus en plus élevée, n'en rétirant que l'essentiel. Une grande tolérance envers l'humanité tempérait toujours davantage son esprit critique....Par contre, son émotivité s'était accrue avec les années. Je me souviens des larmes qui embuèrent ses yeux au dernier accord de la Marche Funèbre de l'opus 35 de Chopin que je lui jouai un jour, à cette époque. 

In fact, the more the years passed, the more my father seemed detached from the contingencies of this world. His mind saw problems in a more and more elevated manner, only taking from them what was essential. A great tolerance towards humanity tempered, ever increasingly, his critical spirit... On the other hand, his emotivity had grown with the years. I remember the tears which filled his eyes at the last chords of the Funeral March of Chopin's opus 35, which I played for him one day, during this period. 

Listen to the Marche Funèbre and say a prayer for King Albert's soul on the (75th) anniversary of his death. 

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