Word: sacred
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...Ceneventola, The Barber of Seville). Rossini, one of the laziest and wittiest of all composers, wrote his Solemn Mass in 1863 at the age of 71, called it his "last mortal sin," marked one passage Allegro Cristiano (quick but Christian), confessed he did not know whether it was "musique sacrée ou sacrée musique" (sacred or accursed music), made one tenor solo, Domine Deus, sound like a swashbuckler's serenade, and directed that the composition should be sung by "three sexes-men, women and eunuchs." The Westminster Choir got along all right with the first...
...Napoleon III. According to some historians the massacre of the boulevards resulted from a mistaken command. The official responsible for the fatal order (perhaps Napoleon himself-I forget the exact details) is said to have been suffering from a severe cold, and to have exclaimed "Ma sacré toux!"-"My wretched cough"-which was misinterpreted by a zealous officer as "Massacrez tous," or "Kill everybody...
Sirs: After thoroughly perusing your commentary on Sacré du Printemps (TIME, April 28), we find something to which we object strenuously. Namely, the application of the word "pornographic" to the music of Igor Stravinsky. That word suggests something cheap, showy and vulgar. Brutal he may be-savage and colossally déchirant in his treatment of Sacré du Printemps, but never pornographic! Please retract-you do him a grave injustice. JOSEPH STAPLES JOHN H. HARNEY...