Ten months after his death the urn containing his remains was buried in a cemetery belonging to a 15th-century church in Sils-Maria, a village in the Swiss canton of Graubünden where Abbado had a vacation home.[1][2][n 1]
His death has been wrongly linked to a falling bookcase reaching for a Talmud volume. Pianist Isidor Philipp circulated this story, but contemporary evidence suggests Alkan fainted in his kitchen under a heavy coat rack, possibly causing it to fall. He was found moaning and was carried to his bedroom where he later died.[3]
He died in Murzzuschlag, Austria.[4] His wish was to be buried in his hometown, and following his death the idea of a Patio de Artistas (Artists' Courtyard) was born to honor various local artists.[5]
Initially buried at Alter Johannisfriedhof in Leipzig. His grave went unmarked for nearly 150 years. In 1894 his coffin was finally discovered and reburied in a vault within the Johanniskirche. This building was destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II, and in 1950 Bach's remains were taken to their present resting place at Leipzig's Thomaskirche.[6]
Battistini planned to adapt his family villa into an ideal retreat for himself and his wife, the Spanish noblewoman Dolores Figueroa y Solis. The villa itself was rebuilt and decorated with frescoes by the famous local painter Antonino Calcagnadoro. A chapel was erected nearby in the Neo-Gothic style and was designed to house the tombs of Dolores and Mattia.[9]
In 1863, 36 years after his death, his body was exhumed for study. In 1888 his remains were moved to the Zentralfriedhof.[10] Beethoven's first burial place was at the Währinger Ortsfriedhof, which turned into the Schubertpark [de] in 1925, where his former tombstone still stands next to Schubert's old grave.
The phrase "Ah! non credea mirarti / Sì presto estinto, o fiore" (I did not believe you would fade so soon, oh flower) from his opera La sonnambula is inscribed on the tomb. He was initially buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, where a cenotaphstill stands in his honor.
His original place of burial was destroyed during the Napoleonic Wars, and in 1810 Farinelli's great-niece Maria Carlotta Pisani had his remains transferred to the cemetery of La Certosa. Farinelli's remains were disinterred from the Certosa cemetery on 12 July 2006, in order to conduct bio-medical research on them.[16]
At his own request, Bruckner was buried in the crypt directly beneath the great organ. On the pedestal of the sarcophagus is the inscription "Non confundar in aeternum" (In eternity I will not be ashamed), the closing line of his Te Deum.
St. Peter and St. Paul Churchyard, Stondon Massey, England
He was buried in St. Peter's and St. Paul's churchyard, in an unmarked plot of unconsecrated ground. In 1923, on the 300th anniversary of Byrd's death, a cenotaph was built there in his honor.[19]
The floor of the basilica was completely redone in the years 1783–1795 and the graves were removed. Riccardo Gandolfi's attempt in 1896 to locate Caccini's tomb was unsuccessful, which was documented in his article published in Rivista Musicale Italiana.[20] As of February 2024[update] there is no memorial commemorating the composer in the basilica. The facade of the church was added in 1601 by Giulio Caccini's brother, Giovanni, imitating the Renaissance-style of Brunelleschi's facade of the Ospedale degli Innocenti, which defines the eastern side of the piazza.
Her ashes were originally buried in the cemetery. After being stolen and later recovered, they were scattered into the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Greece. The empty urn remains in Père Lachaise.[21]
He spent his last years as maestro di capella at Sant'Apollinare. His tomb was destroyed when the church was completely rebuilt in the 1740s.[22] His tomb is presumably lost. As of February 2024[update] there is no memorial commemorating the composer in the church.
His crystal casket was taken to Del Pianto Cemetery and placed in a temporary chapel with continued viewing that lasted for eight years until his widow put a stop to the spectacle and sealed the vault. His body was re-dressed each year with a new suit.[23]
He was buried alongside his sisters and his wife in the tomb of the bishop of Pula, his wife's uncle, Claudio Sozomeno.[24] His tomb is presumably lost. As of February 2024[update] there is no memorial commemorating the composer in the church.
His tomb was designed by the architect Achille Leclère and includes a figure by the sculptor Augustin-Alexandre Dumont representing "Music" crowning a bust of the composer with a wreath.
In 1962 the municipality of Palmi built an imposing mausoleum in his honor; inside it houses a crypt decorated with mosaics, where his remains and his wife's are kept.[28]
She was the muse and first wife of composer Gioachino Rossini, and lived with Rossini's father until her death. She is buried next to his father and Rossini's parents.
His ashes were scattered over the Tanglewood Music Center near Lenox, Massachusetts. A monument honoring him is located in the formal garden on the grounds of Tanglewood Music Center, in the same area where the composer's ashes were scattered.[29] There also is a plaque showing the initial trumpet notes from his Fanfare for the Common Man.
The church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London and it was not rebuilt. The site of the church was retained for burials and the church's existing burial ground continued in use.[30] Both graveyards were closed to burials in 1849 and are now public gardens, still containing several tombstones.[31]
He was buried in the chapel of St. Étienne in the cathedral of Cambrai. After the destruction of the cathedral during the French Revolution the tombstone was lost, but it was found in 1859 being used to cover a well and now is in the Palais des Beaux Arts in Lille.[32]
He had colorectal cancer that couldn't be treated. He told his doctor, Arthur Thomson, that he had no faith in an afterlife: "I believe there is nothing but complete oblivion."[33]
After traveling to Buenos Aires to conduct concerts, he decided to stay in Argentina as an exile due to the rise of Franco in Spain and the outbreak of World War II in Europe. He died in poverty at his home in Alta Gracia, just before his 70th birthday. Initially buried in the St. Jerome Cemetery in Córdoba, his remains were later brought back to Spain in 1947 by Franco and given a state funeral.
The tomb was designed by his friend, architect Gaston Redon. A number of Franck's students, led by Augusta Holmès, commissioned a bronze bust from Auguste Rodin, which in 1893 was placed on the tomb.[35]
In 1901, his grave was embellished with a marble and bronze mausoleum made by the noted Spanish sculptor Mariano Benlliure, who enjoyed a close friendship with Gayarre. The front displays a figure of Music in mourning, while an opera curtain hangs symbolically on the opposite side. The upper part, cast in bronze, showcases allegorical figures of Harmony and Melody carrying the tenor's figurative coffin.[39]
He died after a heart attack at his home in Tolochenaz in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. His death was not announced by his family until one month later, 9 February 2017.[40]
It was Gigli himself who in 1930 commissioned the work to his brother, Prof. Catervo Gigli, a Fine Arts graduate and sculptor, who designed the family mausoleum inspired by the oldest funerary monuments in history, the pyramids of Egypt.[41]
He died in Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro. In 1870 his remains were returned to the United States and were interred at the Green-Wood Cemetery. His original burial spot, a marble monument topped by an "Angel of Music" statue, was irreparably damaged by vandals in 1959.[43] In October 2012 a new "Angel of Music" statue was unveiled.[44]
He died leaving his last opera Noé unfinished. It was completed by his former student Georges Bizet, but was not performed until ten years after Bizet's death.
During his last years he was completely blind, following an eye surgery performed by the medical charlatanChevalier John Taylor.[46] He never married, and his will bequeathed the bulk of his estate to his niece Johanna but also distributed much of his estate to other relations, servants, friends and charities.[47] On the wall above his grave, a monument by the sculptor Louis-François Roubiliac was unveiled in 1762.[48]
Haydn's remains were interred in the local Hundsturm cemetery until 1820, when they were moved to Eisenstadt by Prince Nikolaus. In 1932, Prince Paul Esterházy, Nikolaus's descendant, built a marble tomb for Haydn in the Bergkirche in Eisenstadt and his remains were moved there. His head took a different journey; it was stolen by phrenologists shortly after burial, and the skull was reunited with the other remains only in 1954.
She was initially buried in an unidentified grave at Cimitero Maggiore di Milano. Her remains were intended to be moved to a common grave in 1990 upon the expiration of her burial plot, but her pupils and friends funded the relocation of her remains within the same cemetery, with this arrangement set to last until 2020.[49] In 2018, thanks to the efforts of an academic researcher and several Spanish cultural organizations, her remains were exhumed and transported to Barcelona, later being reinterred in her birthplace, Valderrobres.[50][51]
He was buried next to his daughter Sonia (1934–1975) in the Toscanini family tomb in the Cimitero Monumentale.[53] His wife Wanda Toscanini was buried beside them in 1998. In 2004 intruders broke into the family tomb opening her coffin and damaging her tombstone.[54]
He was initially buried in the cemetery of Boadilla del Monte in Madrid, where his wife was buried. In 2009 both of their remains were relocated to their hometown, Las Palmas.[58]
He was initially buried in Cimitero delle Porte Sante, Florence. In 1989 his remains and his wife Berthe's were moved, supported by his last descendant, to Brissago where he owned the summer residence Villa Myriam.[60] This decision was influenced by an unverified claim about his preference to be buried there and his casual mention of it in a 1904 speech.
He died in Bayreuth during the 5th edition of the Bayreuth Festival. Various requests were made to claim his remains, the most powerful ones coming from the Duke Charles Alexander who wanted to transfer his body to Weimar, and from Princess Carolyne who proposed burying him in a Franciscan convent in Budapest.[n 2] His daughter Cosima, the Festival director and wife of the already deceased Wagner, wanted to keep Liszt's body in Bayreuth as it was deemed advantageous for the festival and would also serve Wagner's legacy. As his closest living relative, it was her will that prevailed.[61]
As he had requested, he was buried next to his daughter Maria and his tombstone was inscribed only with his name because "Any who come to look for me will know who I was, and the rest do not need to know."[65]
His grave was lost for many years, being rediscovered in 1984 by Irina Goncharova, who relates her adventure in the article "Почти детективная история" (An almost detective story) published in 1998 in the musicology journal Early music quarterly [ru]. The inscription on his tombstone reads: "Martini, Vicent, Spanish Court Conceiller, born in Valencia January 18, 1756. Admired in the principal cities and courts of Europe not only for his talent but also for his beautiful and noble moral qualities."[66][67]
A monument was built in 1892 in Leipzig to commemorate his contribution to the city. The original statue was taken down by the Nazis in 1936 because of Mendelssohn's Jewish background and then melted down in 1940 for scrap metal during World War II. In 2008 a replica was unveiled commemorating the composer's 200th anniversary.[68]
He died in Paris on May 2, 1864. The next day, Rossini, unaware of the news, arrived at Meyerbeer's apartment to meet him, only to be shocked and faint. He subsequently composed a choral tribute, "Pleure, pleure, muse sublime!"[70]
All attempts to locate his original grave have been unsuccessful. In 1859 a gravestone was erected at what was presumed to be the correct spot, and was later moved to the Central Cemetery in 1891, the 100th anniversary of Mozart's death. The current memorial at St. Marx was made in 1950, replacing a simple tombstone made by the cemetery caretaker which is preserved at the Bezirksmuseum Landstraße [de].
He was buried in the cathedral cloister.[72] His tomb is presumably lost. As of February 2024[update] there is no memorial commemorating the composer in the cathedral.
His wife, the sculptor Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen, was commissioned to sculpt a monument to him. Facing disputes and funding issues, she subsidized the project herself and it was unveiled in 1939. The Carl Nielsen Monument depicts Pan, the god of music, on a wingless Pegasus.[74]
Since Paganini had refused the final sacrament, the church refused his body to be buried properly. His remains were kept in a basement in Nice for five years until his family petitioned to have them buried. He was finally buried in Parma in 1876. Later in 1896, after a viewing request by violinist František Ondříček, he was reinterred in a new tomb where he rests today.
The inscription on his coffin read Ioannes Petrus Aloysius Praenestinus Musicae Princeps.[76] His tomb was later covered by new construction made under Paul V.[77] The original site is currently situated beneath the Chapel of the Presentation, at a depth corresponding to the Vatican Grottoes. Further attempts to locate his grave have been unsuccessful.[78] As of February 2024[update] there is no memorial commemorating the composer in the Basilica. A monument by the sculptor Arnaldo Zocchi was erected in 1921 in Palestrina commemorating him.
In 1990 his remains were moved to a common grave for lack of payment. Later attempts were made to locate them but they could no longer be differentiated.[79] As of February 2024[update] there is no memorial commemorating the composer in the cemetery.
Since his gravesite could not be located, a cenotaph for him was dedicated at Pozzuoli Cathedral in 1913. The building was largely destroyed by fire in 1964. On the 250th anniversary of Pergolesi's death in 1986, his cenotaph was restored and moved to the Chiesa di Sant'Antonio.[80]
Originally interred inside the Cimitero del Verano of Rome, his remains (along with those of his brother Cardinal Carlo) were exhumed and transferred to the cathedral of Tortona in 1959.[81]
He was buried in front of the church's high altar. The church was destroyed in 1793 along with his tombstone.[83] As of February 2024[update] there is no memorial commemorating the composer in the area.
He died on March 5, 1953, the same day as Stalin. His funeral faced challenges due to the mourning for Stalin, with about 30 attendees, including Shostakovich. His second wife, Mira Mendelson, died in 1968 and is buried beside him.[84]
He was temporarily buried in Milan, in Toscanini's family tomb. In 1926 his son arranged for the transfer of his father's remains to a specially created chapel inside the Puccini villa at Torre del Lago.[85]
Some Russian figures are demanding the return of his remains to Russia claiming it was his desire. His descendants, in particular his great-great-granddaughter Susan Rachmaninoff Volkonskaya Wanamaker, oppose it arguing that it would violate his privacy and dignity.[86]
He was buried in the church of St. Eustache on the same day of his death, although the exact burial site is unknown to this day.[87] In 1883 a commemorative plaque and a bust were placed on the occasion of the bicentenary of his birth. They are located in the third chapel on the right-hand side, dedicated to Saint Cecilia, patron saint of musicians.
Six years after Reger's death, his funeral urn was transferred from his home in Jena to a cemetery in Weimar. In 1930, on the wishes of Reger's widow Elsa, his remains were moved to a grave of honour in Munich Waldfriedhof. Organ pipes are engraved on his gravestone.
He was originally interred in Munich's Alter Südfriedhof, but was moved to his birthplace Vaduz in 1949.[89]His old grave, which was damaged during World War II, remains in Munich as a memorial.
In 1887 Rossini's remains were relocated to the Santa Croce Basilica in Florence, but the crypt that once housed them, now dedicated to his memory, still stands in Perè Lachaise.
His remains were cremated two days after his death. On the first anniversary of his death, an urn holding his ashes was buried, as specified in his will, in a dedicated plot next to Aminadav and the Kennedy Memorial, overlooking the Jerusalem Forest.[92][93]
Contradicting previous accounts of a solitary death, latest research indicates that Saint-Georges' friends, including noted fencing masters, arranged for his body to be interred at the Temple de la Liberté et de l’Egalité, now known as Sainte-Marguerite Church.[94] The cemetery adjacent to the church was closed in 1806. As of February 2024[update] there is no memorial commemorating the composer in the church.
He was buried in the now disappeared convent of San Norberto, which is currently the location of Plaza de los Mostenses [es]. His grave disappeared along with the convent in 1810. His house, located in close proximity to the convent, features a plaque commemorating the composer, which was installed in 1991.
In 2006 the town of Schwyz declared the grave a monument to be cared for in perpetuity. This exempts the site from the practice of removing the remains after a period of a ten to twenty years to free up the grave site.[95]
His death was seemingly influenced by his superstitions, particularly his triskaidekaphobia. This fear intensified as he approached multiples of 13, including his 65th birthday in 1939. He altered the title of his opera Moses und Aron, specifically avoiding the two "A"s in Aaron's name, as the original title contained 13 letters. He regularly consulted astrologers for reassurance, and he received a note in 1950 pointing out that the sum of the digits of his age (76) equaled 13, which deeply disturbed him. He died in Los Angeles on Friday, July 13, 1951, just before midnight, after spending the day in bed feeling unwell and anxious. His ashes were interred in Vienna in 1974.[96]
In 1888 Schubert's body was moved together with Beethoven's from Währinger Friedhof to Zentralfriedhof. The former gravestones remained in Währing (which turned into Schubertpark [de] in 1925) and a copy was made for the Zentralfriedhof.
He was buried in the old Dresden Frauenkirche, but his tomb was destroyed in 1727 when the church was torn down and replaced by a new, larger church. The church was completely destroyed in the Dresden bombings of World War II. Reconstruction of the current church began in 1994, where a plaque on the floor of the main hall commemorates the composer.[97]
He spent his last years serving Infante Gabriel of Spain and tirelessly composing for him. He asked to be transferred to another monastery, which was not granted.[99] As of February 2024[update] there is no memorial commemorating the composer in the monastery.
At the funeral, Adrian Boult conducted the Royal College of Music orchestra, performing Stanford's compositions including "Stabat Mater" prelude and his Symphony in D.[100]
He sustained severe injuries, leading to a coma, during a robbery at his residence in Diani Beach, Kenya, on December 3, 2004.[101] Despite multiple surgeries and a transfer to Italy, though emerging from the coma, he never fully recovered finally dying in 2008.[102]
On February 25, 1682, he was fatally stabbed by hired assassins during his stay in Genoa.[103] His tomb is presumably lost. As of February 2024[update] there is no memorial commemorating the composer in the church. Stradella's fate caught the imagination of romantic composers and inspired four operas, including Flotow's "Alessandro Stradella".
He was buried at the old Döblinger cemetery beside his friend Joseph Lanner. In 1904, both of their remains were transferred to the Zentralfriedhof. The old cemetery transformed to Strauss-Lanner Park in 1928, where both of their old graves remain.
He was buried in his mother's grave in the St. Marx Cemetery. On 1909 the remains of both were buried in an honorary grave in the Vienna Zentralfriedhof.
In 1936, following a pregnancy, she died in a London clinic shortly after her stillborn baby.[105] They were both buried in a grave designed by Edwin Lutyens. The grave, once in disrepair, was restored in 2006 by admirers.
His remains may have been discarded by labourers during the 1710s, when the church was rebuilt.[107] A brass memorial plaque, placed there after the death of his wife in 1589, is now lost.[108] His epitaph on that plaque was recorded by the English clergyman John Strype.[109]
Initially buried in a family grave, he was later relocated to a 40-meter-tall mausoleum, inaugurated in 1912 and designed by the Milanese architect Raineri Arcaini. In 1986 it was struck by lightning, decapitating a sphinx and creating serious structural problems. The tenor's heirs did not have the means to cover the expenses related to the restoration, so the tomb was handed over to the Municipality of Turin, which completed the works in 1999.[110]
The circumstances of his death have sparked various theories and speculations. While the official cause was reported as cholera, alternative theories include suicide, poisoning, and government intervention. It's also been suggested that his homosexuality and potential scandals may have played a role. The lack of conclusive evidence has perpetuated the mystery surrounding his death.[111]
He was buried in the cemetery of the monastery of St. Johannis, where the Rathausmarkt stands today. There, a memorial plaque on the left of the entrance to the town hall commemorates him.[112]
She was initially interred in a mausoleum in the Cimitero Monumentale, which was later dismantled due to financial constraints. Her remains were temporarily relocated to the Cimitero Maggiore in 1993, before being permanently moved back to the Cimitero Monumentale, specifically to the Civico Mausoleo Palanti, designated for honorable citizens of Milan.[113] It wasn't until 2020 that a plaque bearing Tetrazzini's name was placed on the mausoleum, thereby formally acknowledging her burial site.
His epitaph is taken from one account of his remarks concluding the 1926 premiere of Puccini's unfinished Turandot: "Qui finisce l'opera, perché a questo punto il maestro è morto" ("Here the opera ends, because at this point the maestro died").[114]
Verdi was originally buried next to Strepponi in Milan's Cimitero Monumentale. One month later their remains were moved to the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, a charitable retirement home for musicians that Verdi had established shortly before his death.
It is accepted that he was buried at the Convent of Las Descalzas Reales, although the exact location of his remains is unknown. A memorial plaque was placed there in 1990.
His brother asked the sculptor Mariano Benlliure to create a special grave monument for him at Montjuïc Cemetery. In the monument, Benlliure sculpted Viñas as the three famous characters from Wagner's operas for which he was known: Lohengrin, Parsifal, and Tristan.[116]
Vivaldi was buried in an unmarked grave at Vienna's Spitaller Gottsacker. This cemetery was abandoned in 1783, and the Vienna University of Technology was built on the grounds in 1818. In 1978, on the 300th anniversary of his birth, a plaque was installed there to indicate Vivaldi's long-lost gravesite.
He died of a heart attack on stage at the Metropolitan Opera during a performance of "La forza del destino". He collapsed after singing Don Carlo's Act III aria Morir, tremenda cosa! ("To die, tremendous thing!").[120]
Weber died in London and was given a ceremonial burial there. His body was transferred to Dresden eighteen years later on the initiative of Richard Wagner.
On 15 September 1945, during the Allied occupation of Austria, Webern was smoking a cigar outside his home about one hour before curfew when he was shot and killed by US Army cook Raymond Norwood Bell.[121][122]
After the Nazi occupation of Austria in 1938 he and his family emigrated to New York, where he died 4 years later in his house in Larchmont.[126] His remains were moved to Vienna in 1985.[127]
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