His face was
beautiful and young in the flower-covered coffin, says Liszt. He
was buried from the Madeleine, October 30, with the ceremony
befitting a man of genius. The B flat minor Funeral march,
orchestrated by Henri Reber, was given, and during the ceremony
Lefebure-Wely played on the organ the E and B minor Preludes. The
pall-bearers were distinguished men, Meyerbeer, Delacroix, Pleyel
and Franchomme--at least Theophile Gautier so reported it for his
journal. Even at his grave in Pere la Chaise no two persons could
agree about Chopin. This controversy is quite characteristic of
Chopin who was always the calm centre of argument.
He was buried in evening clothes, his concert dress, but not at
his own request. Kwiatowski the portrait painter told this to
Niecks. It is a Polish custom for the dying to select their grave
clothes, yet Lombroso writes that Chopin "in his will directed
that he should be buried in a white tie, small shoes and short
breeches," adducing this as an evidence of his insanity. He
further adds "he abandoned the woman whom he tenderly loved
because she offered a chair to some one else before giving the
same invitation to himself.
Pages:
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102