It would be gratifying to be able to picture this great master
approaching his end along the green pathway of a serene old age.
Unfortunately this cannot be done. His declining years were marked by
gloom and morbidity. He talked constantly of death, and became so peevish
as to write to Duke William complaining that he had not done all for the
composer that Duke Albert had promised. The devoted wife, Regina, united
her efforts with those of Princess Maximiliana to remove the evil effects
of this letter. The composer sank gradually and died at Munich on June
14, 1594. He was buried in the cemetery of the Franciscans, and his
widow erected a fine monument to his memory in their church. According to
Fétis this stone was two feet four inches high and four feet eight inches
long. It had ornamental bas-reliefs representing the holy sepulchre,
Lassus and his family at prayer, and the coat-of-arms conferred upon them
by the Emperor Maximilian. The inscription on the base was as follows:
"Hic ille est Lassus, lassum qui recreat orbem,
Discordemque sua copulat harmonia."
Here lies he weary who a weary world refreshed,
And discord with his harmony enmeshed.
The reader will note the play on the word _lassus_, weary. The monument
was removed when the Franciscan churchyard was dismantled in 1800, and
in 1830 the stone disappeared from view. The world of art has to thank
the "mad king" Ludwig, of Bavaria (to whom it owes debts of gratitude in
connection with Wagner's career), for the erection of a life-size statue
in bronze of Orlando Lasso. It stood originally next to the statue of
Gluck near the Theatiner Church, but was afterward removed to the public
promenade. There is another statue of Lasso at Mons, where he was born.
[Illustration: From portrait in the "Penitential Psalms," set by Lasso,
in the Royal State Library at Munich.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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