- Pfitzner’s opera Palestrina premiered in Munich in 1917.
- Story: Palestrina tells the (fictionalized) story of how Palestrina “saved” polyphony from the reforms of the Council of Trent (in real life polyphony wasn’t really in danger but it makes a good story).
- As a musical polemicist in support of musical conservatism, Pfitzner is often seen as identifying rather strongly with his Palestrina character, a world-weary crusader for archaic music.1
Sources
- Peter Franklin, “Pfitzner, Hans,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed November 19, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000021537.