One of my favorite little things about Rochester that I discovered after moving here is that we had busts of Goethe and Schiller around town. Sadly, Goethe was stolen a few years ago from Highland Park, never to be seen again. But we still have Friedrich Schiller, best known to music fans as the writer of the words to the Ode to Joy, used by Beethoven in the finale of his ninth symphony.
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,Daughter from Elysium,We enter, drunk with fire,Heavenly One, thy sanctuary!Your magic binds againWhat convention strictly divides;All people become brothers,Where your gentle wing abides.
Today, as I biked by, I had to stop – because Schiller had some artistic company, right next to his little park on Andrews Street. Fiber art (yarnbombing?) by someone who knew his musical connections. The lighting was a little blah this morning, but still – hope these make you smile too.
UPDATE: Thanks to Kristy Liddell, I can now let you know that this project is the work of "a group of volunteers working with Downtown Rocs, 5LINX and the City of Rochester to give Schiller Park a colorful makeover through yarn and flowers (and yarn flowers!)." Read more here.
Ode to Joy in the movie Immortal Beloved, which we are totally screening later this year at The Little Theatre.
