It happens more often that some well known musician passes away and with that part of your own happy childhood too. Today I was extra depressed as Meat Loaf has passed away. He was such a lovely singer and my thoughts are with his wife Deborah and his two daughters. In my humble opinion, to die aged 74 is far too early but then he did have a rough medical history with Asthma, accidentally falling off the stage etc.

I love Bach’s St Matthew Passion. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a great fan of any Danse Macabre and prefer a Nullus Funus Sine Fidula (no funeral without a fiddle) anytime. However, death used to be very much part of daily life. As a teenager I lived in the Gothic St Bavo cathedral in Haarlem where people still literally walk all over the dead as the interior flooring of the church is entirely made up of tomb stones.