[1] During the final weeks of fighting in Europe against the Nazi regime, he was killed in action in Germany on April 10, 1945, when his Jeep ran over a land mine.
[4] During his time in service, Charles von Stade wrote several heart-felt letters to his wife, who was pregnant with their second child.
[5] Their daughter, Frederica von Stade, was born after he was killed in World War II, and grew to become an internationally renowned opera singer.
Eventually some of his words and expressions were fashioned into poems by Kim Vaeth and based on these in 1997 Richard Danielpour was commissioned to compose Elegies, a cycle of songs for mezzo-soprano, baritone, and chamber orchestra.
"[5] Elegies has been recorded by Sony Masterworks, with Frederica von Stade, Thomas Hampson, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Perspectives Ensemble conducted by Roger Nierenberg.