Catalunia Catholic Boy's Choir Sing The 'Meow" Song (Video)

In what I can only describe as being one of the most remarkable performances I have ever seen, two boys from the Catalunia Catholic Boy's choir sing the "Meow" song to classical music. You really must see this to believe it. I came away from watching this video with a new found respect for the talent these boys have been blessed with. The official name of the choir is called "La Escolania", and they are associated with one of the oldest monasterys in Europe, the monastery of Montserrat.

This monastery is the destination of some of the largest pilgrimages in all of Catholicism. Say what you will about the Catholic faith, but you must admit that these boys are real blessed and they are able to pull this off superbly. The way theses boys are able to keep a straight face and sing the song with such clarity and style, makes one want to see them sing their normal Sunday Mass. Incredible is all I can say, Bravo!

For what it's worth, the NY Times ran an article about the way Europe's oldest and possibly the finest boy's choir in the world is finding it difficult to continue its traditions. The monastery that sits atop a steep limestone cliff some 25 miles northwest of Barcelona, is struggling to survive. A victim it would seem of its own traditions, and I would guess the many reports of abuse by priests.

In today's world many parents are not so sure they want their 9 to 14 year old boys to be spending 11 months away from home as they have been required to do in the past. So one of the changes that they began in 2005 was to allow the boys to go home overnight and on weekends. They also lowered the age requirement to 8 years old, and then for the first time in its 800 year history they have allowed girls to join the choir also. Times are a changing ain't they, well you can read the whole article about the choir that was written back in from June 2005 by Branden Phillips at the NY Times web site if you like.

Creepy. IMO, 14 year old boys have no business living in a monastery learning showtunes from “Cats”. Europe is a weird wierd place.

For your information, this is not a tune that was composed for broadway. It is a classical tune from the 1800"s.

Gioacchino Antonio Rossini",Composer
Duetto buffo di due gatti ('Cat Duet'), Originally composed for 2 voices and piano

Musicology:

Duetto buffo di due gatti ('Cat Duet'), for 2 voices and piano (spurious)

Year: 1816
Genre: Solo Song / Lied / Chanson
Pr. Instruments: Soprano & Piano

Many are the vocal recitals and opera galas that have ended with the Cat Duet as an encore. Though scored for two sopranos and piano, the work exists in orchestral versions and has been sung by male-female pairs and even as a tomcat duet.

The text consists in its entirety of the single word "meow," and singers treat the melodies basically however they want to. The origins of this work are cloudy, but historians agree that it is not an authentic work by Rossini.

It does, however, contain a good deal of Rossini's music, so the attribution is not completely off the mark. The Cat Duet contains elements of
1) the aria "Ah, come mai non senti," from the second act of Rossini's opera Otello (1816),

2) a nearby duet between the characters Otello and Iago, and

3) an earlier work in the same vein, the "Cat Cavatina" of Danish opera and song composer C.E.F. Weyse. The compiler was probably Robert Lucas Pearsall, a British composer better known for his output of hymns.

In 1973, the Schott publishing house issued a facsimile of an 1825 edition of the Cat Duet, published by Ewer & Johanning and credited to Pearsall, but bearing the pseudonym G. Berthold.

From Rossini's day down to ours, the piece has never lost its appeal for singers, concertgoers, and cat lovers; it often appears, of course, on compilations of classical music pertaining to felines.

Next time get educated on the music before you criticize the work or the performers.

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