Posted on 04/02/2013 3:38:43 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Andrea Bocelli asked to sing Panis Angelicus at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Miami Beach.
Legendary Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli surprised the people at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Miami Beach by singing at the Easter Sunday Mass.
"No one knew he was going to do that, some people may have not even recognized him until they heard his voice,” said Jennifer Sabin Ley-Soto, who regularly attends St. Patrick Catholic Church. “He apparently asked to sing a song during the communion, and it wasn’t planned. It was a surprise for everyone, including the choir."
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Bocelli sang "Panis Angelicus" in the crowded Miami Beach church and received a standing ovation, said Sabin Ley-Soto.
"It was just him with the organist, and you would just hear it resounding in the church," said Javier Ley-Soto, who encouraged his wife to record the performance. "It was a great Mass to begin with, but it was a wonderful treat to see Andrea Bocelli."
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The couple uploaded the video to YouTube, which has been viewed more than 35,000 times.
"Just listening to him sing was incredible, being that close to him, seeing how powerful his voice was," said Ley-Soto. "It was an occasion that no one was expecting."
This was sung at my mother's funeral by a soprano who had just learned the hymn the previous evening and who forgot the melody in the middle. She improvised her way out of it quite well. I was probably the only one in the church who noticed the mistake and recovery.
The contrapuntal duet version is an exceptional arrangement of the hymn.
Congratulations to stonehouse on becoming a grandparent, and thanks to both of you for sharing your Panis Angelicus stories.
I didn’t watch the video. Sometime, they have the choir singing during Communion and it could go on until everyone was finished with Holy Communion. Perhaps this could have been planned better. It sounds like it was unplanned, but how did that happen? Did he join the choir in what they had already planned to sing?
No chance of Lady Gaga or any well-known performer at my small Tridentine Mass. We’d rather just have an understated hymn by a neighborhood choral singer anyway. No chance of desecration of The Host here either (or a priest standing outside welcoming active homosexuals, etc.).
You have to remember: people are idiots.
Great graphic, thanks
Exactly...Panis Angelicus is a prayer...as are all hymns. They are performed for the glory of God, not as entertainment for the folks in the news!
Do you think your god was frowning or applauding?
Our Children’s Choir performed at Easter Mass this year. They were excellent, and one of the pieces they performed was Mozart’s Alleluia in a choral verson (not quite as challinging as the solo version, but still quite beautiful.) None of these kids was over 14 and some of them also performed on flute, drums, castenets. They did an excellent job with a Prelude, an Offering, Communion, and a Postlude. In his closing remarks, the Pastor invited us to applaud them after the Postlude. This did not disrupt the service and allowed us to show our appreciation to the children.
Heylady, in terms of demeanor during the service, I think we have more in common with “old time Fundamental Baptists” than with many contemporaries of my own faith. I have heard of far worse occurring during Mass than applause for a wonderful (and reverent) hymn, so maybe I will “cut them some slack” as the other poster suggested. But it really shouldn’t occur during Holy Communion. BTW, our kids attend Vacation Bible School at a Southern Baptist congregation (not sure if it is exactly the same background as you but they are very nice people and reverent).
Same one I had.
You two are not alone in your feeling. I agree with you. Applause distracts from the Lord and gives glory to the performer.
I’ve said so many times but it is hard to be heard amidst all the noise.
In our church we’ve had the priest ask for applause for exceptional singing at the end of the mass.
I was raised Congregationalist in New England. We barely spoke to each other on Sundays, let alone applaud. Kind of the ultimate uptight WASPs.
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You three are not alone. I suspect we are normally too charitable to point out how inappropriate it is, as that is usually taken as a criticism of the performer. It’s not; it’s criticism of the applause. This Catholic cringes when he hears it, and offers the praise to our Lord.
This presbyterian cringes as well and has to actively resettle her mind on things above.
I think it is the crass culture of the day. At my daughter’s wedding, prior to the start, the pastor requested that, in view of the church’s view that this is a worship service and applause is distracting, for people to hold their celebrations until after the service and for the reception. Some applauded anyway.
Are you familiar with Jeff Cavin's courses for Catholic Bible study? I went through the Timeline class, and it was quite good:
I’m sure it’s great quality but $600 for the set? $6 would be more my speed at the thrift store.
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