[afraidfortherepublic]

The first time my daughter sang Panis Angelicus (in high schoo) at Mass, the presiding priest sat there with tears streaming down his face. (Me too, because I had never heard her sing it before — she’d prepared it at school.) It turned out to be the Fr. Galla’s late mother’s favorite song.

[Slyfox]

A friend of mine sings tenor at my church. When he sings Panis Angelicus, we are all wiping our eyes.

He used to sing in the Dallas Opera and we knew when opera season was a few months away because he would stop cutting his hair.

[stonehouse01]

“...priest sat there with tears streaming down his face...”

At my oldest daughter’s wedding last June, two of her younger sisters sang Panis Angelicus in the duet version during the wedding (instead of communion, we had a wedding liturgy without a full mass because my daughter’s now husband isn’t catholic). Anyway, not to brag too much, but it was beautifully done - both of my daughters have near perfect pitch - and the priest cried or at least came VERY close.

Anyway thanks for sharing the wonderful story about your daughter who must be very talented.

PS The daughter who got married and her new husband are expecting on June 6th!

[Publius]

That hymn was composed by the great French composer Cesar Franck, whose daily occupation was church organist at Ste.-Clothilde just outside Paris. Franck also wrote a symphony that has fallen out of the repertory outside of France. He wrote some wonderful chamber music to include one of the greatest violin sonatas in the literature.

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.