CHRONICLE – MAY 20th, SATURDAY
This was the day when the Bulgarian choir had to perform perhaps the most peculiar and difficult liturgy.
The singers were aware of the difficulties which the French pronunciation and the specifics of French music presented for them. Adding to the fact that the text also contains older forms, and the music combines at the same time soft and hard, typically French intonation, plus the features of the French harmonic language and the ruling above all of this Orthodox spirit of the score, the task required a lot of concentration so as to preserve the preliminary precise preparation of the singers.
Ever since the first exclamations of Abbot Ambrose (Kassinasko) and his performance of an old French "Christ is risen", the choir heard a wonderful pronunciation from the priest, which instead of causing discomfort, inspired them, since the service of this man was that humble. The choir managed to convey all the nuances of the "capricious", in a French fashion, score.
After the end of the service, the worshipers in the church were filled with true humility and still rapture. In silence, a woman's voice was heard, who addressed everyone present with the words: "That should be the music in the church. You have rekindled our love for the liturgical music. You have added another content to that of the text - heartfelt and soulful ... "
Father Ambrose: Thank you all for your participation, I render thanks to our choir which let us celebrate with a liturgy sang entirely in French for the first time in 17 years today. This is a very touching thought due to the fact that we are the closest Italian region to France, French worshippers come here, yet we have never held a service in French. This is truly one of our sins which you helped us overcome with your patience, your proficiency, and when you showed us that there isn’t a language in this world in which we cannot glorify God… if there is patience and possibility for all people to gather in the church because the church is a place for everyone.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
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