The Recovering Choir Director

British boy soprano Andrew Johnston has got talent - and a back-story of enduring constant bullying from his peers that makes that talent even more compelling to this listener. This YouTube clip, in which he sings an excerpt of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s setting/adaptation of the Pie Jesu text from the Dies Irae sequence, provides the essentials:

The audience’s reaction to hearing Andrew’s plaintive voice was equally moving. Scanning the YouTube comments reveals posts like “that brought tears to my eyes”, “we need more people like you”, and “a gift from God” - sentiments that I agree with wholeheartedly.

Other interpretations of the piece by Sarah Brightman, Hayley Westenra, and Sissel Kyrkjebø simply pale in comparison. The smiles they make while singing it distract from the gravity of the text - and probably trick brides-to-be into suggesting that this piece be sung at their weddings. I realize this is an audition setting and that Andrew did not sing the entire piece, but Andrew’s rendition possesses a vulnerability and melancholy that, intended or not, gives the text the weight it demands.

Hopefully, the number of brides who wish to have the Lloyd Webber Pie Jesu sung at their wedding will decrease as a result of Andrew’s audition.

For those unfamiliar with the Latin, the translation of the excerpt sung by Andrew is:

O kind Jesus,
who takes away the sins of the world,
grant them eternal rest.

I wonder if the reaction would have been even more positive had a majority of the audience known the meaning behind the words. (I’m assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that the majority did not.)

The next time you pop in a CD of the Westminster Cathedral Choir, King’s College Choir, or any other vocal ensemble that trains boys in the sacred choral arts, remember Andrew’s back-story, because it is most likely shared by the vast majority of his peers. And say a special prayer for them as well, that they endure such torments with grace, while understanding the words that they sing and to whom they are directed.

St. Dominic Savio, pray for them.

(Via Bear-i-tone.)