AmericanPapist Comments
I missed her early performance before the proceedings, but I thought her rendition of the Ave Maria was quite moving.
There will undoubtedly be some who did not appreciate her interpretation, but she did a terrific job and it's wonderful to see a young performer using her God-given gifts for such a devotion.
btw, the video is "no longer available"
I thought she did a great job, aside from the fact that the front of her dress needed a few safety pins. I don't remember hearing those English words to the Ave Maria before. Where did they come from?
The commentators for EWTN said she "insisted" on singing for Benedict. What's up with that? Did she really?
I heard the same comment regarding "insisted." I was a little surprised, as she's not even Catholic!
A high profile young convert could be interesting...
The video link has been fixed.
It has a little pop-influenced touches, but any claim of her being tone deaf is clearly nonsense. She came in without a lead-in exactly on key.
Intriguing.
That's a poem by Sir Walter Scott -- or actually, a dramatic part of a larger poem (The Lady of the Lake). The maiden praying is Lady Ellen.
Schubert loved Scott, or at least the German translations of Scott. (Like any right-minded German Romantic.) So he set this poem to music. Then, since the poem includes the text of part of the "Hail Mary", everybody starts saying to themselves, "Hey, why not just dump Scott and sing the _entire_ Hail Mary?" Everybody in the Catholic world proceeded to make lush settings of the Ave Maria that could double as "maiden's prayer" versions for secular occasions. Some of these are considered too operatic or weepy for use at Mass (though you can sing them before Mass, of course); others were approved by the church as motets.
Anyway, Kelly Clarkson may have liked the "maiden's prayer" version better, she may have Protestant religious problems with singing it as an "Ave Maria", or she may never have even heard the thing sung with the all-Ave Maria all-the-time text. We forget that, just because it's a staple for Catholics and Catholic weddings, doesn't mean that everybody in the world is familiar with it.
I was very disconcerted and almost angry at first, but... like Amy, I was won over by her sincerity -- and it's not like it was a Mass.
I read she sang the traditional version of the “Ave Maria” in multiple languages as a cross sectional representation of the crowd present. I thought she sang it beautifully, she gave my wife and I chills.
It was a very kitschy rendition of the Ave Maria melody. Only 'Ave Maria' and 'maiden' phrases were comprehensible to me. The Pope looked puzzled, too, since he obviously had an even more difficult time than a native speaker like myself trying to understand the lyrics. The cantor's voice was a lot stronger and fuller than that of the Kelly girl, whoever she is.
Oh give the girl a break people. She sang just fine. And her dress was probably the most modest thing she owns.
If she insisted on singing Ave Maria she failed to do so. I didn't know it was Kelly Clarkson but thought at the time she might have a future in pop music if she works hard but this isn't what the Holy Father likes and is a bit rude to him and the Blessed Mother. We were hoping to see this trip used to promote sacred Catholic music and this with the exception of the National Stadium Mass there was a lot of good music generally to be had. American Idol song stylings and Protestant "praise music" have little to do with promoting a Catholic identity. Clarkson is a Baptist to boot.
I remember when Pope John Paul the Great visited a different Seminary on one of his visits the Seminarians serenaded him by singing the Pater Noster in Latin to his evident delight. This was a little sad. Especially since the Holy Father had been visiting Cardinal Dulles whose health is failing rapidly.
I don't think we should let it bother us that Miss Clarkson is Protestant and sang for the Pope. Perhaps her contact with him would inspire some awe, and she may eventually be led to convert. Perhaps her rendering of the Ave Maria, as imperfect as the more traditional among us found it, was inspiring to youth. We talk about "pop" music with our noses in the air. Remember, Mozart was the "pop" music of his day.
Here are the lyrics, for those interested in such things:
Ave maria
Maiden mild!
Oh, listen to a maiden’s prayer
For thou canst hear amid the wild
’this thou, ’this thou canst save amid despair
We slumber safely till the morrow
Though we’ve by man outcast reviled
Oh, maiden, see a maiden’s sorrow
Oh, mother, hear a suppliant child!
Ave maria
Ave maria, gratia plena
Maria, gratia plena
Maria, gratia plena
Ave, ave dominus
Dominus tecum
The murky cavern’s air so heavy
Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled
Oh, maiden, hear a maiden pleadin’
Oh, mother, hear a suppliant child
Ave maria
Ave maria
The version of 'Ave Maria' that Kelly sang is the same version that Rachael Lampa, a Christian contemporary singer, sang for a WOW Christmas album a few years ago.
http://www.lyrics007.com/Rachael...a%
20Lyrics.html
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