Italian folk songs are often performed using an artistic technique the Italians have perfected. They call it “Bel Canto”, a name that literally means beautiful song or music. The Harvard Dictionary of Music describes the vocal technique as placing “emphasis on beauty of sound and brilliance of performance rather than dramatic expression or romantic [...]
My excellent Latin teacher in college caught me by surprise one day. I thought I’d impress him with my deep culture by telling him how much I liked listening to the Ave Maria in Latin. He responded, “Oh really? Which one?” (There I was – busted – I didn’t know there was more than [...]
Have you ever found yourself so transfixed by the beauty of something that you become totally absorbed in it, or found yourself listening to a single piece of music over and over because it speaks so deeply to your heart and soul? That is what happens to me each time I listen to the [...]
[This article follows the article of August 8, 2021, “Were These Brothers the Greatest Tap Dancers of All Time?” See also the email newsletter version.] “I think it's pretty safe to assume the Nicholas Brothers were superhuman,” was what one commentator had to say to the Nicholas Brothers’ performance in the 1943 film, Stormy [...]
Switzerland is like a hidden jewel in the middle of Europe, a mountainous land with a highly secretive banking system and a tradition of remaining neutral during wars. The Swiss culture has given the world exquisite chocolates, precision watches, cuckoo clocks, the Swiss Army knife, and even the modern marvel of Velcro! What an [...]
I’m sure that the 19th century English hymn writer, Frances Havergal, never imagined her unassuming hymn, “Take My Life and Let It Be” (1874), would be brought out of its obscurity and made into an enchanting devotional piece nearly 150 years after she wrote it. The poetry is simple, and the traditional hymn tune [...]
Brother Reginald, the personal assistant to St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1275), once spied the great theologian in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. According to Brother Reginald’s account, Thomas was agonizing over whether he had written accurately of the central mystery of our faith, the Eucharist, and was presenting his concerns to the Lord. At that [...]
(Click on images to enlarge) 112 feet Cochabamba, Bolivia – Cristo de la Concordia (Christ of Peace) Aerial Footage (0:51) 108 feet Świebodzin, Western Poland – Christ the King Aerial Footage (2:01) 105 feet [...]
In theory, at least, most people believe that art and music have power to touch hearts. But if that is still a vague concept for you, perhaps an experience of the Lord’s Prayer chanted in Aramaic will convince you of the transformative power of sublime art. In the comment section of the YouTube video [...]
[This article follows from the email newsletter of June 13, 2021, “An Astonishing Eucharistic Scene in a Secular Movie”.] The 1984 movie, Places in the Heart is one of the most moving tales of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity in modern film. Sally Field fittingly won the Academy Award for Best [...]