Pope Francis's ancient funeral music was silent on Catholic history
The music for Pope Francis's funeral had a fundamental simplicity. In contrast to the architectural splendour of St Peter's Basilica, the enveloping majesty of Bernini's great piazza, the rhetorical power of the Latin requiem texts and, perhaps most of all, the earthly pomp and vaunting ambition of the assembled world leaders, the simple singing felt more of an apt reflection of the man beneath the mitre.
Most of it was sung unaccompanied, the rest quietly backed by an organ, by the 20 men and 30 boys of the Sistine Chapel Choir — probably the oldest choral institution in existence, with roots that can be traced back 1,600 years.
The choir has had uneven standards in recent times. Connoisseurs wouldn't choose to buy its recordings in
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Times
26-04-2025
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Pope Francis's ancient funeral music was silent on Catholic history
The music for Pope Francis's funeral had a fundamental simplicity. In contrast to the architectural splendour of St Peter's Basilica, the enveloping majesty of Bernini's great piazza, the rhetorical power of the Latin requiem texts and, perhaps most of all, the earthly pomp and vaunting ambition of the assembled world leaders, the simple singing felt more of an apt reflection of the man beneath the mitre. Most of it was sung unaccompanied, the rest quietly backed by an organ, by the 20 men and 30 boys of the Sistine Chapel Choir — probably the oldest choral institution in existence, with roots that can be traced back 1,600 years. The choir has had uneven standards in recent times. Connoisseurs wouldn't choose to buy its recordings in
