Stumbling upon this heartwarming rendition of a very young choir singing “Kyrie Eleison” made our day. Not only do the kids sing well, but they’re so well behaved for the filming of this timeless liturgical hymn.
The choir is made up of 24 singers, mostly young girls and boys, but with a few adults added into the mix to round out the sound. The grown-ups, dressed in blue, help to keep the kids on pitch by creating a constant drone throughout the tune, while the children sing the melody. As parents of young children in choirs can attest, it’s rare for an amateur kids’ choir to keep on pitch as well as these kids.
We were especially impressed at how well the kids can stay together, all while singing without the sheet music! While a couple of the littlest ones seem a little antsy by the end – and one girl obviously yawns while she’s supposed to be singing – they put on a fine little concert and they even got to light some candles.
There was very little information attached to the video about to the choir – while what was there was written in Cyrillic – but it’s clear that the group is from an Orthodox church and from the title, we know that they hail from the Resurrection School. The video was released from the YouTube channel of Halyna Havrylko, who has a few other videos of this same choir singing hymns.
The arrangement, however, is well known to Aleteia, having covered another excellent rendition in 2022. This version of the Kyrie was written by the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church himself, Ilia II of Georgia. The piece is remarkable for its tender melody, which is supported by an exceptionally composed choral section. The gentle approach to each recitation of the lyrics, which are simply “Kyrie, eleison,” is perfectly suited to their meaning: “Lord, have mercy.”
And today we celebrate...