Recently, Pope Francis has fast tracked the canonization process for a group of 16 Carmelite martyrs, killed during the French Revolution, who went to their deaths singing Laudate Dominum as they mounted the scaffold.
Apparently there is a variety of opinions about what the Carmelites were singing. I've read that they were singing the "Salve Regina." Whatever the hymn, everyone who admires this heroic story will
appreciate Francis Poulenc's "Dialogues des Carmelites," one of the few great operas of the last century. It's one of the rarities of grand opera: Christians, and not only Christians but good Catholics as the subject. The last act is absolutely powerful.
Apparently there is a variety of opinions about what the Carmelites were singing. I've read that they were singing the "Salve Regina." Whatever the hymn, everyone who admires this heroic story will
appreciate Francis Poulenc's "Dialogues des Carmelites," one of the few great operas of the last century. It's one of the rarities of grand opera: Christians, and not only Christians but good Catholics as the subject. The last act is absolutely powerful.