|
The following week, on Bastille Day, Annie appeared in concert with a symphonic orchestra at the Trocadéro Palace before an audience of several thousand admirers. Her proudest moment came when she introduced her son. It seemed that the cheering would never stop.
When, at last, it did, Pierre stood beside her on the stage to play the strains of L'âme d'une mère on his violin. The audience fell silent. Then Annie sang the lyrics in French, accompanied only by Pierre's violin. He followed by singing them also in French while a string quartet played. In finale, he and his mother sang "A Mother's Soul" in duet in English with the backing of the full orchestra.
The audience went wild, screaming for an encore. Mother and son obliged, standing with arms around each other. They sang a capella . No sound but their sweet voices rang through the enormous hall.
Upon conclusion, President Carnot stepped out of the wings and raised his hands.
"Citizens!" he shouted. "Silence, please!"
His appearance calmed them down.
Then, to a roll of drums, the President of the Republic announced that "Mam'selle Rainbow" was to be made a member of the Legion of Honor, the most prestigious award in the country.
"I name this great woman whose body was enslaved, but never her soul," he declaimed, "an honorary Mother of France!"
Philo waited for the cheers, but none came.
Instead, a lone voice in the audience began to sing La Marseillaise. The whole assembly followed suit. The sound spilled out to the exposition grounds, gathering strength in a multitude of voices as it swept through vast crowds. It was heard clearly at the top of the Eiffel Tower, the tallest structure in the world.
A newspaper reported that evening, "if the Tour Eiffel can weather such a storm of patriotism, surely it will stand for a thousand years!"
|