Bagpipers opened the gathering, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus sang the national anthem, the cellist Yo-Yo Ma performed, and Paul Simon played his classic song The Sounds Of Silence.
Their song "The Sound of Silence" from the aftermath of President Kennedy's assassination 50 years ago this year had initially flopped but it became a hit after it was re-edited as a single.
The light of a full moon shimmered on the plain, and from time to time they saw a rabbit jump, but Pereda paid no attention, and after a long spell of silence he softly began to sing a song in French that his late wife had liked.