And what do we long for this Christmas, if not peace on Earth? We pray for peace with the earth as we navigate our way through our climate crisis. This song speaks to the human heart, and lifts our hearts and voices to pray as well, draws us back to Bethlehem and the mystery of God among us, retuning our hearts to heaven’s no-longer-elusive wavelength. It is the particular song that we sing at Christmas, the song of the angels: peace on Earth, goodwill to everyone.

Isn’t this one of the reasons that Christmas carol services continue to grow in popularity? They are the one repertoire of songs that many of us still know and this makes it easier to join in.īut it’s not just this. Sadly, outside of church and football, communal singing no longer has much of a place in our culture. Just like the crowd at Wembley, song is the only language that will do the job. Enjoy the physical sensation of breathing in and creating a note with your body.” Perhaps that is why we pray twice when we sing. Oliver Rundell, the chorus master at Opera North, says: “Tune out the rest of the world. And good deep breathing is one of the better and cheaper ways of beating stress. Singing releases serotonin and dopamine, the “happy chemicals” that boost your mood. Moreover, singing is good for you! Earlier this year, Opera North published 10 reasons why. But it was a fabulous experience: hundreds gathered for the single purpose of singing Handel’s wonderful music. One of the highlights of my Christmas used to be my mother singing in the Scratch Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall each year. In unison with other voices, we pray 100 times and become one voice. We hear it in our gut as well as through our ears. I’m thinking of the resonant, deep bass in Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil. You hear and experience layers and even subterranean strata of meaning. When there is harmony too, each word is broadened out. We shape and taste each syllable within the ebb and flow of melody and metre. When we sing, we pray twice because, first of all, we pay greater attention to the words. I’m thinking primarily of singing in worship, but I can’t help also thinking of Strauss’s Four Last Songs or Leonard Cohen’s final album. Now that we are allowed to sing again, I’ve been thinking about the power of singing, how I’ve missed it, and how it intensifies speech and prayer. Scholars can find no record of this, but it’s a fascinating thought.

St Augustine is supposed to have said that he who sings prays twice. In the summer, as England made their way to the final of the Euros, thousands sang lustily in the stands at Wembley Stadium, but small, socially distanced congregations on Sunday were instructed to remain silent. I don’t think I was the only one who was left a bit nonplussed by some of the Government’s guidelines at the time. When church buildings were able to reopen earlier this year and we came back to worship in person, to begin with, singing was not allowed.

Who sang scratch of first class song