The Saviour in the Shawl (We Still Sing) released
Sarah releases The Saviour in the Shawl (We Still Sing) this Friday 24th November 2023. Composed and Performed by Sarah Class with The Tenebrae Choir, BBC Singers and BBC Concert Orchestra. Lyrics by Grahame Davies.
Sung by Sarah, ‘The Saviour in the Shawl (We Still Sing)’ was recorded with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Singers and addresses themes of the environment prevalent throughout Sarah’s previous work, as well as exploring further modern issues including societal injustices, war and competing beliefs. It’s a grown-up carol for the 2020s: a postmodern world shadowed by war, threatened by climate change, despairing at injustices and wearied by competing beliefs. It’s a world where old certainties no longer hold, and where familiar words no longer bring comfort. Yet it’s a world that still aches for meaning, for transcendence, for humanity and for wholeness. Rooted in Scripture and conscious of the tradition of hymnody in which it stands, the carol recognises the disillusion as well as the desire, the despair as well as the hope, the fear as well as the faith. It’s sad, yes, like life can be sad; but that’s what makes the hope all the more precious; it’s the darkness that makes us long all the more for the dawn.
The carol is a collaboration with award-winning writer, lyricist and poet Grahame Davies with whom Sarah also composed the Coronation piece ‘Sacred Fire’. The idea began from a poem in a Christmas card that Grahame sent Sarah, which she then began to set to music. The song is rooted in scripture and conscious of the tradition of hymnody in which it stands but is also something for all faiths and for everyone to enjoy.