Ron Ferguson considers the profound power of music as we look to ‘the child of hope’.

COMMENT

I HEARD it first in St Magnus Cathedral.

It sounded ethereal, gorgeously so.

I was immediately captivated.

The singers were a wonderful ensemble called Voces 8.

Their latest CD, Lux, which contains this song, is stunning.

Earlier in the programme they had sung a lullaby, written by Orkney’s bard, George Mackay Brown, and set to music by Orkney’s resident composer, the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.

Titled Lullaby for Lucy, it had been written to celebrate the first birth in Orkney’s Rackwick Valley in 50 years.

It was so tender and lovely. Lucy, now in her 20s, was seated in the row in front of me.

Her special song had been sung at her wedding in St Magnus Cathedral a year or two previously.

Imagine having a song created just for you by such hugely talented artists!

Back to the other song, the ethereal one I’m talking about.

It was a Christmas carol called My Lord Has Come, by Will Todd. Like Lullaby for Lucy, it creeps into your heart, and takes you over. It is profoundly moving.

I love traditional Christmas carols (though some of them can be a bit dodgy – did the little Lord Jesus really not cry?) but this new piece that I hadn’t heard before was breathtaking in both its simplicity and its depth. Here’s how it begins:

Shepherds called by angels,

called by love and angels,

no place for them but a stable.

My Lord has come, my Lord has come,

my Lord has come!

The wise men enter the scene. They are bringing gifts, but they are looking – as all of us humans are – for something more valuable than gold, frankincense and myrrh. They are looking for love. But they will have to stoop down to find it.

Sages searching for stars.

searching for love in heaven,

no place for them but a stable.

My Lord has come.

His love will hold me,

His love will cherish me.

Love will cradle me.

The song moves us on. It turns personal. We will have to follow the shepherds and the sages and the angels if we want to find what we are looking for. And, like the wise men. We will have to stoop if we want to see the child of hope, the innocent one who is already under the shadow of the Cross.

This babe in arms has an appointment with redemptive destiny. It is written. “Putting Christ back into Christmas” should frighten and challenge us, as well as charm us.

Lead me, lead me to see him,

sages and shepherds and angels,

no place for me but a stable.

My Lord has come, my Lord has come, my

Lord has come!

The wise men enter the scene. They are bringing gifts, but they are looking – as all of us humans are – for something more valuable than gold, frankincense and myrrh.