Stories behind the songs

Mary, Did You Know is a firm favourite with the choir, and part of our 2026 Christmas repertoire. But did YOU know that it has stirred up quite lot of controversy? Here's why. Mark Lowry was part of the leadership team of Thomas Road Church, a Baptist megachurch in Virginia run by the TV evangelist Jerry Falwell. In late 1984, Jerry asked Mark to come up with some spoken material to go between the carols of their Christmas service. Casting around for a theme, Mark asked his m

The story behind one of our new songs for the 2026 Christmas season. Leon Schlienger was sick of war. Born in Alsace, France, he had been trained in classical music in Paris and Strasbourg, but after the invasion of France he ended up being drafted into the German Army . His loyalty to France meant that he worked as a double agent, constantly in danger and fear of discovery, and he was eventually wounded in action. When the war was over he emigrated to the USA, changed his na

Seal Lullaby is fast becoming a choir favourite, with it’s tender words, haunting melody, and that final quarter when Dominic plays notes like little sprays of sea foam as the choir voices the billows of the slow swinging sea. And of course unlike any other song in the repertoire, it allows us to sing the word “flipperling.” A rare joy. But what’s the background to the song, and why was it written? The words to the song come from Kipling’s “Jungle Book”, published in 1894, a