On Friday October 6, Classics Teacher Kate Grote, addressed the pupils on the importance of music and singing in our school community. 

Hymn: Dear Lord and Father of Mankind.  

Reading: Psalm 95:1-2 

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; 

    let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. 

Let us come before him with thanksgiving 

    and extol him with music and song. 

*****  

"I’m always pleased when it gets to Friday.   

Much like you I’m sure. It’s the end of the week. There’s Fish and Chips. Tutorial with the wonderful U6 Seagrim and the fabulous Mr Murray. And at the moment, there is good rugby to watch on the TV at the weekends. Those are reasons to look forward to Friday. But moreover, on a Friday, you can be fairly sure of a good hymn. And with a good hymn, you can enjoy a good sing. 

But what about the actual act of singing a hymn? Yes, it can be an awkward activity, perhaps especially for a teenage group. Will I get it wrong? Will my voice stand out? What if I sound silly? What will the person next to me think if I give it a go? I hope by now you are aware that we like to think that Norwich School is a school that sings.  

And, alongside a new hymn book, and a restored organ, we have science and medicine to support our enthusiasm for singing, as some of you might have discussed with your tutor groups just last week. Singing increases oxygenation in your blood and exercises major muscle groups. Singing affects our endocrine system, both our hormones and emotions. Singing is often recommended as a low-cost tool for mental health recovery. When singing, our bodies release endorphins, happy chemicals that boost your mood. It should be the same feeling you get as when you eat a bar of chocolate, but without the calories. During COVID, choirs were initially blamed for being super-spreader activities: however, now three years on, a programme run by English National Opera uses singing to help with breathlessness from long COVID. Meanwhile, for Dementia sufferers, Opera North run their own singing programme to aid mental alertness, memory and concentration. 

Singing is part of our school and cathedral calendar: Jerusalem on the last day of the year; Libera me and I vow to thee my country at Remembrance; the marmite response that people have to Shine Jesus Shine. But beyond this cathedral, consider where else singing features in our lives. Recently, singing as part of your house shout fostered team spirit. What would Christmas be like without singing? What will the atmosphere – and indeed the emotions – be like tomorrow evening at the Stade de France as thousands of rugby fans sing Flower of Scotland and Ireland’s Call? And as for other languages, perhaps the riotous singing of La Marseillaise will at last bring tournament victory to the French on home soil, or maybe their party will be upset by a musical collision of cultures and languages, either the sung union of English and Maori, in God Defend New Zealand, or the singing of five, yes, that’s right, FIVE different languages before the Springboks play? 

In a cathedral, at house shout, at Christmas, in a rugby stadium, in any language, or languages, when people sing together, there is community, identity, connection, belonging, motivation, support and shared endeavour. To do it well, we need each other. You simply can’t sing a hymn so well by yourself; you can try, but it won’t be as satisfying. 

A good hymn doesn’t just have a good tune; it has good words as well.  Returning to today’s hymn you might be amused to know that the text of Dear Lord and Father of Mankind is from a long, eccentric poem describing a Hindu practice of drinking intoxicating, hallucinogenic concoctions to whip up religious enthusiasm. Not, of course, what we are encouraging you to do this morning. The text’s author actually deeply disapproved of singing in church: he firmly believed that God was best worshipped in silent meditation. A far cry from the roof raising that our cathedral, the thundering organ and, sometimes, even fabulous trumpeters, encourage us to do. But this silent meditation still features throughout the text of today’s hymn, especially in its conclusion with a prayer, a wish for the removal of strain and stress from our lives, and that, when we find life too loud, we can find a small voice, or indeed His small voice, of calm.  

I urge you, whatever the hymn, whether you know it or not, to enjoy the words as well as the tune…  There are messages within every one.  

I shall finish with the words of three others, all experts and advisors in their own ways.  

At the conclusion of the Gryffindor house feast, and after the singing of the school song, Albus Dumbledore remarks “Ah, music! A magic beyond all we do here!" Reminding us that even in wizard world, singing together has collective and powerful magic about it.    

A ‘Time’ magazine journalist recorded the health impact of singing: “It is cheaper than therapy, healthier than drinking, and certainly more fun than working out.  It is the one thing in life where feeling better is pretty much guaranteed.”  

And finally, St Augustine notes “He who sings, prays twice.” Reminding us that for many, a hymn is more than just words and music.  

Whichever of these – the wizard, the journalist, or the priest - is most appropriate to you, I hope that an interest in music, or words, or science or religion will offer you a reason to keep on singing.   

I return to the words of St Augustine: 

So my friends, let us sing Alleluia… let us sing as travellers sing on a journey, but keep on walking. Lighten your toil by singing and never be idle. Sing, but keep on walking. Advance in virtue, true faith, and right conduct. Sing up – and keep on walking."