Harmony
The word “harmony” has been rattling around in my brain for several days. It Is such a lovely word with many uses but I have been thinking of it in the context of Church singing.
We often read in the Bible of the angels singing praise to God and then the cherubim and seraphim get in on the act too. From this I take it that God probably likes singing. I think He probably likes the harmony of it as well.
I used to sing in a choir. Sadly illness has robbed me of the ability to sing but in Church, in my mind, I sing along with the congregation and choir. Every clearly annunciated word, the correct breathing and phrasing, the tempo, all added to by my inner voice. The pleasure I and so many others get from the leading voices in the choir, the strength and confidence of the lovely soprano voices, and the delightful bass voice from within the congregation, all contribute to the sound of praise.
The truth about group singing is that together we are more effective than as individuals. Together we can make the windows rattle – well a little – and in the quiet phrases we can create the moment of frisson in choral prayer. The harmony of it all brings us together and fully involves those of us who are not contributing to the external song but are participating with our inner voice.
The style and content of each hymn creates different moods, the contemplative, the prayerful, the confessional, and the livelier expressions of praise. Each of these is an experience within the service and is a happy marriage of voices and music.
I cannot imagine a service without singing , so please let me, who does not sing externally, say how grateful I am to those of you who lead us each week in song. The mixture of our voices, soprano, tenor, alto and bass and the internal voices like mine create a Harmony of sound which I am sure is pleasing to God.