As I write the children at Melsonby School have just been celebrating doing brilliantly well in the Wensleydale Tournament of Speech and Music, winning first place in the Junior Unison Song, first place in the Junior Round and second place in the Junior Two-part Song and the Margery Burrill Trophy for the best combined score! On top of this they have subsequently been awarded the President’s Plate as they were the 2022 President’s choice over the whole competition (Junior and Senior sections). This is the kind of once in a lifetime achievement that hopefully the children will treasure and remember for ever.
From musical and sporting achievements, through to gaining academic and professional qualifications, we probably all have treasured memories of times when we have felt so proud and happy, that we sparkled and felt like we were ‘walking on sunshine.’ Feeling such sheer joy and elation on behalf of the children has been a reminder of how during the Covid pandemic we’ve missed opportunities to aspire, shine and excel. Celebrating successes, however big or small, is an important part of human flourishing and community living, and perhaps also mirrors our relationship with God. Isaiah 62:3-5 describes how God delights in his people and calls them ‘a crown of beauty’ and ‘a royal diadem’.
While all treasured moments, achievements and successes are important in our lives I don’t think we can underestimate the importance of music to our well-being. Covid deprived us of opportunities to make music together and for many school children music has been further marginalised as catching up on core curriculum subjects has had to be prioritised. This is such a sadness as we have so much evidence pointing to the positive effects of music on cognitive and social development and emotional and mental well-being. I know this personally as through my own childhood music became an important factor in overcoming barriers to learning caused by my dyslexia. I learnt to read books as I learnt to read music and the learning of songs has at various points in my life been an aid to sound recognition, language skills, memory and recall.
Music is also so important in expressing all the colours of our emotions. As we enter the ‘Merry Month of May’, a traditional month of jollity, dancing and music making, we are all acutely aware of the deep pain in our world today. In the lead up to Easter it has been heart-warming to see so many musicians using their skills and talents to raise money for the people of Ukraine. Back in March the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a guest appearance at the Grammys via video link where he urged musicians to fill the silence made by Russia’s bombs with music and to “tell our story”. He contrasted war and music: ‘Our musicians wear body armour instead of tuxedos. They sing to the wounded in hospitals, even to those who can’t hear them, but the music will break through anyway. We defend our freedom to live, to love, to sound.’
Since the war began there have also been stories and videos of music making in Ukraine from soldiers playing instruments and dancing while taking a break, to the young woman in Kyiv who sat playing the piano outside the railway station while the air raid sirens howled. Here, in the words of Bishop Nick (Radio 4 ‘Thought for Day’, March 29th ), the ‘fragile but persistent beauty of music challenged the fear and threat in the air.’ Such gestures of hope, Bishop Nick suggests, ‘light a fire that cannot be extinguished’, and ‘open us up – like a flower opening to the light of the sun which keeps burning anyway.’
I began by speaking of treasured moments. Many of my most treasured moments through my life have had something to do with music. There was one time when as a choral scholar at St Andrew’s University when the chapel choir were called upon to entertain the spouses of the Commonwealth Heads of State with a concert. I was over the moon that afterwards I got to talk to Cherie Blair! My own music making has perhaps taken a bit of a back seat in recent years but I remember particularly fondly the ‘Songs of Peace’ concert we did at Christ Church, East Layton on 2nd September 2018. Sadly this concert turned out to be Dinah Iceton’s final solo performance before her cancer diagnosis. Dinah was someone who had spent her life singing, and she always spoke with such cheer, love, and joy in her voice. As I begin the process of packing up and moving to our new home in Skeeby, taking precious memories from our time here with us, I can hear Dinah singing the song, ‘A Perfect Day’:
Well, this is the end of a perfect day
Near the end of a journey, too;
But it leaves a thought that is big and strong
With a wish that is kind and true
For mem’ry has painted this perfect day
With colours that never fade
And we find at the end of a perfect day
The soul of a friend we’ve made
God bless you all and thank you for your friendship and the memories we have made,
Camilla