Nagpur: As the joyous voices sang through the hallways of the All Saints Cathedral during the chill December evening on Sunday, music lovers and believers gathered to hear the annual Nine Lessons and Carols as it warmed the hearts of everyone.
Decked in red, the choir of All Saints Cathedral walked the aisle, marking the start of the evening's service. Reading passages from the Bible that talk about Christ's birth, each passage was followed with a carol that captured the essence of the passage musically. With the tradition of singing carols dating back to the 4th century beginning in Rome, Christmas carols have evolved over the ages and continue to be the reason of hope, infused with Biblical essence of offering warmth to every soul they touch.
Originally known as the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, the tradition started by Truri Cathedral in 1878. With the original purpose of keeping the people in a spiritual atmosphere in churches, the festival narrates the story of human fall, the ingress of sin, God's love for humanity, the birth of Jesus and the redemption of the whole of humanity. The All Saints Cathedral Church continues to retain this Anglican tradition. The All Saints' choir brought back golden numbers by singing ‘Ding Dong Merrily on High', a carol written and published in 1924 by the English cleric George Woodward; ‘Shine Down' from the cantata Everlasting Light, a carol for a dark world is native to the North American as a folk ensemble piece, ‘Gloria' by Antonio Vivaldi, a cantata mass from the baroque period; ‘The Lord bless you and keep you', a sacred religious vesper chorus, among many such numbers. Hindi carols such as ‘Raat Andheri' and ‘Chamka Sitara' were also sung, adding to the multi-regional song list.
Rt Rev Paul Dupare congratulated the choir for their efforts. "The essence of celebrating Christmas is by sharing the Gospel and caring for others," said Rev Ganesh Barve. He added, "The purpose of a choir is to present the Gospel message through songs. The choir has always been an integral part of worship from the history of the church.
Followed by lighting candles and singing, ‘Silent Night, Holy Night', the congregation joined in singing the carol written in 1816 by Joseph Mohr. The melody mimics the sound of water and rolling waves, which reflected the daily soundscape of Mohr's congregation who lived and worked along the Salzach River.
The Soprano team comprised of Rebecca Jetti, Mahima Khobragade, Sheetal Asher, Priya Mcwann, Reema Rohinraj, Marilyn Oriel and Sylvia Naidu. Alto: Krupa Meday, Esther Gunasekharan and Paul Chinchodkar. Tenor: Ashish Chandekar, Sanjay Bhingardive, Kevin Peter, Joe Lovett and Joshua Anglo. Bass: SK Solomon, Vinod Samuel, Ashrit Athawale, Anant Waghmare andAmruthMeday.