Coronation composer releases carol

Sarah Class, the composer behind the new work Sacred Fire performed by Soprano Pretty Yende at The King’s Coronation earlier this year has released a new original Christmas carol for the 2023 festive season.

Performed by Class alongside Tenebrae Choir, the BBC Concert Orchestra and Singers, The Saviour in the Shawl (We Still Sing) is a collaboration with poet Grahame Davies. The new carol touches on themes including the environment, societal injustices, war and competing beliefs and is based on a poem written by Davies in a Christmas card he sent to Class.

Talking about the process of writing the new work, Class said: ‘I found Grahame Davies poem to be affecting, poignant and direct, in itself plaintive & complex but with a message that is heartfelt with hope at its core. When I sat down to write The Saviour in the Shawl, I only had my guitar with me, and I think this in itself perhaps made me write in a particular way. Somehow it matched the tone of the lyrics but whilst the poem is quite sad, I subconsciously wanted to project the big message of hope. I didn’t consciously choose to write in a major key, but it came out this way reflecting in Grahame’s lyrics the dawn which follows the darkness.’

Class’s composition experience also includes scoring for films and television series including the BBC’s Madagascar series, The Meerkats film and Africa, a series created by Sir David Attenborough. Creating music along these environmental themes led Class to receive commissions from The King, first in 2021 for the COP26 Climate conference in Glasgow, then for The Coronation earlier this year.

Class said: ‘When I’m inspired by anything, be it music, nature, poetry or a beautiful work of art, the essence of these things, becomes an ethereal ‘download’ and the music gets imprinted with this expression. So, the soul listens to the desire to create, embodies the inspiration and this pours out into the music. This is the magic of the creative process for me!’