Summary
"O' Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining..." and so begins the gentle carol of reflection that has touched the lives of listeners around the world.
For The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, it's the carol that lifted his spirits as he lay in a London hospital battling pneumonia. It is also the hymn that inspired a fellow patient to find faith. In Philadelphia it is the song that outreach worker Asteria Vives sang when she took Christmas to the homeless, whilst for singer and songwriter Katie Melua it's the carol that awoke her love of music as an 8 year old child in Belfast. And for Tymara Walker it's the Christmas family favourite which went viral when she sang it on a Washington subway, eventually reaching a worldwide audience of over 5 million.
Featuring choral conductor and composer Bob Chilcott. Producer: Nicola Humphries.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to quickly tell you about some others. |
| 0:05.2 | My name's Andy Martin and I'm the editor of a team of podcast producers at the BBC in Northern Ireland. |
| 0:11.3 | It's a job I really love because we get to tell the stories that really matter to people here, |
| 0:16.3 | but which also resonate and apply to listeners around the world. |
| 0:19.6 | And because the team has such a diverse |
| 0:21.2 | range of skills and strengths, we have trained journalists, people who love digging through |
| 0:26.0 | archives, we've got drama and even comedy experts. We really can do those stories justice. So if |
| 0:31.8 | you like this podcast, head to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more fascinating stories |
| 0:37.1 | from all around the UK. |
| 0:39.0 | This is the BBC. |
| 0:45.3 | Oh holy night, the stars are brightly shining. |
| 0:51.0 | It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth. |
| 0:55.0 | Long lay the world in sin and error pining, |
| 1:00.0 | till he appeared and the soul felt its worth. |
| 1:09.0 | I'm John Sentimo at Bishop Bishop of York and I remember hearing all holy night the bright stars |
| 1:17.2 | are shining while I was seriously ill with pneumonia in hospital. The month is December. |
| 1:29.3 | I had taken a funeral of somebody on the 16th of December, and it was a burial, a very, |
| 1:36.6 | very long burial, Lassadabat, one half a house because people were singing. |
| 1:41.0 | And I had a cold, but within two two days I was really very ill. |
| 1:47.0 | It started by coughing and a fever and in the middle of the night |
| 1:53.0 | I just couldn't breathe properly so I had to go to King's Hospital and I was admitted |
| 2:00.0 | and I had pneumonia and was really very, very, very ill. |
... |
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