I've been a fan of the music of John Rutter since before I knew who he was. Aged seven, I joined my local church choir, and in amongst the anthems and carols that we sang were a fair number of Rutter pieces. His name featured on the cover of our Carols for Choirs books (green for book one, orange for book two, blue for book three and so on).
Well, long after my chorister days were over, in March 2008, an opportunity came along to go to a music day with the man himself. It was a brilliant day - I got to spend the day singing with Dad, him doing the tenor parts properly, me moving my mouth in time to the music!
One of the pieces that we sang was an anthem called "Look to the day", which Mr Rutter explained to us had been written following an invitation by Cancer Research UK, and which had received its first performance at a special service a few months previously. We were the second group to get the opportunity to sing it.
I fell in love with it, and bought a copy of the sheet music, which in true groupie style, I got signed! Afterwards, keen to hear the anthem again, I scoured the internet for a recording, but to no avail, so I was left with playing through it badly on the piano.
Periodically I kept an eye on the search engines for signs of a recording, but nothing appeared. I must have slacked off recently, because it turns out that a new album came out last September, and Margaret, who was at another of his singing days just before Christmas, found it and bought me a copy. One of the best Christmas presents ever.
A quick bit of research reveals that John Rutter now has a You Tube channel, and has released a video showing some scenes of when the album was recorded. As luck would have it, the track selected for the video is Look to the day.
Below are the words and the video. Well worth a read and a listen.
Look to the day when the world seems new again:
Morning so fresh you could touch the sky;
The earth smells sweet and every flower looks bright,
Shining in a dewy light as you wander by.
Taking the time to enjoy each moment;
Tasting the fruits spread along your way,
Knowing there's time to spare,
Dreams you can dream and share,
Look to the day, look to the day.
Look to the day when the earth is green again:
Promise of spring after winter's sleep.
The sounds of life returning fill the air,
Music that's forever there for your heart to keep.
Deep in the earth lay the seed of life renewed,
Quiet and strong till the time of spring:
Life in each bud and shoot,
Life in each flower and fruit,
Look to that day when earth shall sing.
Look to the light that will drive out darkness;
Look to the hope that will conquer fear.
God's strength uphold us till the fight is won,
Till we see our task is done when the day is here.
Look for that day when there shall be no more pain;
Sorrow and sighing shall pass away.
Pray for the day to come,
Trust that the day will come,
Look to that day, look to the day.
Lord we give thanks for the gifts of life and health;
Plant a new seed in our hearts, we pray:
Help us to see, O Lord,
How it could be, O Lord;
Look to the day, look to the day.