A song that I know all the words to

From the moment the steady 4/4 beat introduction to this song hits my ears, I pick up my air guitar, assume the pose, and belt out the lyrics to ‘Automnsong’ by the Manic Street Preachers.

My psyche made me change my mind.

A million years ago I used to be a chorister.

It started in a small way, as these things inevitably do.

I’m not (and never have been) particularly religious, but I do think that some fantastic church music has been written. And I feel that I shouldn’t be excluded from enjoying listening to, or singing it, just because I’m ever so slightly atheist.

So I kicked my singing hobby off in a church choir.

Then I stepped up to the school choir.

When I left school, and over the next couple of decades, the list of choirs that I successfully annoyed waxed and waned, depending on how long I stood still in any one place.

I’ve sung in some stunning venues; The Brangwyn Hall in Swansea, Coventry Cathedral, Cadogan Hall, Wigmore Hall, and The Royal Albert Hall all in London

(Coventry Cathedral was gifted with the best acoustics by far)

And I’ve been so lucky to have taken part in hacking my way through some truly epic works, written by some of the world’s most talented composers, and in the company of some truly wonderful people.

But yesterday, while Sam and I were beating our way through overgrown, returned-to-nature undergrowth in an abandoned quarry in the Derbyshire Peak District (don’t ask), one section from one particular piece popped in to my head and wouldn’t leave when politely asked.

There is one piece in this work that is widely known, but my favourite, to sing, doesn’t have such a high profile.

For a jobbing baritone, this is fun, fun, fun.

Handel’s Messiah: For Unto Us a Child Is Born