Creative Stratford Songs of Praise

In this self-same soil that Shakespeare called his own,

new artistic roots and shoots have successfully grown.

This middle-England gem, this idyllic country-town haven

can still justly be known as creative Stratford-upon-Avon.

This week, we're in Shakespeare's home town

celebrating the creative arts

with magnificent hymns from Holy Trinity Church,

the ballerina who stepped out of the spotlight to help others shine

and the poet following in the footsteps of the Bard.

Shakespeare's legacy is alive and well

in the town's world class theatre

and the artistic flair doesn't end there.

We'll be meeting some local people who have amazing talents of their own.

Every year the town welcomes a staggering five million tourists,

so what better way to find out more about this town than to ask a local poet?

No, not that one...this one!

-Hi, let me show you around.

-Perfect.

And of course, David's written our tour in rhyme

with ideas of how you might spend your time.

A town like no other, touched by a great writer's charm,

now has restaurants, galleries and even a butterfly farm.

Locals and tourists mix in Bancroft Gardens to relax

in this world-famous venue, far off the beaten tracks.

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre has historic, dramatic power.

The building has been reborn - see its impressive tower.

A vantage point to look beyond the great Bard's history

and find Stratford's modern forms of pleasure and mystery.

New and old happily combine.

Now and then join up to tell their story "As You Like It"

showing "All's Well That Ends Well".

And where the great man lies under Holy Trinity's ground,

we can listen through the ages to each beautiful sound.

Whatever the past, present and future may be bringing,

we can open our hearts and hear angel voices ever-singing.

MUSIC: "Overture Miniature" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

As soon as she could walk, Margaret Sweet started to dance.

And it wasn't long before her talent shone through.

There was the lovely day when my dancing teacher said to me,

"Do you mind if some people watch you today?"

And I said, "No, not at all."

And she introduced me to these three people

but I had no idea who they were

because I was only about nine, I suppose.

And they watched me have a private lesson and afterwards,

they said, "You really enjoy ballet, don't you?"

And I said, "Yes, I love it." "Have you been to see the ballet?

"Because we're in Stratford this week." This was Sadler's Wells.

And I said... I can clearly remember saying,

"No, but Mummy says if I'm a good girl,

"she'll take me to the matinee on Saturday!"

Margaret's talent was recognised

and she was awarded a prestigious scholarship

to study at Sadler's Wells.

It wasn't just something that happened once a week any more.

It was something that became a little bit more intense than that

and I wanted to do more of it.

We started having walk-on parts in the ballets

and I had the privilege of being in the first production

of Cinderella at Covent Garden, so, yes!

But then I decided I wanted to teach.

'I enjoyed dancing so much

'and I wanted to share it with other people.

'I found teaching very, very rewarding.'

You try to make the best for God of what he's given you to do.

And then, just when most people would be considering retiring,

Margaret's life took her in a new direction

when she trained for ordination.

'I can remember one night saying, "No, God, go away, you don't want me, go away!"

'But He wasn't going to go away.'

'I suddenly thought, "Yes, I am being called."'

Margaret found a perfect way to combine her faith

and her love of dancing.

'These days I don't often do ballet

'but I do liturgical dance,

'or liturgical movement as I prefer them to call it.'

'Liturgical movement is actually using your body to worship,

'to express worship. And it's, in a sense, like singing.

'You are helping other people to worship and your movement in that'

is expressing for other people

what perhaps they can't get up and do

and what perhaps they can enjoy and join in worshipping

through watching somebody do it.

'Yes, God definitely has His hand on.

'He's very, very much with me by my right shoulder'

all the time. The first thing in the morning is, "Good morning, God,"

and the last thing at night is, "Goodnight, God,"

and throughout the day

and I'm very, very much aware that he's there.

'I can look back and my feet have always been put

'where they ought to be.'

# Prevent us, O Lord

# In all our doings with thy... #

Conductor Stephen Dodsworth started Stratford Chamber Choir

in 1993.

Being in Stratford, it's an inspiring place to be.

There was a lot of music going on

but not exactly the sort of music that I wanted.

CHORAL SINGING

'I wanted a smaller group that was more flexible

'and the chamber choir provides that.

'It's like playing an instrument.'

When the choir's particularly responsive,

it's really, really exciting.

And Stephen uses that instrument to perform his own compositions.

Most of the music I've written has been since I came to Stratford.

# Prevent us, O Lord

# In all our doings... #

'"Prevent Us, O Lord" I wrote for a friend of mine as a surprise.

'It was his 60th birthday.'

He sings in the Chamber Choir, he also sings in the Choral Society.

He also sings in Holy Trinity Choir.

And I arranged with the Director of Music at Holy Trinity

that it would be incorporated in a service on his birthday.

# That in all our works begun, continued... #

In order to maintain the secret,

I supplied copies to the choir with a different name from mine

so that the secret wouldn't be out and then surprised Robert

by standing next to him in the service

and placing a copy with my name on it.

It rather threw him, I think.

He spent most of the time not concentrating on the singing

but wondering why I'd stolen somebody else's music!

-# We may glorify

-# Glorify. #

The words really, if we're talking about inspiration,

the words are the inspiration. I'm not the person to say whether

I'm successful but I always try and...

underline the...the real sense of the words,

trying to avoid mawkish sentimentality.

I'm not sure whether I achieved that either.

# By thy mercy... #

Standing in front of the choir when they are singing my music,

I suppose it's a bit like the cat that got the cream

because it's a very privileged position.

And there are a lot of people involved

and they're actually giving shape and bringing into...bringing to life

my own creation, as it were.

# Christ, our Lord. #

'I'd always been involved in playing the organ or directing

'and the distraction'

that that offers is sort of the sacrifice one makes for the worship

because the music in worship is such a significant part.

# Amen. #

I do find icons are a wonderful way of spreading the word of God.

If you go abroad to places like Greece, everybody has them

hanging in the cars, in the coaches,

in shops and obviously in the churches.

Marcella's love of icons

has inspired her to learn how to paint them.

It takes a long time to settle down. It might be an hour or two hours.

It's just very peaceful. I put on my beautiful music...

..and I find it very soothing.

And an icon is more than just a work of art, it's steeped in symbolism.

The icon represents God's creation.

First of all, we use everything from nature.

The wood is used to represent the ark and then we put on a cloth,

which represents the shroud.

And then put on layers of gesso, which is ground rock.

Then we make the paints - it's called a pigment - using the yolk of an egg.

There's a special way of preparing that and you can add water

and a little wine or vodka, or...

Depending on which part of the world you're in.

It acts as a preservative.

So, everything is taken from nature,

painted an icon, and then this is for the glorification of God.

Choosing which icon to paint is not an easy decision.

The designs, particularly when you're starting,

are taken from traditional patterns, so we use a lot of Byzantine.

There are many types because some come from Egypt, Russia and Greece.

When you're a beginner as I am,

although I've been doing it for ten years,

there's a lot to learn.

It's changed me.

I never felt I was very good at praying but for me now,

it is a prayer.

An icon doesn't have any perspective. There are no shadows.

We're, like, looking into heaven, really.

This is not an Earthly thing and I think with prayer -

especially when you see them in churches with the candles and music -

it's taking us off our Earthly plane, really.

Singers from all over Stratford

raising the roof here at Holy Trinity Church,

where Shakespeare was baptised and buried,

and worshiped with his parents.

And today, writers are still being inspired by Stratford,

including our very own modern-day poet David Raeburn.

I was always - when I studied and even at school before that -

fascinated by Shakespeare,

the way he was able to encompass the whole world in his works

and the way it attracted so many people

and different people found different answers and questions

in what he'd written and it is just beautiful.

So, I came to Stratford and made friends here

and it became my base, my home.

David's latest project is a modern-day sonnet

inspired by the 2012 Olympics.

I was thinking about what a wonderful opportunity it is

for people to think about the world coming together

in the most literal sense and we do it, we do it for the Olympics,

we welcome the world here,

the countries come together not to fight and to argue,

but to honour each other and to be friends in peace and love,

and I wrote this song about that,

inspired by the Olympics and the song goes on to say,

as well as being strong, hopeful, as well as the joy,

"Why can't we do this all the time?"

'David decided to involve the local Church of England primary school

'in recording and performing the song.'

'I thought who better to bring this message of peace and hope and love

'and the hope for a better tomorrow than the future - the kids.'

# Can you feel the dawning of a bright new sun?

# Now is the time to come together as one... #

'The words teach the children an awful lot'

in terms of how they should live as good Christians.

# Hold out your hand

# With a welcoming smile

# We honour each other

# With warmth and with style... #

Talking about rising above trouble and torment

and loving one another, living in peace and harmony.

# Any trouble and torment

# We can rise above... #

'And the children will soon have a chance to share the song's message.'

We're absolutely thrilled because we've been asked to go along

and sing our song in front of the audience

who are watching the Olympic torch

going through one of our local villages.

# By doing our best

# And surviving the test

# By showing our worth

# In front of the rest... #

'We're excited that every single child from the age of four to 11

'can be involved in this project'

and that's why it's important to us, so that we in Stratford-upon-Avon

can feel that we are closer to those Olympics

that are going on in Stratford, East London.

# And we can run rings around this world. #

Shakespeare has spoken to so many people for so many years,

in so many different ways,

it's amazing to look back and think that one man created so many ideas,

the words that have gone into our language...

Just to say Romeo and Juliet -

a whole story suddenly arrives in your head and one man created that.

It's beautiful.

# Shall I compare thee...

# Ooh-ooh-ooh

# ..to a Summer's day?

# Thou art more lovely

# Ooh-ooh-ooh

# And more temperate

# Ah-h-h

# Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May

# Ah-h-h

# And Summer's lease hath all too short a date

# So long as men can breathe

# Or eyes can see

# So long lives this

# And this

# This gives life to thee

# Sometime too hot

# Ooh-ooh-ooh

# The eye of heaven shines

# And often his gold

# Ooh-ooh-ooh

# Complexion dimm'd

# Ah-h-h

# And every fair from fair sometimes declined

# Ah-h-h

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd

# So long as men can breathe

# Or eyes can see

# So long lives this

# And this

# This gives life to thee

# But thy eternal Summer shall not fade

# Nor lose possession

# Of thy fair thou owest

# So long as men can breathe

# Or eyes can see

# So long lives this

# And this

# This gives life to thee

# So long as men can breathe

# Or eyes can see

# So long lives this

# And this

# This gives life to thee

# Ooh-ooh-ooh

# Ooh-ooh-ooh. #

'Father, we give you thanks for all who enrich our lives

'with their creative talents.'

'We thank you for music makers, playwrights and poets

'who enlarge our understanding and give us new knowledge.'

'We thank you for artists who create beautiful lasting memories.

'Use their gifts in your service

'Amen.'

# May the road rise to meet you

# May the wind be always at your back

# May the sunshine warm upon your face

# And rains fall soft upon your fields

# May the road rise to meet you

# May the wind be always at your back

# May the sunshine warm upon your face

# And rains fall soft upon your fields

# And until we meet again

# Until we meet again

# May God May God hold you

# In the palm of his hand

# And until we meet again

# Until we meet again

# May God

# May God hold you

# In the palm

# Of his hand. #

Well, as we prepare to say goodbye to Stratford-upon-Avon,

there is time for one final hymn from Holy Trinity Church.

Based on the Magnificat, it's a modern version of Mary's song -

Tell Out My Soul.

'Next week, David explores the origins

'of some of the most soulful of all songs of praise - spirituals

'and introduces some of the best-loved,

'performed by the Adventist Vocal Ensemble,

'Tessera and Jeharna South,

'and finds out why they continue to resonate with people today.'

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd