Music Notes 1-26-25

In 1994, BBC executive Richard Curtis approached composer Howard Goodall about composing

the theme music for what was to become BBC TV’s classic comedy series The Vicar of Dibley.

In his own words: “I felt that the setting of a familiar sacred text – and the use of some real

choral singing – would offset perfectly the quirky humor of the storylines; as it had also been my

ambition to write a setting of The Lord Is My Shepherd (Psalm 23), I was delighted that the

creative team loved the idea. Thanks to the popularity of The Vicar of Dibley on British TV and

elsewhere around the world, I have managed to give a whole new generation of younger listeners

and singers a version of this wonderful psalm they can truly call their own. Indeed, this piece

has become a stand-alone choral classic since it was introduced to audiences through the TV

series, and I feel humbled when I realize that for many people under 30 in the UK and Australia

it is the only tune for The Lord Is My Shepherd that they now know. I consider myself blessed to

have been able to share my setting of it with so many others of all possible backgrounds and

beliefs.” It’s a delightfully pastoral setting to sing, and for many of us, brings back fond

memories of chuckling (or guffawing) at the wonderful antics of Dawn French and the rest of

that brilliant cast. If you haven’t seen the series, go watch it. It’s streaming on BritBox and

Roku.

Gershon Kingsley was born in Germany in 1922. His family, being Jewish, fled Germany a few

days before the infamous Kristallnacht riots and moved to Israel. His parents then went to Cuba

while he studied music at the Jerusalem Conservatory of Music, and then obtained visas to enter

the U.S., where he joined them. After World War 2, he became a pit conductor for Broadway

musical shows after he graduated from the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music in 1946. He

became interested in synthesized music in the mid-60’s and released an album in 1967 that

contained a cut called Baroque Hoedown. Baroque Hoedown was picked up and used by

Disneyland as the background music for the Main Street Electrical Parade. He then became a

proponent of the Moog synthesizer and became one of the most famous creators of music for that

medium. He also began to write music for Jewish worship in the late 60’s, encouraged by the

relaxing of formal restraints and growing acceptance of contemporary musical styles. His most

famous anthem, Shepherd Me, Lord, was written in 1971 and generated sales of over 2 million

copies just to Southern Baptist congregations, who were attracted by its gospel style.

Matt Redman is an English Christian worship leader currently based in Brighton. He has won 10

Dove Awards for everything from Worship Song of the Year 2005 (for Blessed Be Your Name) to

Songwriter of the Year 2013. His album 10,000 Reasons was released in 2012 and the title track

went on to be #1 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart, where it remained for 13 weeks. 10,000

Reasons also won Grammy Awards in 2013 for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song and

Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance. One Day (When We All Get To

Heaven) is a song from his album Glory Song, released in September of 2017. Glory Song takes

a more “gospel” approach, using lots of background singers that gives the album a choral feel.

There is a video of Matt singing One Day with just a keyboard player and 6 backup singers that

was recorded on the roof of the Capitol Records building in Hollywood. Today, Matt and his

wife, Beth, are members of St. Peter’s Church in Brighton, England and have 5 children.