It’s a Christingle song that describes all the customary symbols of this celebration. It was composed initially for a primary school, but has been performed by other schools and also by adult choirs.

This is the original learning track I made to help that first school learn the song:

Here are the lyrics:

Flame, tiny flame, flickering flame
Just one flame, to lighten the magical darkness.
Illuminate this orange, illuminate the world!
Pass it on, tiny flickering flame! Pass it on!

With this orange, I give you the world.
Shine your light all over the world!
With this candle I give you the word.
Sing the word all over the world!

With this fruit, I give you the sun.
Grow your light all over the world!
With this ribbon, I give you the love.
Spread your love all over the world!

How the song came about:

“I’ve got to sort out the music for Christingle before Monday,” said primary school music coordinator Anne Marie, one Saturday morning in November.

“Shall I write you a song?” Cheryl offered gamely.

“Yes please!” replied Anne-Marie. “It has to be for the whole school. Christingle is on December 20^th.”

And thus the spark for this song was ignited. It was indeed composed in two days with score, lyrics sheet, recording and learning video being delivered to Anne Marie by the Tuesday morning!

First: research. I focused on the symbolism and the lighting of the candles. Anne Marie told me that they do have the candles in the oranges and they’re all lit during the Christingle service at Alnwick South First School, where this new song was to receive its world premiere.

Next: the music and words. When I write a new song for children in a school like this, I like to include particular elements: room for a solo, easy bits that even the most alarmed of teachers will feel confident tackling, a musical challenge for the ears and the voices, perhaps in the timings, perhaps in the melody. I know from working in this school many times before that the teachers like songs that don’t go too high in pitch. I know that Anne Marie, like me, believes that children can sing much trickier music than most adults expect. I know that the children in this school do a lot of excellent whole-school singing and are skilled and enthusiastic. I think I know that the school trusts me to compose something for them that they will be able to manage in the time allowed and will offer something unique.

And so this new song has ended up with the two musical challenges of being in an irregular time signature for the chorus, and has quite a wide-ranging melodic line. However, the style is friendly, and the sentiment is warm and apposite. Following the first whole school practice I can see and hear that they will ‘have it’ by December 20^th!

If you would like to sing this Christingle song with your school or would like me compose a song especially for your school, contact me!

Update 2015

And here’s a recording of the school (now called Swansfield Park Primary School) singing it later in December. And an even later update is that this school has continued to sing this song every Christingle since then, and other schools have indeed taken it on board too, including Felton Primary School in 2019.

Update 2020

Actually it was 2019 when The Bridge Singers recorded this – as part of their Christmas recital in St. Michael’s Church, Felton. At the beginning of the song, which started the 2nd half, the lights were dimmed and a few members of the choir list candles and distributed them on the window ledges in the church during the singing – it was rather magical. The choir released this video as part of their 2020 Advent Calendar.