The Story Behind the Song Comfort and Joy

Music by Laurie Evan Fraser,
Words by Jacqui Atkin

by Joanna Ebbutt

The co-founders of the Upper Canada Choristers, Laurie Evan Fraser and Jacqui Atkin, have partnered on the writing of many songs over the choir’s 27-year history. Which triggers the question… what usually inspires the writing of a song, and what is your approach to writing together? 

“For me, there is always a reason for each song, so that initially it’s less of a spontaneous creative urge, until we decide to proceed, when it does become a more instinctive process. I usually write something for the choir when there is a specific use, such as a fanfare or a processional,” says Laurie. 

“As I do most concert planning during the summer, that is often when I decide to write something to fulfil a specific need,” she adds. “We wrote Noel for the Darkness because we wanted to acknowledge and support those who struggle at Christmas. I wrote Blessing, Bendición because I wanted a piece that was shared between the Main Choir and Cantemos, using the traditional words of the Irish blessing to reflect the cultural roots of many choir members, and the words of a traditional blessing known throughout Latin America to reflect the roots of Cantemos. I also arrange a lot of songs when I can’t find what I want otherwise.”

One exception to this was Dormi Jesu, a song that grew out of a summer vacation visiting friends in France. Their stay included a few days in Paris, where they were transported by a glorious service in Gregorian chant at the medieval Notre Dame Cathedral. They also visited a lovely old chapel in the South of France that was several hundred years older than Notre Dame, and the 13th-century Carcassonne Cathedral. 

Originally inspired by the music they heard at Notre Dame, Laurie says that she started hearing in her mind music based on chanting, and that their song grew out of that. In this case, Laurie adapted the text of an ancient lullaby, in Latin, while Jacqui wrote a completely different text in English. The moving result was first performed at UCC’s Christmas concert, A Babe is Born, in December 2010.

The creation of Comfort and Joy 

The catalyst for Comfort and Joy, however, was two-part – a response to the raging Covid-19 pandemic and, as importantly, the recent death of Bill Briggs, a beloved and long-time tenor in the choir. Both events influenced Laurie in the direction she took the music. Always, at the back of her mind, she could hear Bill singing it. “He loved all kinds of music, and he was particularly drawn to Celtic music, so I kept thinking of phrases of music to reflect that.

“I start hearing melodies in my mind and noting the different fragments. Once I figured out the major melody, then I started to think about how it could be varied. I knew I wanted to have an a cappella section, and that I wanted to have variety – such as the tenor solo, which I wrote in honour of Bill.”

Bill Briggs, Tenor

Meantime, Jacqui wanted to write specifically from the perspective of the pandemic. “It came out of my strong desire to keep the choir going, and to save people’s sanity as well, during these dreadful times. In fact, I wrote the second verse first, which was focused entirely on the emotional and mental stress of the pandemic.”

Ev’rything 'round us has caused a fuss; we try to find peace to anchor us.

Trav'ling new ground through uncertain times. Making it, come what may.

You will hold me, I will hold you. Hand in hand, we'll make it through the day.

Better we are together by far, holding each other. We're not alone.

To make it more relevant to UCC’s December concert, she then wrote the first verse, offering a thoughtful look at Christmas during the uncertainty and fear of the times. 

Living with the composer created another predicament for Jacquie: “Laurie starts humming the melody whenever she’s thinking about it. As she is a soprano, it made it hard for me to learn the alto part having heard so much of the soprano’s! I was already scared to death since Laurie had announced that she was writing an ‘interesting’ alto part!”

“Regarding the words, I’d been thinking about them for a long time, so when I finally sat down to write them, it only took me a day. Originally, we’d planned to have three verses, but then decided that two were enough to capture what we wanted to say and portray.” 

Laurie and Jacquie both felt that the song should be named after the concert, since both reflected celebration and loss. By the beginning of December, with the introduction of stricter lockdown measures, only ten people were allowed in the church. Adjustments had to be made to accommodate having fewer voices singing at the concert. Despite the challenges, the concert, Comfort and Joy, was successfully live-streamed on December 4, 2020, and the song, Comfort and Joy, made its debut, to much acclaim. As Laurie said later: “It was so worthwhile, and it helped us get through a very difficult Christmas.”